When sixteen entrepreneurs came through SEED SPOT’s first DMV cohort, they joined a growing regional ecosystem that was expanding access to entrepreneurship training for underrepresented founders. That was ten years ago. Since then, 653 founders have come through DMV cohorts, building businesses, creating jobs, and staying connected to a network that has grown more useful with every class.
More than 80 percent of DMV alumni identify as Black, Indigenous, or people of color, and more than 60 percent are women. They are building across technology, education, wellness, food and beverage, and community development, and many are building deliberately in the neighborhoods where they live and work. That reflects both the trust that partner organizations have built with communities across the region and the founders who stayed active in the ecosystem long after graduation.
DMV alumni have collectively generated more than $29 million in revenue, raised more than $16 million in capital, and created more than 1,500 jobs. SBIR and STTR grants, peer-reviewed federal awards that compete on technical and commercial merit, represent the single largest capital source among alumni: 74 founders have raised an average of $220,000 each. Black DMV alumni who have reported outcomes average $132,000 in annual revenue, exceeding the DC-wide benchmark for more established Black-owned businesses.
SBIR and STTR grants, peer-reviewed federal awards that compete on technical and commercial merit, represent the single largest capital source among alumni.
Behind those figures are the milestones that define a founder’s early years: the first customer, the first hire, the moment a business becomes real to the people it serves. Across 653 founders, those moments are where the larger numbers begin.
A COLLABORATIVE MODEL
The decade of expansion reflects a sustained bet, made by multiple funders and partners, that investment in entrepreneurship directed toward underrepresented founders produces measurable regional impact.
Throughout the past decade, 80% of all participants have been served through collaborative programming with ecosystem partners, reflecting a model built on institutional trust and aligned economic development priorities.
Early investment from The Kauffman Foundation and Booz Allen Hamilton established the foundation. The A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation’s 2019 investment expanded reach across the region. SBA support held programming steady through 2020 and 2021, when in-person entrepreneurship training largely stalled everywhere else. The Walmart.org partnership opened a consumer-product pathway for founders in 2023 and 2024.
Partners like WACIF and Prince George’s County Economic Development Corporation have connected SEED SPOT with entrepreneurs across DC and the broader region who are ready for intensive training. The LevelUp partnership with FSC First gives founders a direct bridge to the capital strategies their ventures need to scale. Corporate supporters including Booz Allen, Amazon Web Services, and WeWork Labs have supplied the spaces, resources, and volunteer mentors that make intensive programming possible.
WHAT THE SECOND DECADE CAN BUILD
Ten years ago, the bet was that rigorous training, the right partners, and intentional access would produce founders who could compete with anyone. Six hundred and fifty-three entrepreneurs, $46 million in combined revenue and capital, and a regional network that compounds with every cohort is the evidence that it has. The DMV’s entrepreneurship ecosystem is more connected and more proven than it was a decade ago, and the founders building in it reflect that.
What gets built in the next ten years depends on who joins the table. If your organization is investing in the DMV’s economic future and you want to explore what a partnership could look like, reach out at connect@seedspot.org.
