The Horn Entrepreneurship Youth team hosted it’s first regional pitch event outside of Delaware this year for EntreX, a dual enrollment program from the University of Delaware that provides first-hand experience with the entrepreneurial process to high school students throughout the Mid-Atlantic. While the program has held many pitch events in Delaware and virtually with students from across the country, the EntreX Regional Showcase at Rutgers University on February 28 was a big milestone as the first in-person event of its kind to be held outside our home state.
Teams of students from 10 schools brought their best innovative ideas and pitches to the showcases, presenting them to panels of judges experienced in many facets of the startup world. They competed for $2,500 in startup funding and to qualify for Horn Entrepreneurship’s Diamond Challenge Summit on April 23-25, where they had the opportunity to meet and pitch alongside students from around the world for additional prize money. The teams competing at the showcase came from the following schools:
- Perkiomen School
- Toms River South High School
- Mainland Regional High School
- Marvelwood School
- Masters School
- Immaculata High School
- Brooklyn Academy of Finance
- Eagle Academy of Southeast Queens
- Monroe Township High School
- Saint John Vianney High School
We wouldn’t be able to host events like EntreX showcases without our amazing judges, who donate their time and expertise to allow us to provide an amazing experience to entrepreneurial students. A special thank you to our judges who helped out at the Rutgers University Showcase:
Jennifer Davie Rowland - CFO and Chief Audit Executive, Girls With Impact
Jayme Smaldone - President, Mighty Ventures, Inc.
Meredith Halpern - Ranzer Co-Founder, Tinkercast
Darrell Edmonds - CEO and Founder, Friday is Tie Day, Inc
Veronica Armour - Director, Rutgers Innovation, Design, and Entrepreneurship Academy
Celebrating The Spirit of Innovation
While EntreX students at the showcase were eager to pitch and compete, they were excited just to be there and receive feedback on their solutions to the world’s problems. For many, it was their first experience at a pitch competition, and also the first time they had been surrounded by like-minded entrepreneurial students to such an extent. With time to network and interact with entrepreneurs from other schools and other attendees before and after the pitch rounds, the focus of the event was truly centered around growing the student’s entrepreneurial skill sets and ventures.
The showcases started with a short welcome and introduction before jumping into the pitch rounds, which were separated into two tracks: business innovation and social innovation. Following almost 2 hours of pitching and judge Q&A, there was a break for the competing students, judges, and other attendees to eat lunch, relax, and network.
After the break, we had the opportunity to host keynote speaker Alfred E. Blake IV, Rutgers Assistant Director of Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs and author of The Students Handbook To Breaking All The Rules.
Finally, the event ended with an award ceremony congratulating two teams from each track on their advancement to the Diamond Challenge Summit.
Business Innovation Teams
Vent Pack - Nicole Bustamante Rivera, Alexandrea Burke, and Brielle Berruti
An odor-preventing sports bag.
Juice Crafters - Jeremiah Forestal, Ramadan Nuru, and Ibn Al Shahira
A healthy beverage company.
AllergyGallery - Isabelle Houck, Anna Brown, and Gracia Galicia
A program to help kids and their parents/guardians navigate food allergies.
On Detection Systems - AJ Bagaria and Bobby Callagy
An early detection system to prevent drowsy driving.
Fire Stop Blanket - Sean Givens, Luciana Rodrigues, Ronald Bumb, and James Burke
A device containing a fireproof blanket that installs above a kitchen stove and deploys upon detection of fire.
Zzzahbox! - Nick Brennan, Julian Rivera, Joslyn Adams, and Tyler Peterson
Mystery subscription box service designed to help reduce stress and anxiety.
Lavish Style and Blink Minks - Courtney Gulston and Radiant Pompey
Products designed to create lasting beauty and confidence.
Easy Funds - Harrison Wolk and Dhruv Shetty
Fundraising platform for schools.
Qtr5 - Jake Bolyn and Ata Zeytinoglu
An apparel company that uses NIL deals to market and create products for the public to purchase
X-Save - Fiona Drew, Ashley Salvesen, and Christina Stafyleras
A portable X-ray developed using NASA-developed technology, used to save lives at athletic events.
Social Innovation Teams
Thumbwrappers - Kinsley Smith and Ben Rosenberg
Biodegradable gum wrappers made of seeds, paper and soy wax.
Andres' Lounge - Danta McDonald, Shania Grant, Amanda Colon, Terell Ray
Come dine with us at Andres’ Lounge and experience authentic Jamaican cuisine.
Gardin365 - Jeanie Ville and Kendall Gavin
Indoor tower garden that allows easier access to healthier and better quality food and eco-friendly for the environment.
GirlBoss - Lindsay Harrington and Sara Conenna
A women's sports platform.
Tower Turbines - Cameron Brennan, Cole Jankowski, Jacob Silva, and Sean Daluise
A new and innovative wind turbine that uses the wind tunnel effect in between buildings to generate clean and environmentally friendly electricity.
PrenticeCorp - Tyron Simmons, Drequan Jackson, Demarijon McNeil
A Virtual apprenticeship and career development company.
WeCare HealthCare - Sydney Mims, You Wu, Mya German
A mobile health unit that provides care and resources at a lower cost.
Advancing Teams
Social Innovation
First Place: WeCare HealthCare, Marvelwood Academy
Second Place: PrenticeCorp, Eagle Academy of Southeast Queens
Business Innovation
First Place: X-Save, Saint John Vianney High School
Second Place: AllergyGallery, Marvelwood School
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.
