Summer Launch Incubator

The Summer Launch Incubator (SLI) is a startup incubator program for Georgetown students interested in launching a new venture. Students work full time during the month of June to build out their new business with help from seasoned entrepreneurs and Georgetown mentors, and receive a $2,000 stipend. The program culminates in a showcase event where students pitch their businesses to the Georgetown community and possible investors.

12

COMPANIES

 3 Georgetown College  2 McDonough School of Business  2 Walsh School of Foreign Service  1 School of Nursing and Health Sciences  1 McCourt School of Public Policy  1 School of Medicine  1 Graduate School of Arts and Sciences  1 School of Continuing Studies • ActWorldly: Betsy Ratliffe (SFS’23)

• Community Experiments:

Lauren Jordan (MBA’22) • Competity: Elliot Mack (SFS’22),

Younes Alakhir (in Denmark) • DopaMe: Tian Shi (C’22) • EMTomorrow: Christopher Grisham (C’22),

Ceylan Metin (C’22), Nina Williams (NHS’22) • GoCook: Maria Aljure (B’21), Dhruv Johri (SFS’21),

Caridad Wille (SFS’21) • Gorilla Coffee: Jose Bunag (MBA’22),

Yannick Munyura, Sybil Simbulan (MBA’21) • Libero: Sam Pandey (MBA’21), Abeera Jahangir (MBA’21), Katerina Arzhayev (MBA’21), Andrew

Hart (MPP’21) • SpeakEasy: Molly Sullivan (M’21), Malika Adrien (M’21), Binyam Bayu (M’21), Jay Kline (M’21) • The Quechua Project: Shana Inofuentes* (G’21) • Victor Dreame: Victor Asemota (C’22) • WadhBank: Ishmam Ahmed* (SCS’22)

24 STUDENTS

STUDENT TESTIMONIALS

“The guest speakers (throughout) and the articles (beginning) were incredibly helpful and put names to ideas and structure to processes. The close mentorship and new connections were amazing and incredibly pivotal to my experience and journey.”

—Tian Shi (C’22)

“The most rewarding part of the incubator was having conversations with different customer segments and seeing their reactions to the idea. Building on what customers thought and continuing to iterate based on that felt extremely helpful and rewarding.”

—Betsy Ratliffe (SFS’22)

*with other non-GU team members

EXAMPLES OF WEEKLY ACTIVITIES / WORKSHOPS

• The cohort meets twice a week over a four-week period in June. Tuesdays are for check-ins with SLI mentors and Thursdays are dedicated to training and co-working. • Mentors work full time with SLI participants to develop ideas, gain customer traction, and to build investment pitches. Students work on their business models and validate their ideas through data collection. • SLI ends with a showcase event in which

SLI participants present their business to members of the Georgetown community and potential investors.