Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative Names Leonsis Prize Finalists
Georgetown’s top student entrepreneurs are ready to show their stuff and win the cherished Leonsis Prize. The Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative at the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business recently announced the 2018 finalists for the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize.
Finalists will compete at the inaugural Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize “Bark Tank” pitch competition event, according to the school. The Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize is supported by—you guessed it—the Leonis family.
Meet the Leonisis’
Ted Leonsis is a longtime entrepreneur, investor, and founder of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates three professional sports teams: the NBA’s Washington Wizards, NHL’s Washington Capitals and WNBA’s Washington Mystics. Ted’s son, Zach (MBA ’15) is the senior vice president of strategic initiatives of Monumental Sports & Entertainment and general manager of Monumental Sports Network. Ted’s wife, Lynn, and daughter, Elle, the digital marketing director of SnagFilms, Inc., are also involved in the program
Meet the Finalists
Competing teams are made of current Georgetown undergraduate and graduate students, as well as alumni who within six months of graduation. Finalists were selected following a rigorous nomination, application, and review process. They compete for a slice of a $100,000 prize during the Bark Tank pitch competition, where each team share their ventures with a panel of judges, and the McDonough community.
Some of the ventures where founded by McDonough MBAs. Those finalists include:
- Edible Finance: Sunny Gupta (MBA’19) and Chris Johnson (MBA’19). Edible Finance is an Instagram-like stories platform for investments. It provides bite-sized investment tidbits via stories and videos that drive revenue generating investment actions.
- Foublie: Melissa Antal (MBA’19). Foublie is an on-demand service that connects parents with questions about nutrition, food and feeding to specialists and catered resources.
- Galapagos Strategies: Ramya Possett (MBA’17). Galapagos Strategies disrupts the IP model with upfront market analyses, innovative consulting workshops, and the creation of strategic IP that generates value.
- Hatch: JP Coakley (MBA’18) and Kelsey Lents (MBA’18). Hatch is a flexible coworking and licensed child care solution for parents in the gig economy that aligns professional and parental needs.
Visit the Georgetown McDonough website to read about the rest of the finalists. You can learn more about the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize here.
About the Author
Max Pulcini
Max Pulcini is a Philadelphia-based writer and reporter. He has an affinity for Philly sports teams, Super Smash Bros. and cured meats and cheeses. Max has written for Philadelphia-based publications such as Spirit News, Philadelphia City Paper, and Billy Penn, as well as national news outlets like The Daily Beast.
