Georgetown McDonough Welcomes New Class of Venture Fellows

The Georgetown Venture Fellows Program announced its eighth class of fellows, selected from a record number of student applications. Both undergraduate and MBA students underwent an extensive application process and multiple interviews to secure their spot in the 2022 cohort. 

The 17 Georgetown Venture Fellows include 13 MBA students and four undergraduate students who are working at 11 companies, including Blu Venture Investors, Early Light Ventures, Fusion Fund, Georgetown Angel Investor Network (GAIN), Lavrock Ventures, Qodeo, Recast Capital, Revolution – Rise of the Rest Fund, Savano Capital, StepStone Group, and UltraTech Capital Partners.

 “As student interests and industries change, we need to be entrepreneurial in our approach to helping our students access a tough industry,” said Eric Young, assistant dean for MBA career services. “Georgetown has come up with a creative, innovative way to penetrate a really competitive, hard-to-access industry, providing a great opportunity for both our students and the employers hiring them.” 

The Georgetown Venture Fellows Program started as a collaboration between the MBA program and Georgetown Entrepreneurship to provide students with the opportunity for a year-long apprenticeship at a venture capital or private equity firm. Fellows work part-time during the spring semester, honing tasks such as due diligence, deal sourcing, and assisting portfolio companies, before completing a full-time summer internship. This experience is then followed with a final semester of part-time work at the firm during fall semester. The Venture Fellows program has frequently led to full-time positions or similar full-time venture capital or investment positions after graduation. 

“The firms benefit from having a talented student help them for an extended period of time, and the students get to experience several months of the venture process from inside the firm,” said Jeff Reid, director of Georgetown Entrepreneurship. “Many students are interested in becoming venture capitalists, and the Georgetown Venture Fellows Program provides a valuable learning opportunity and pathway into the industry.”

The program benefits from a diversity of venture firms in terms of size, investment focus, and location, as well as from the varied backgrounds and experiences of the student fellows. With a demand for greater diversity in venture capital, this program helps students get their foothold in a venture career and forge meaningful connections with other fellows.

“Within my role as a Venture Fellow, I have conducted a great deal of venture capital research and due diligence. which has been a great experience as I am able gain exposure and learn about so many new concepts,” said Taylor Deasy (B’24). “It is not only a great way to gain real-world experience within one of the most exciting sectors of the finance industry, but it is also a great way to bridge the MBA students with the undergraduate students.”

This year’s fellows include: 

Blu Venture Investors (D.C.)

Asher Bykov (B’23)

Erin Connery (B’24)

Early Light Ventures (Baltimore)

Michael Yoon (MBA’23)

Fusion Fund (San Francisco)

Michael Scanlin (MBA’23)

Georgetown Angel Investor Network (D.C.)

Dale Salton (MBA’23)

Milan Khosla (B’23)

Lavrock Ventures (D.C.)

Jacob Gottlieb (MBA’23)

Qodeo (NYC)

Taylor Deasy (B’24)

Recast Capital (D.C.)

Caroline Fernandez (MBA’23)

Revolution – Rise of the Rest Fund (D.C.)

Sofia Vegarra (MBA’23)

Felipe Rubio (MBA’23)

Savano Capital (Baltimore)

Christiaan De Nysschen (MBA’23)

StepStone Group (Baltimore)

Jacob Berns (MBA’23)

Rafat Miah (MBA’23)

Sukhdeep Singh (MBA’23)

Evan Wladis (MBA’23)

Ultratech Capital Partners (D.C.)

Luke McGinty (MBA’23)