Entrepreneurs Win $38,000, Awards at the 2023 Georgetown Entrepreneurship Challenge Finals

Georgetown students competed in the annual Georgetown Entrepreneurship Challenge (GEC) Finals on April 4, winning thousands of dollars in prizes. Georgetown Entrepreneurship also handed out annual Georgetown Entrepreneurial Excellence awards to students, mentors, and faculty during the event.

The GEC is Georgetown’s largest pitch competition series. It includes undergraduate and graduate students from across campus. During the competition, students have five minutes to pitch their entrepreneurial ventures and business ideas to an expert panel of entrepreneurs and business leaders followed by three minutes of Q&A with the judges. 

Judges scored teams based on the feasibility of their business idea, the team’s abilities, the company’s incorporation of Georgetown’s Jesuit values, and the overall quality of the pitch. The GEC Finals judging panel included Salome Mikadze (B’22), Tian Shi (C’22), Joe Pelton (G’72), Marley Majcher (B’91), Catherine Nguyen (B’21), and Bruno Mejean (B’74).

The cash prizes available at this year’s final round totaled over $38,000. Enna Health won the graduate division first place and Orbit won the undergraduate division first place grand prizes, amounting to $10,000 for each team to support their business ideas. 

“It was inspiring to see more than 70 teams compete in this year’s Georgetown Entrepreneurship Challenge. The Challenge provides students from across Georgetown a chance to test out their startup idea, gain feedback, and possibly win prize money that can help them launch a venture,” said Jeff Reid, founding director of Georgetown Entrepreneurship and professor of the practice. “I thought all of the finalist teams demonstrated exceptional entrepreneurial skills, and their business ideas all have the potential to not just make money, but to make a positive impact on society.”

The full list of competition prizes is:

Orbit ($10,000)

Steven Pang (C’25)

Undergraduate First Place 

Bread Investing ($2,500)

Raghav Chutani (SFS’25)

Undergraduate Second Place 

Georgetown REUSE ($2,000)

Rita Alan (SFS’24), Molly Austin (SFS’25), Stephane Granato (SFS’24) 

Pelton Family Environmental Prize

Undergraduate Finalist 

People’s Choice Award

Principally ($1,000)

Charles-André Jolly (B’23), Sebastian Jolly, (B’25)

Undergraduate Finalists

Enna Health ($10,000)

Nirmal Neel Maitra (MED’25)

Graduate First Place 

Mercury Care ($2,500)

Matt Wheeler (MBA’24)

Graduate Second Place 

Nice Move CITY ($1,000)

Carolyn Nice (SCS’24)

Graduate Finalists

FAIR Play ($1,000)

Milos Tomovich (MED’23)

Graduate Finalists

Fit-Nest ($1,000)

Raashed Hall (PIVOT’23

Graduate Finalists

Caffinity ($1,000 each)

Vishwanath Ganesh Kumar (G’23)

James Fahey (G’24)

Mayisha Rahman (G’23)

Ali Rizvi (G’23) 

Graduate Finalists

In addition to cash prizes for entrepreneurs competing in the challenge, Georgetown Entrepreneurship presented the annual Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards to students, faculty, mentors, and staff who have shown a selfless commitment to improving the state of entrepreneurial education at Georgetown University over the past year.

“Georgetown Entrepreneurship is not only committed to enhancing students’ skills and capabilities, but it also adheres to fostering a diverse inclusive society where the sense of belonging leads the path to success and achievement,” said Ben Zimmerman, managing director of Georgetown Entrepreneurship. “Engaging students with diverse experiences and viewpoints creates a society where everyone has a chance to contribute and thrive.”