As time goes on, our circle of brilliant entrepreneurs and innovators continue to impress others and add to the list of ongoing achievements and accolades. Whether it’s obtaining funding through investments and grants, winning awards and competitions, or getting the recognition they deserve from notable people and publications, UD students, faculty, and alumni continue to succeed and display their excellence. Below are all those aforementioned achievements and accolades categorized by students, faculty, and alumni.
Students
Lauren Roberts received the 2023-2024 David J. Freshman Scholarship and her business OBEnaturelleCo advanced to the semifinals at the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA), and later continued on to the regional finals.
The 2023-2024 Robinson Family Scholarship was awarded to both Nicholai Williamson and Isabella Duarte.
Hunter Wills was awarded the 22-23 John R. Craft and Susan L. Craft Scholarship.
Lynn Roberts received the “Excellence in Customer Experience (CX) & Employee Experience (EX) Award”.
Faculty
Horn Entrepreneurship was selected for the “2023 Excellence In Curriculum Innovation In Entrepreneurship Award” by the Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education.
Stephanie Raible was presented the “Excellence in Social Entrepreneurship Award” by the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), an international organization that promotes the growth and development of small businesses worldwide.
Yushan Yan was highlighted as one of the “People to Watch'' in 2023 by Delaware Business Times.
Dan Freeman was named Technical.ly Delaware’s “2022 Tech Community Leader of the Year”.
Alumni
James Massaquoi was named as one of the “PHL Inno Under 25” awardees, a list that highlights individuals in Greater Philadelphia that are on the cutting edge of innovation – whether in venture capital, technology, health care or other industries.
Garrison Davis’ Little Bob Technologies was selected as a Department of Energy American-Made Program phase 1 finalist, and accepted a prize of $100,000 to kick start a clean energy education campaign in Lowndesboro, AL, and support their solar development efforts at the future site of the Lowndesboro Schoolhouse Community Tech Center.
Matthew Saponaro’s business A.I Whoo LLC collaborated with the Newark Partnership and was one of 10 Delaware companies to receive an EDGE grant from the Delaware Division of Small Business..
OmniPotential Energy Partners co founder and president Cora Castle was selected for Technical.ly’s Delaware’s “RealLIST Connectors for 2023”, an annual roundup of “people working to build their local tech, entrepreneurship and innovation community through the power of connection, whether linking others to networks, jobs or resources”.
Adresis, Inc. CEO and President Andrew Cottone won the Pete du Pont Freedom Foundation’s Reinventing Delaware Competition, championing the idea “Clean Hydrogen”, the nation’s first wind-sourced hydrogen electrolysis plant.
HelloTeam received a $10 Million Series A funding round led by Paychex founder Tom Golisano and his investment firm Grand Oaks Capital.
Metropolitan Acoustics was featured on Techical.ly Philly for their new product SenSV, which monitors micro-vibration, audible sound, and ultrasonic sound.
StretchPlex was featured in a Delaware Today article about the assisted stretching and training business’ variety of one-on-one wellness services.
8 Myles remarkably closed a $1.05 million seed round and was selected to participate in Gener8tor’s Bronze Valley Investment Accelerator.
A $1.9 Million Sea Grant from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) was awarded to PolyGone Systems to optimize, manufacture, and deploy full-scale pilots of their artificial root filtration device.
Ventru was chosen by the Penn Center for Innovation as their “March’s Startup of the Month”.
Carvertise was recognized by NYC Mayor Eric Adams at a press conference and Mac Macleod was named one of the Philadelphia Business Journal’s “Most Admirable CEOs in 2022”.
Lavar Thomas was awarded the “Frank H. Williams Emerging Leaders Award” from the Peace Corps.
FunkkOFF! appeared and pitched on ABC’s Shark Tank, successfully securing a 250k investment from Robert Herjavec for a 12% stake.
Strados Labs had their RESP Biosensor added to government contract vehicles through their partnership with Lovell.
Carbon Reform was selected as a finalist for 2023 SXSW Pitch.
Microplastics Recycling, Alchemize Fightwear, and Nitro Biosciences Inc. all received POC Phase 1 Award funding, while Knitted Kevlar, Stemmer, and Transgender Undergarments each received POC Phase 2 Award funding.
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 US, Horn Entrepreneurship was built and is actively supported by successful entrepreneurs, empowering aspiring innovators as they pursue new ideas for a better world.
