Stories & Updates

Emilie Delaye's path as a founder began with a deeply personal mission: making medical wear feel less clinical and more like her. A master's student in Fashion and Apparel Studies at the University of Delaware and a Horn Entrepreneurship alumna, Emilie has spent the past several
years turning personal chronic illness experience into the foundation for NOVA Medical Wearables, a venture reimagining medical accessories as fashion.

If you’ve noticed a surge in dynamic and creative video content, event photography, and fresh visuals across Horn Entrepreneurship’s social media pages, you have Lourdes Rubione to thank.

If you have participated in one of Horn Entrepreneurship’s commercialization programs, attended a REEF@UD Demo Day at the Venture Development Center or reached out through the UD Innovation Gateway, chances are Linda Walck helped make the experience possible.

As program manager for commercialization, Walck coordinates the people, logistics and connections that keep programs moving forward. From managing complex schedules alongside Troy Wilford, director of commercialization programs, to helping innovators find the right resources across the University of Delaware, she is known for stepping in wherever she can add value.

For many students, the path from graduation to startup success is a long, winding road of trial and error. For Sebastian Torres, a University of Delaware computer engineering graduate, that journey began in the middle of his undergraduate career—first by navigating the technical hurdles of video editing, and then by launching a digital project that turned a simple idea into a growing online venture.

For many college students, graduation marks the terrifying unknown of entering the traditional job market. But for Willem Westra, who graduated from the University of Delaware in 2022, the journey took an ambitious turn.

As School Partnerships Manager at Horn Entrepreneurship, Brittany Acosta is helping expand access to entrepreneurship education beyond the University of Delaware campus. Through partnerships with high schools, she works with educators and administrators to bring business, innovation, and leadership courses to students before they begin their college journey.

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.

The Lerner College of Business & Economics recently hosted its spring Sales Competition, a high-stakes event that brought a competitive intensity to the University of Delaware campus. Led by Dan Alia, head of the Sales Minor, the competition serves as a premier test track for undergraduate talent, pushing students to refine their pitches and execute complex missions under pressure.

In an era of rapid technological advancement, the digital landscape is becoming increasingly complex—and with that complexity comes a critical need for robust, reliable security. As software development cycles accelerate and sensitive data becomes a prime target, the tools used to identify and neutralize vulnerabilities are more important than ever. This is the final article in the series highlighting the teams participating in the 2026 Summer Founders program. You can meet them at this year’s Demo Day.

In an era where digital presence is as critical as physical footprint, two ventures in Horn Entrepreneurship’s 2026 Summer Founders cohort are helping professionals command authority in the real estate market. Whether through the lens of a camera or the mechanics of property remodeling, these teams are focused on maximizing value—one by amplifying personal brands and the other by building tangible asset wealth. This is an article in the series highlighting the teams participating in the 2026 Summer Founders program. You can meet them at this year’s Demo Day.