Stories & Updates

By Tracey Bryant and Catherine Zandonella, Princeton • August 25, 2021

Horn Entrepreneurship’s Summer Founders Pre-accelerator came to an end with Demo Day on August 19, 2021. However, the founders continued progress towards more successful startups never ends. The unique experience of Summer Founders increases the possibility of students launching viable startups and social ventures, all while gaining valuable advice that will provide dividends in the coming years. Summer Founders includes all aspects of an accelerator except a financial investment, with cohort members receiving guidance from experienced entrepreneurs, advisors and mentors. The founders are also paid stipends to allow them to fully focus on their startup pursuits as long as they continue to demonstrate progress, much like how they might need to sell an investor on progress to get a next round of funding.

With environmental problems persisting and increasing around the globe, entrepreneurs and change makers are working on new and bold ideas that can tackle the world's foremost sustainability challenges.

The University of Delaware is proud to foster a community that supports the development of eco-friendly and sustainable businesses that work towards protecting the environment we live in. Numerous environmental startups and businesses have stemmed from the work of UD students, alumni, staff and faculty.

Technology Innovation & Entrepreneurship is offered through the College of Engineering and revolves around utilizing emerging technologies to improve business practices and entrepreneurship. In an interview with current certificate member Erin Hogan, a junior Chemical Engineering student, I learned more about the relationship between technology and entrepreneurship and how entrepreneurs can benefit from understanding this relationship.

New Product Development is offered through the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources and teaches students about the product development process, from the inception of a product and the natural resources used to create it to it’s shelf-life. I spoke with Alanna Weiss, a senior Hospitality Business Management major, about how a trip to Switzerland got her involved in entrepreneurship, how the certificate program has shaped the way she interacts with objects in her daily life, and what she plans to do with her entrepreneurial education in the future. 

Innovation & Entrepreneurship for Health is offered through the College of Health Sciences and teaches students how to create healthcare solutions and products via entrepreneurial methods. Susan Varghese, a junior Cognitive Science major, told me all about how she got involved with entrepreneurship and why she’s so passionate about it.

Happy Earth Day! While it may seem like everything is going wrong in the world, you may be able to find some relief in the fact that the Earth is returning to a more natural state in the face of the ongoing pandemic.

For University of Delaware entrepreneurs in the research fields of science, technology, engineering, and math, the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (NSF I-Corps) provides innovators with the opportunity to take their projects from the laboratory to the marketplace.

Jean Filo, the former president of Entrepreneurship Club (E-Club) at University of Delaware, has found freedom in entrepreneurship while pursuing a graduate degree in medicine. Filo, who emigrated to the United States from Syria with his family, says the life he left behind in Syria has inspired him to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset and leverage his personality traits to create opportunity.