Blank School Wins Boston Business Journal Fire Award for Fueling Entrepreneurial Innovation

October 9, 2025

Listen

Citing the Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership’s success fueling new businesses and launching the C. Dean Metropoulos Institute for Technology and Entrepreneurship, the Boston Business Journal named Babson’s Blank School a winner in its annual Fire Awards.

The school was lauded for providing more than $1.3 million in funding and in-kind prizes to students and alumni, hosting two major conferences which brought in over 1,000 attendees and nearly 300 travelers to Boston, and for being “a contributing factor to Babson College’s rise to No. 2 in The Wall Street Journal rankings,” according to a BostInno article announcing the awards.

“Winning a BostInno Fire Award is an incredible honor that reflects the energy and impact coming out of Babson’s Blank School and the entrepreneurial leaders who make Babson—and Boston—such a powerful force for good,” said Donna Levin, CEO of the Blank School. “Yes, we’re on fire, and we’re just getting started.”

The BBJ honored 50 organizations or individuals in its Fire Awards this year, separating those named by field such as artificial intelligence, biotech, cleantech, community supporters, healthtech, and consumer goods. Winners must have a major impact on their local ecosystem by raising funding, launching businesses, gaining customers, or supporting innovation.

Two businesses with strong Babson ties also were named BBJ Fire Award honorees. Launch Yard, created by Enyu Rao ’22 and Sean Robins ’23, won in the community support category for connecting Boston area ventures with investors, mentors and other entrepreneurial connections. Rao and Robins also were named recently to BostInno’s 25 Under 25 list.

And, UWill, founded by Michael London ’92, was named a winner in the Healthtech category. The teletherapy platform, which addresses mental wellness in higher education, was recognized by the BBJ as the fastest growing private company in Massachusetts. UWill serves 3 million students at more than 450 institutions worldwide, including Babson College.

Posted in Babson Briefs

Tagged Campus, Entrepreneurship Education, Arthur M. Blank School for Entrepreneurial Leadership

Latest Stories

Babson Professor Jeffrey Shay ’87, MBA’91, sits at a table with professors from Historically Black Colleges and Universities

Babson Works with HBCUs to Boost Entrepreneurship Education A case-writing program, which teaches participants how to develop a hallmark of business education, is one of several Babson initiatives with Historically Black Colleges and Universities that aim to empower entrepreneurial leaders and the professors who educate them.

By John Crawford

Senior Journalist

John Crawford

A writer for Babson Thought & Action and the Babson Magazine, John Crawford has been telling the College’s entrepreneurial story for more than 15 years. Assignments for Babson have taken him from Rwanda to El Salvador, from the sweet-smelling factory of a Pennsylvania candy maker, to the stately Atlanta headquarters of an NFL owner, to the bustling office of a New York City fashion designer. Beyond his work for Babson, he has written articles and essays for The Philadelphia Inquirer, Notre Dame Magazine, The Good Men Project, and other publications. He can be found on Twitter, @crawfordwriter, where he tweets about climate change.

October 31, 2025

Tagged Faculty, Inclusive Excellence, Entrepreneurship Education

Posted in Entrepreneurial Leadership