Venture Forward

Venture Forward is a series of conversations with Georgetown entrepreneurs that explores the roads they’ve traveled to launch their companies, and unexpected turns that mark their paths. Season One features the stand out companies that won Georgetown’s most prominent pitch competition.

Shavini Fernando is a Georgetown alum with a life threatening disease who invented a medical device to prolong and enhance the lives of the millions of people who suffer from this ailment. Her company, OxiWear, has turned this device into a fashionable accessory that monitors the oxygen level in the blood, and signals when that level drops dangerously low.It’s a niche product for people with pulmonary hypertension, who need to know immediately when their blood oxygen level drops. On a moment’s notice, this personalized accessory will call 911 and phone-a-friend, to save the life of the wearer.

Zach Oschin co-founded Elenas, a social selling platform headquartered in Bogotá Colombia that is taking the beauty products industry by storm. In just over a year, Zach and his team have recruited 14,000+ Colombians to join the company to sell make up and accessories to women in their social circles.

Juliette Silvain is the founder of CAVALL, a mobile app company that brings buyers and sellers of horses together at major equestrian competitions.

Margarita Womack is the CEO of M’Panadas, a healthy food company that makes empanadas and sauces that are offered in grocery stores and hotels and large venues across the Washington DC Metropolitan Area. Margarita is also a scientist and a mother of three who understands the need for healthy, tasty snacks and meals on the go.

Denis Craig co-founded Farley Craig Capital, a venture fund that backs underrepresented founders and empowers new investors to participate in the venture-capital ecosystem.

Hannah Williams developed Truckr, a mobile app that connects people to food trucks nearby to provide a more convenient and efficient food truck experience.

Sahaj Sharda launched Happy Price, a company that sells access to a dynamic pricing algorithm that helps businesses price their products optimally.

Three football players at Georgetown founded GOODProjects, an organization that is now impacting thousands of kids and their families in DC’s underserved neighborhoods.

Keith Ives founded an international development firm that helps USAID, NGOs and international organizations that are working to reduce poverty and inequality and respond to crises, evaluate the impact of their programs on the ground.

Lina Zdruli is an entrepreneur who uses food for social good. She runs a start up, Dafero, that employs women-at-risk to produce healthy snack foods. Lina, whose been featured in Forbes and on the Voice of America, draws on her experience at both the World Bank and the United Nations to run a company that is making an impact at several different levels.

Mackenzie Copley runs a non-profit health services organization that deploys 1000+ student volunteers from five colleges and universities in and around Washington DC. He’s only 23 but he has already caught the attention of the World Health Organization (WHO) and other national and international health agencies with the ground-breaking work he does with One Tent Health.

Catherine Nguyen founded a snack food company that took off quickly and is being sought out by well-know retailers such as Balducci’s grocery store. Catherine has figured out how to pitch her company and win competitions and is continually funneling her winnings into improving her high-protein snack offerings and expanding her market.

Patrick Flynn’s pet care resorts have cultivated a loyal following of dog owners who are jumping through hoops to be a part of one of the several “pet playlands” that Patrick’s company operates in Greater Washington DC. He’s learned several lessons the hard way as he has devoted himself to building a best-in-class business in the ever-expanding pet care industry.

Jacki Abbey, the host of Venture Forward, introduces Season Three and sets the stage for the award winning CEOs who will be appearing on the podcast over the next several weeks.

Mary Giuliani is a NYC event planner and caterer to the stars. When she’s not on TV sharing party tips with Rachael Ray, she is often designing sets for movie and TV premiers, and creating tasty dishes that complement the theme. Mary is also the author of Tiny Hot Dogs: A Memoir Small Bites.

Michael O’Neil has built a multimillion dollar, multinational company, GetWellNetwork (GWN), that is singularly focused on equipping hospitals to allow patients to be better informed and more involved in their care and recovery. Over the past several years, GWN’s patient engagement platform has transformed the hospital experience for patients and their families.

Luke Schoenfelder co-founded Latch, a smart-lock company, in his mid-twenties, grew it to 200+ employees, and put the company on the map in the building access space. Latch has partnerships with UPS and Walmart, and counts many of the leading real estate developers among its clients. Luke talks about how he and his team grew Latch, the many obstacles they overcame and how he keeps his eye on the prize as the leader of a fast growing company.

Doug Bouton unpacks what it’s like to build a low fat ice cream company from the ground up. He describes the company’s rocky road to success, what it took for Halo Top to become a household name, and how and why he and his co-founder decided to sell the company.

Mike Malloy left a lucrative management consulting career to run Waveborn, a high-end sunglasses company with a social mission. The company was based on a buy-one give-one model that was a source of inspiration to his team, the investors and the customers. Mike talks about the multi-stage journey that led him from running a company to investing in the lives of other entrepreneurs at Halcyon House, a Washington DC incubator for social impact entrepreneurs.

They fought their way out of the DC neighborhoods they grew up in, earned scholarships to Georgetown University and after graduating went back to their neighborhoods to build paths for others to get out too. Troye Bullock, Danny Wright and Darius Baxter are advocates, mentors, business advisors and activists who traveled across the country this summer, to meet with community leaders in 13 cities, in order to amplify the voices of these leaders and tell their stories. Troye, Danny and Darius are co-founders of GOOD Projects, a DC-based organization with a national platform, which they are now using to generate energy for change in cities across the nation.

Gretchen Hansen is an entrepreneur with a flair for design. She founded an online interior design service, Decorist, that quickly caught the eye of national companies that wanted to partner. She raised several million dollars before selling the firm to Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Spindrift is a stand-out in the beverage industry with it’s fruit-infused sparking water in eleven tasty flavors. As founder and CEO, Bill Creelman has built Spindrift into a $100 million company with enthusiastic customers, a recognizable brand, and a commitment to give back to the community.

David McCourt is an entrepreneur and investor in the technology, media and telecommunication industries. He is also an Emmy award-winning producer of the PBS series Reading Rainbow, and several documentaries; and a best-selling author.

This season features up and coming Georgetown CEOs who've  launched companies while still in school or just after graduating.   

Robert Bolen invented a useful device, as a teenager, that is now creating quite a stir among its target audience. He caught the attention of two high profile neurosurgeons who encouraged him to take his product on the road. He’s now partnering with a large health care system to refine it, trial it, and get it in the hands of those who need it most. 

Jordan Foley, juggles law school at Georgetown along with culinary school, while overseeing a new venture, Chow that provides culinary training, certifications, and resources for aspiring food truck & restaurant owners.  His co-founder, Charlie McGovern, keeps all the plates spinning as they navigate the ups and downs of running a nonprofit that serves military veterans. 

As a National Geographic design-team member, Katie Pearson Fucci has leveraged her creative skills to tell important stories and inspire others. Now she is focusing her creative energy on bringing beautifully designed, conservation-inspired beauty products to market.