Stories & Updates

For many, the last year spent in school is a daunting, anxious ordeal filled with uncertainty about the next step in life. Sam Stokes, Entrepreneurship & Technology Innovation (ENTI), Class of 2018, was no different, but rather than go through the motions of finding a job to start down a career path she didn’t deeply care about, as many of her friends were doing, Sam spent her final year in school searching for her higher purpose and deepest interests and passions. Now, Sam operates a location-independent lifestyle business that provides web design services for small businesses and solopreneurs who want more from life.

The Summer Founders teams convened one last time on Tuesday, August 20, at the Venture Development Center for the 2019 Demo Day. The eight startup teams worked diligently all summer on their respective ventures, and each was able to showcase that hard work through their individual presentations. Along with the Summer Founders teams, the Venture Development Center was filled with potential investors, UD alumni, and other members of the Horn Entrepreneurship community.

Summer Founders, now almost three-quarters of the way through its 11-week programming, has already provided participating student ventures with valuable lessons on their entrepreneurial journey. The Horn Entrepreneurship marketing team caught up with a few of the student founders last month, and checked back in for more updates from July.

It took 27 years for Michael Friedenberg, President of News and Media Operations for Reuters, an international news organization, to return to UD for a visit. The Entrepreneurship Club, a student-run organization supported by Horn Entrepreneurship, invites entrepreneurial alumni and community members to share their insights with students on a weekly basis during Free Lunch Friday. Michael shared Reuters’ views on freedom of the press in international spaces and why factual based reporting is important.

ChaCha Hudson started The SEWcial Cafe, a community sewing space for women to create, collaborate, and develop handmade products in a relaxed and inspiring environment that encourages innovation with in October 2018. Now almost a year on from launching, and ChaCha wants to bring her unique value of sewing expertise with strong community building practices to other women across the world. 

Kelsey Kosinski’s original intention was to complete an engineering degree and solve complex problems. But in her freshman year, she quickly realized how much she missed the creative outlet she had through sewing and designing her own fashions. Kelsey abruptly switched her major to fashion design and trusted her interests would lead her in the right direction.    

While the UD community enjoys the summer weather and a quiet campus, only to be interrupted by the constant construction on Main Street, the Horn Entrepreneurship community has been busy making waves outside of Newark. We have gathered up a host of stories about what our amazing and active community members have been up to, creating growth and positive change wherever they are. 

Summer Founders is about a third of the way through its 11-week programming and has already provided participating student ventures with valuable lessons on their entrepreneurial journey. The Horn Entrepreneurship media team caught up with a few of the student founders to find out what insights they have gathered from the program so far.

Patient Sortal, a Hen Hatch 2019 winner in the alumni track, has grown from a nascent startup to a qualified healthcare data management company eager to make a difference in the lives of patients with chronic conditions. Founder Kenny Eck, Alfred Lerner College of Business Economics, Class of 2018, says that persistence and the unwavering support of his family, are what have made the two-year journey possible.

Eight University of Delaware student startup teams have been chosen to participate in the fourth Summer Founders cohort run by Horn Entrepreneurship.