The McDonough School of Business celebrated the best, innovative business ideas dreamt up by students at the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative’s Entrepalooza. At the competition, nine student teams (either on the social track or the commercial track) pitched their plans to a panel of 21 judges.
Areebah Ajani and MBA student Surabhi Agrawal won $5,000 for first place in the social track and the overall People’s Choice Award. Ajani and Agrawal’s idea, Farm Fresh Trucks, aims to provide produce needy D.C. residents via a mobile grocery truck.
Meanwhile, Tonja Hardyman (MBA ’15) won first place in the commercial track for Barkzy, a telemedicine platform to connect pet owners with veterinarians.
Coral Taylor (MBA ’16) won second place in the commercial track for My Bigger Mailbox, a collapsible “mailbox” that allows parcel carriers to safely deliver and secure packages outside of residences.
Jeff Reid, founding director of the Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative, also presented several awards to students and faculty, including:
- Outstanding Volunteer – Shye Gilad (EMBA ’12);
- Student Entrepreneur of the Year, Graduate – Kevin Barrow (MBA ’16);
- Outstanding Entrepreneurial Leadership – Eric Ellsworth (MBA ’15), Beatrice Fabris (C ’16), Barry Goldsmith (B ’17), and Genevieve Ryan (JD/MBA ’15); and
- Lifetime Achievement Award – Elaine Romanelli, senior associate dean of MBA programs and associate professor of strategy.