Summer Founders: Demo Day 2024
On August 15, 2024, the teams from Summer Founders showcased their ventures at Demo Day. Summer Founders is a 12-week pre-accelerator program where students are tasked to search for repeatable and scalable business models that are able to solve both commercial and social problems. The students were granted a stipend during this program and were also given weekly mentoring and education sessions. The flexible structure of the program allows each team to achieve unique goals. Demo Day is the conclusion of Summer Founders, providing teams the opportunity to present their projects, demonstrate how the program has influenced their work, and connect with community members, peers, and mentors while sharing their summer progress on their venture.
Demo Day Highlights: Team Presentations and Continued Networking
Demo Day focused on networking. Each team set up display tables where community members, faculty, peers and mentors could engage with them about their ventures, allowing for broad interaction and feedback. There were a few presentations interspersed within the networking expo. in which the young founders summarized their entire Summer Founders experience, from the initial stages of their venture to the final product showcased.
Highlights from Demo Day: Teams, Mentors, and Community
Thank you to all of the teams who participated in Summer Founders and Demo Day. Your dedication and hard work were greatly appreciated. The founders and teams was as follows:
Jenna Tomasch - MakerWear
This venture is a custom protective clothing for makers including a pair of one-size-fits-most, adjustable overalls that can be worn over top of clothing and used to protect people and their clothing from messy or unsafe situations.
Thomas Repetz - Big Rig’s Lionfish Spearfishing Expedition
This venture focuses on operating and offering several excursions including lionfish spearfishing, eco-tour, sandbar trip, sunset cruise, and booze cruise.
Cade Krueger - Dress Fragile
Next, this venture is a second-hand clothing brand that creates the same value that many others find in "buying new".
Hanna Armstrong & Joshua Artis - ArPlans
Their venture “ArPlans”, redefines event planning with its innovative platform. The goal is to create a smart UI RFP system that simplifies venue selection by matching event criteria with local venues, catering to both novice and experienced planners. Will be your one-stop-shop for all things events.
Dylan Mooney - Offshore Fishing Intel Service
Next, this venture is reliable and specific information to private offshore fishermen targeting tuna, marlin, and wahoo at an affordable price. This will be accomplished by creating daily reports using intel gathered from skilled charter fishing boats in the desired area.
Annabelle Brame - Brame
Furthermore, this venture “Convertible Dress" has twelve variations to help women dress for a large number of occasions. It is reversible in color and neckline. It also is adjustable in length depending on the customer's need. This dress aims to reduce overconsumption within the evening-wear market.
Evyn Appel & Thomas Kramer - Heard Chef
This venture is an app that replaces the burdensome research of answering "What's for dinner?" with a much more entertaining, Tinder-like swiping experience. Easily find recipes that match your personal tastes with those in your household by swiping through a curated list of potential options and "matching" on those you all like.
Alex Berman - One Click Docs
Next, this venture creates a platform for building, deploying, and managing web apps, with the opportunity for the user to sell their creations on a community market. This platform will decrease software developers' time to reach end markets while allowing them to leverage their content to make money.
A big thank you to all of the mentors who met regularly with their assigned team, coaching and supporting them throughout the summer. The mentors for each team include:
Jeff Fetterman with MakerWear
Bob Francois with Big Rig’s Lionfish Spearfishing Expedition
Dave Liss with Dress Fragile
Garry Johnson, III with ArPlans
Micheal Paszkiewicz with Offshore Fishing Intel Service
Tate Rarick with Brame
Matt Walz with Heard Chef
Brian Pryor with One Click Docs
Another big thank you to the local entrepreneurs and business leaders who visited each week as advisors and philanthropic investors to support the startups. Your support and involvement were instrumental in achieving the students’ success.
A Reflection on the Summer Founders Program: A Community Celebration
Summer Founders has a profound impact on the students and the entrepreneurship community. The summer provided teams with valuable opportunities and resources to advance their ventures. The growth and evolution of each venture were significantly impacted by the workshops, mentorship, and guidance throughout the program, highlighting the significance of coming together as a community to celebrate these remarkable young entrepreneurs.
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.
