On August 13, Horn Entrepreneurship celebrated the 2026 Summer Founders cohort at its 11th annual Demo Day, bringing together University of Delaware student founders, mentors, supporters and members of the entrepreneurial community.
The event marked the culmination of an intensive 11-week experience filled with customer discovery, venture development, mentoring and plenty of iteration. With stipend funding, dedicated venture support and access to nearly 100 volunteer experts throughout the summer, founders had the opportunity to focus on their ideas, test assumptions and make meaningful progress on their ventures.
11th Cohort, New Ideas
This year’s cohort brought together students and recent graduates representing four UD colleges: the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics, College of Arts and Sciences, College of Education and Human Development, and College of Engineering.
Their ventures addressed challenges and opportunities ranging from cybersecurity and healthcare accessibility to artificial intelligence, adaptive fitness and digital media. Throughout the summer, founders worked alongside advisors, faculty, entrepreneurs and industry experts who challenged their thinking and helped them determine what came next.
More than a Pitch
Demo Day gave founders several ways to share what they had learned and built. Some delivered five-minute pitches, others introduced their ventures in 90 seconds, and several participated in a panel reflecting on lessons from the Summer Founders experience.
Beyond the stage, each venture had a showcase table where founders could demonstrate their work and connect directly with attendees. Livestream interviews gave those watching remotely another opportunity to meet the founders and hear about their journeys.
The ventures included in the 2026 Summer Founders Cohort:
Budge - Rahul Chauhan
Dash Group - Suvil and Rushil Kaushik
Hardbat Adaptive Fitness Program - Owen Mathias
Healing Ivy - Sophia Small
Insuvo - Rachel Tran and Somin Park
Kitin - Varsha Danduri
M.A.P.S. - Juan Sanchez and Abraham Misere
Parker Media - Parker Stille
Prediction Wizard - Jacob and Kyle Wyngaard
Safe Sip - Mackenzie Frank
Spoonable - Micah Stoogenke and Aubrey Winslow
What Comes Next
While Demo Day marked the end of Summer Founders, it represented only a small part of what the founders accomplished over the summer. Over 11 weeks, they conducted customer discovery, tested assumptions, learned from nearly 100 volunteer experts and, in many cases, changed direction based on what they discovered.
The ventures presented at Demo Day reflected not only what the founders built, but how much they learned along the way. The connections, feedback and experience gained through Summer Founders will continue to shape their ventures and their paths as innovators well beyond the program.
For Horn Entrepreneurship, that is ultimately what Summer Founders is about: giving students the time, resources, support and community to explore what is possible and helping them build the skills and confidence to keep going long after the summer ends.
ABOUT HORN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Horn Entrepreneurship serves as the creative engine for entrepreneurship education and advancement at the University of Delaware. Currently ranked among the best entrepreneurship programs in the U.S., Horn Entrepreneurship was built and is actively supported by successful entrepreneurs, empowering aspiring innovators as they pursue new ideas for a better world.
