Stories & Updates

Horn Entrepreneurship and eClub will host the 2022 Spring Pitch Party. A hybrid format will take place, with the event as in-person for those registering as presenters.  The larger audience of spectators will remain virtual. It all takes place on March 23, from 6 - 8 p.m.

This article is part of a series describing how UD Horn Entrepreneurship assists teams in moving their inventions and innovations into the marketplace, a process known as commercialization. Each team receives a customized blend of resources, including training, mentorship, and funding, through the Blue Hen Proof of Concept Program.  Mentorship and support is also provided by Horn Entrepreneurship partners, including the Office of Economic, Innovations and Partnerships and Delaware’s Small Business Development Center.

Lan Wang was a UD graduate student and postdoc, now Versogen’s Director of New Chemistry and Cofounder, who led the effort to scale the world’s leading polymer membrane technologies for converting water into green hydrogen.

Meet Felicia Harrington. Joining the Horn team at the University of Delaware in a new position as Program Manager for EntreX Lab, a K-12 dual enrollment initiative. Felicia brings her compassion for understanding K-12 educational challenges, along with years of working with high school youth as a teacher, administrator and innovator. 

Meet Glen Gaddy joining the Horn Entrepreneurship Team in a new role as Managing Director of the University Launch Fund. Gaddy plans to utilize his extensive experiences as an entrepreneur and innovator from both his corporate and academic roles. He comes to Horn as the Managing Member of long standing angel investor group, Robin Hood Ventures, and serves as chair of Mid Atlantic Diamond Ventures, the leading quarterly early stage pitch forum in the Mid Atlantic.

The Venture Development Center provides a central location for student entrepreneurial activity.

Horn Entrepreneurship is pleased to announce a successful fall lineup of VentureOn teams. Twenty teams from across campus ranging from undergraduate to graduate students compose the newest cohort. VentureOn, offered each semester, is for students who already have a startup or social venture and are working on building revenue, meeting customers, and other needed resources.

Photo by Evan Krape

Seventeen research teams will participate in the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps (NSF I-Corps) Sites program to assess the commercial viability of their academic research, university intellectual property, or any STEM-related technology. The 20th cohort to enter the program at Horn Entrepreneurship started their five-week series of workshops and market research on October 5.

Meet John Cusick. Joining the Horn Team as a Lead Mentor, John plans to utilize his love for coaching young entrepreneurs and his Gore experience in bringing technology to the market.

This article is part of a series describing how UD Horn Entrepreneurship assists teams in moving their inventions and innovations into the marketplace, a process known as commercialization. A customized blend of resources, including training, mentorship, and funding, is provided to each team through the Blue Hen Proof of Concept Program. Additional mentorship and support is provided by Horn Entrepreneurship partners including the Office of Economic, Innovations and Partnerships and Delaware’s Small Business Development Center.

Milestones can be celebrated as a measure of accomplishment. For the Horn Entrepreneurship Summer Founders, they have reached an important one of being at the halfway point.

Individual progress is dependent on their biggest challenge of “getting out of the building” to meet potential customers and learn how valuable their startup solution is, or how it could be appreciated even more. By this measure, they have collectively made 442 visits, in-person locally or somewhere in the USA, virtually. The best personal growth measure is what they each find from one another. The pre-accelerator program is designed to collaborate and that is why on a daily basis, they work together to advance each other's product potential.