What it is

Georgetown Entrepreneurship is the university-wide entrepreneurship program at Georgetown University, housed in the Rafik B. Hariri Building of the McDonough School of Business. It is open to every Georgetown school, alumni, faculty and staff. Its work is organized around three pillars: student formation, venture development for startups in DC and internationally, and thought leadership on purpose-driven innovation. Ted Leonsis (C'77) chairs its Advisory Group, and the program draws on dozens of Venture Advisors who are founders, operators and investors.

What it offers founders

The Venture Development program, free for all Georgetown students and alumni, maps founders onto a seven-level pathway from exploring an idea to scaling a company and recommends resources at each level. Support includes Venture Advisors, one-on-one mentorship, a peer community, and access to the Georgetown Angel Investor Network.

  • Pitch competitions: Rocket Pitch (two minutes, one slide) for very early ventures, and Bark Tank, the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize, with a prize pool capped at $100,000 per year.
  • Summer Launch Incubator: roughly eight weeks of full-time, in-person work with mentors and a $5,000 stipend per venture.
  • Entrepreneur Office Hours: drop-in sessions on Wednesdays, 5:00 to 6:00 p.m., in Hariri 310, with occasional virtual sessions.
  • Leonsis Venture Lab: subsidized coworking for full-time alumni founders at a WeWork at 200 Massachusetts Ave NW.

Who it is for

Most programs require a Georgetown affiliation. Office hours are open to anyone in the Georgetown community at any stage, including people without a startup idea. Pitch competitions and the incubator are for current students (Bark Tank also admits recent alumni), and the Venture Lab is for full-time alumni entrepreneurs. Founders with no Georgetown connection will find limited direct access, though Georgetown startups and events can be useful connections.

How to engage or apply

Start by submitting the Venture Development intake form or dropping into office hours, which need no RSVP. Rocket Pitch runs a video round followed by live finals; the Fall 2026 finals were held October 1 at Lohrfink Auditorium. Bark Tank Fall 2026 finals are scheduled for November 10, 2026. Summer Launch Incubator applications open in February, with priority for applications received by February 25. Alumni can apply to the Leonsis Venture Lab through an online form. General questions go to entrepreneurship@georgetown.edu. See the Summer Launch Incubator and Bark Tank pages for current deadlines.

Why it matters in the DMV ecosystem

Georgetown Entrepreneurship is one of the main university pipelines feeding new ventures into the DC startup scene. It connects student and alumni founders with experienced advisors, angel investors and alumni networks, and it maintains a startup directory of Georgetown ventures. For a founder new to the region with a Georgetown connection, it is a low-cost entry point to mentorship, prize money and workspace downtown.