Stories & Updates

The Horn Hen of the Month article series is a new series dedicated to highlighting Horn students that are inspiring others and impacting their community. One nominated Horn student will be chosen each month and a written feature will document their hard work and progress as they go through their time at Horn. 

This article is part of a series celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Horn Entrepreneurship by highlighting alumni, their stories and accomplishments.

When James Massaquoi was attending Caesar Rodney High School and working at Taco Bell, he didn’t have a clear path for college. In fact, he would later be turned down in his first two choices in majors, finance and accounting.

12 student teams spent Saturday, October 22, presenting possible solutions to ecological challenges in the Fall 2022 Eco Design Sprint, sponsored by the Ratcliffe Eco-Entrepreneurship Fellows program (REEF@UD), Horn Entrepreneurship, and the Gerard J. Mangone Climate Change Science and Policy Hub at the University of Delaware. Winning proposals ranged from enhanced artificial turf to non-heat absorbing sidewalks to delayed-release nitrogen fertilizers.

Following much deliberation, the finalists for Hen Hatch 2022, the University of Delaware’s much-anticipated premier startup competition, have been selected. The submissions this year have been from a wide range of industries, colleges, and interests, truly showing that the spirit of entrepreneurship can be found anywhere. This year’s teams made it hard on our semifinal judges, but we have managed to narrow it down to a few particularly promising and innovative startups we are proud to showcase in the final round.

The Horn Hen of the month article series is a brand new series dedicated to highlighting Horn students that are inspiring others and impacting their community. One nominated Horn student will be chosen each month and a written feature will document their hard work and progress as they go through their time at Horn.

This article is part of a series celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Horn Entrepreneurship by highlighting alumni, their stories and accomplishments.  

Back in 2012, when Ben Rapkin took his first entrepreneurship class, instructor Dan Freeman, the founding director of Horn Entrepreneurship, asked him to restart the Entrepreneurship Club. 

Horn Entrepreneurship and E-club will host the Fall Pitch Party on Wednesday, October 26, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. in the Venture Development Center. The Fall Pitch Party is designed for those new to pitching an idea, with students sharing startup concepts to an audience of their peers and a panel of judges composed of recent entrepreneurial alumni. This year's event is particularly special, as we return to an in-person format for the first time in years. Advance registration is required for both spectators and presenters. Register by October 19. 

Fourteen teams advanced to the semifinal round of Hen Hatch, UD’s premiere startup funding competition. Three semifinalists from each track (pre- and post-revenue) will advance to the 2022 Hen Hatch Final Round which will take place on Dec. 1 at the Audion. Rewards of startup cash and prizes will total $50,000 with additional in-kind gifts. 

More than 150 students from ten high schools joined together to participate in the EntreX Lab Delaware Connect design sprint, a timed competition in which students address a problem and pitch a solution to a panel of judges.

Calling all Blue Hen student entrepreneurs: apply to University of Delaware’s premier startup funding competition, Hen Hatch. This program is a once-a-year opportunity for UD students to put their best ideas forward and compete for a portion of a $50,000 prize pool. The submission deadline is September 16.