Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

What Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship does

The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship (also known as the Dingman-Lamone Center for Entrepreneurship) is an academic entrepreneurship center housed within the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland, College Park. Founded in 1986, the center provides entrepreneurship education, mentorship, pitch coaching, and investor networking to University of Maryland students and to regional entrepreneurs across the Maryland and Washington D.C. metro area. Its primary operational offering is the VC Fast Pitch event series, where founders and students pitch to venture capitalists, angels, and accredited investors, supplemented by on-campus programming delivered through the Smith School at 7699 Mowatt Lane, College Park. Notable alumni-founded ventures supported through the ecosystem include Hungry Harvest, co-founded by Evan Lutz '14.

The center is led by Rudolph P. Lamone (Founder), Alla Corey (Program Manager), and Brent Goldfarb (Academic Director), with a small staff of 1-10 employees. It is funded through University of Maryland allocations and donor support rather than direct commercial revenue, and pricing for its programs is not publicly disclosed; services to UMD students appear to be subsidized or free. The center also maintains a corporate-engagement track, including a strategic partnership with the Toyota Mobility Foundation that brings real-world mobility challenges to Smith students via action learning projects led by EMBA alumnus William Chernicoff.

The Dingman Center operates as an institutional cost center rather than a commercial company, with no external investors, no disclosed revenue, and no app, API, or proprietary technology platform. Its competitive position derives from its embedding within the Smith School brand, access to 70,000+ Smith alumni globally, and proximity to the Washington D.C. business and policy ecosystem. The center's strategic value is measured in founder pipeline output, alumni venture creation, and regional ecosystem connectivity rather than in commercial revenue or ARR.

Name

Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

Legal name

Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship

Website

https://rhsmith.umd.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship is a University of Maryland academic center within the Robert H. Smith School of Business that provides entrepreneurship education, mentorship, and pitch events (such as VC Fast Pitch) connecting UMD students and Mid-Atlantic founders with angel and venture capital investors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Entrepreneurship Education & Incubation

akta.pro primary industry

Entrepreneurship, Innovation & Venture Creation Centers (EDAHAHAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Business Planning, Pitching & Competitions (Pitch Decks, Demo Days) (EDAMAHAB)

Keywords

• Entrepreneurship education
• Startup incubation
• Pitch coaching
• Investor networking
• Venture mentoring

Headquarters

HQ city

College Park

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Educational Services: The center operates as part of the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, providing entrepreneurship education, mentorship, and resources to students and local entrepreneurs. Funding comes from university allocations and donor support rather than direct revenue generation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

The Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship provides entrepreneurship education, mentorship, pitch coaching, and investor networking services to University of Maryland students and regional entrepreneurs in the Maryland/Washington D.C. Metro area. It operates events such as VC Fast Pitch that connect early-stage startups with venture capitalists, angel investors, and accredited investors. The center operates as a non-commercial academic unit within the Robert H. Smith School of Business, funded through university allocations and donor support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• VC Fast Pitch Events

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Toyota Mobility FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWilliam Chernicoff, EMBA '21, leads research at the Toyota Mobility Foundation and engages with Smith through action learning projects that bring real-world mobility challenges to students. This connection provides experiential learning opportunities for Smith students while leveraging alumni expertise.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Northwestern Farley Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation: Northwestern's entrepreneurship center embedded within the Kellogg School of Management. Direct peer because it provides education, mentorship, and founder programming in a university business school setting, similar in mission to the Dingman Center.
• Columbia Business School Entrepreneurship Program: Columbia Business School's entrepreneurship initiative providing courses, mentorship, and venture support. Direct peer given shared structure of a top U.S. business school running education and founder programming in a major metro area.
• Wharton Entrepreneurship: Wharton's dedicated entrepreneurship initiative offering courses, mentorship, and the Wharton Entrepreneurship Venture Fund. A direct peer as another top U.S. business school entrepreneurship program performing the same education-plus-investor-connection function.
• MIT Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship: MIT's university-wide entrepreneurship center offering education, mentorship, and venture support. It is a direct peer to the Dingman Center because both are embedded centers at top-tier U.S. universities focused on student and early-stage founder development.
• Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP): Stanford's entrepreneurship education and research program within the School of Engineering. STVP is a direct peer because it similarly provides entrepreneurship curriculum, mentorship, and founder support within a major U.S. research university, the same role the Dingman Center plays at UMD.
• UCLA Anderson Price Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation: UCLA Anderson's center offering entrepreneurship curriculum, mentorship, and venture support to MBAs and undergraduates. Direct peer as another U.S. business-school-affiliated entrepreneurship center serving the same student-founder audience.
• Babson College Arthur M. Blank Center for Entrepreneurship: Babson's flagship entrepreneurship center within the #1-ranked undergraduate entrepreneurship program. Directly comparable to Dingman as a business-school-based center providing education, mentorship, and resources to student founders.
• Harvard Innovation Labs (i-lab): Harvard's cross-school innovation hub providing workspace, mentorship, and programming for student and alumni founders. Directly comparable to Dingman's combination of education, mentorship, and investor-facing events within a business school context.

Others

• Maryland Tech Council Venture Mentoring Service: Maryland-based regional organization providing mentorship to early-stage founders. Included as an adjacent ecosystem participant because it complements Dingman's regional support for Maryland entrepreneurs and shares the same founder-mentorship orientation.

Regional players

• Georgetown Entrepreneurship Initiative: Georgetown's university-wide entrepreneurship program operating in the same Washington, D.C. region as the Dingman Center. Regional peer because it serves the same DMV-area student and founder ecosystem, though from a different institutional base.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/umd_dingman

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments121 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship