Stories & Updates

After a long and intensive 12-week program, Horn Entrepreneurship's Summer Founders assembled virtually this Tuesday for the pre-accelerator’s 5th annual Summer Founders Demo Day. With 18 teams and over 130 total attendees at the virtual event, this year’s Demo Day marks the program’s biggest yet.

Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship, which is offered through the College of Education and Human Development, is a concentration in entrepreneurship that focuses on finding entrepreneurial solutions to social, cultural, and environmental issues.

As a biomedical engineer, Ariel Hannum’s foremost mission has always been to make a positive impact on the lives of others. Having recently graduated from her honors program at the University of Delaware, Hannum, CE20, has dedicated most of her time as an undergraduate to contributing to healthcare innovations in imaging technology.

New Product Development is offered through the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources and teaches students about the product development process, from the inception of a product and the natural resources used to create it to it’s shelf-life. I spoke with Alanna Weiss, a senior Hospitality Business Management major, about how a trip to Switzerland got her involved in entrepreneurship, how the certificate program has shaped the way she interacts with objects in her daily life, and what she plans to do with her entrepreneurial education in the future. 

Early June, we found out that University of Delaware Horn Entrepreneurship will welcome its largest cohort of students to Summer Founders 2020 virtually. This group of students was composed of twenty-two startup teams totaling 34 students in the 12-week virtual pre-accelerator. During these virtual summer weeks, our founders have been receiving mentorship, education, and resources to develop and advance their concepts. Since going virtual, the groups have seen their fair share of ups and downs. The biggest include how to advance their concepts and build relationships with their teams all through a computer screen. 

Innovation & Entrepreneurship for Health is offered through the College of Health Sciences and teaches students how to create healthcare solutions and products via entrepreneurial methods. Susan Varghese, a junior Cognitive Science major, told me all about how she got involved with entrepreneurship and why she’s so passionate about it.

Danielle Fisher, CEHD20, is making a splash in the world by bringing clean water systems to communities in need. As a human services major and a Delaware Innovation Fellow, Fisher’s entrepreneurial journey has, like a river, flowed from place to place, creating new channels as it moves.

The Entrepreneurial Leadership certificate is offered through the Lerner College of Business and Economics and teaches students how to lead with innovation within a dynamic organization or environment. I spoke with Jonathan Amato, a junior in the certificate program, to learn more about entrepreneurial leadership and how entrepreneurship relates to his major, finance.

The Design & Creative Making certificate is offered through the College of Arts & Sciences and teaches students how to think creatively and apply entrepreneurial thinking to design creation. I interviewed freshmen Fashion Merchandising major Brianna O’Doherty about why she joined the Design and Creative Making certificate and how she intends to utilize entrepreneurship skills in fashion merchandising.

Horn Entrepreneurship is excited to announce all of the accomplishments and successes of our community of creative thinkers, trailblazers and world-changers this quarter.