In an era of rapid technological advancement, the digital landscape is becoming increasingly complex—and with that complexity comes a critical need for robust, reliable security. As software development cycles accelerate and sensitive data becomes a prime target, the tools used to identify and neutralize vulnerabilities are more important than ever. This is the final article in the series highlighting the teams participating in the 2026 Summer Founders program. You can meet them at this year’s Demo Day.
Two teams in Horn Entrepreneurship’s Summer Founders pre-accelerator program are exploring how to simplify and strengthen cybersecurity for developers and high-stakes organizations alike. Kitin is building an agentic command-line interface tool to streamline code vulnerability identification, while MAPS is developing an innovative vulnerability-scanning dashboard tailored for secure, air-gapped environments.
Varsha Danduri, BS in Computer Science, class of 2027
Kitin is an agentic command-line interface tool designed to help developers identify and remediate code security vulnerabilities before deployment. By working within existing repositories and supporting scheduled scans, the platform reduces the risk of compliance issues and costly legal pitfalls.
The inspiration for Kitin struck while Danduri was implementing an AI-driven security tool for a personal project. Frustrated by a deluge of false positives and redundant warnings, she discovered that the broader developer community was facing the exact same bottleneck.
"I looked into how AI processes were made and realized AI had full control to get things wrong," Danduri said. "To solve this, I wanted to create a product that used a different type of architecture where we could have AI do specific, targeted tasks."
Danduri targets small engineering teams that rely on third-party integrations but want to avoid the massive time sink of building and maintaining custom security architectures. Kitin acts as an AI assistant, allowing developers to trigger scans natively through their terminal.
"Letting AI do a chunk of the work isn’t meant to replace engineers, but to decrease the workload," Danduri explains. "It's to augment their work and ensure they aren't bogged down by menial tasks."
Balancing the venture with her academic career, Danduri utilizes a hyper-focused, incremental work ethic, setting daily checkpoints to maintain momentum without burning out. Entering the Summer Founders program provided immediate strategic advantages, specifically through the collaborative environment.
"Success at the end of the 11 weeks is not really focused on revenue," she explains. "It’s about having a stable idea and finding a few people who truly believe in the startup and want to use it."
Monitoring Automated Passive Security (MAPS) is an AWS-hosted vulnerability-scanning service that transforms raw customer scan files into an interactive dashboard. By providing AI-assisted remediation solutions and custom fix keys, MAPS simplifies risk management for highly secure environments.
The venture began as a senior design project, born out of a desire to apply engineering skills to real-world security challenges.
"We wanted to focus on something we could apply our skills to right away," Misere explained. "We felt we could take it really far with the help of the Venture Development Center (VDC)."
MAPS differentiates itself by targeting defense contractors and government agencies. Because these organizations often operate on "air-gapped," classified servers with no internet access, they cannot utilize most commercial, cloud-based security tools. MAPS solves this by allowing contractors to upload anonymized data to the platform, enabling vulnerability assessment without requiring the MAPS team to have direct integration into the client’s sensitive systems.
"We handle their data anonymously," Misere said. "They don't have to be implemented; they don't have to do anything for us. All they have to do is send their anonymized scan, and we take it from there."
For Sanchez and Misere, the Summer Founders program has been a pivotal shift from pure development to entrepreneurship. "We were thinking we were going to develop a product, but the work we’ve done at Horn is teaching us how to become entrepreneurs," Misere noted. "Instead of just developing something and hoping people buy it, we are finding the actual pain points where there is high demand."
As they head toward the August 13th Demo Day, the team is focused on completing a polished pitch deck and a functional beta to showcase to potential customers.
A Shared Lesson
Across the Summer Founders cohort, a recurring theme is the necessity of overcoming the fear of failure to embrace the unique environment of the university. For the teams behind Kitin and MAPS, college is not just a place for academic growth, but the ideal, low-risk ecosystem to test ideas, iterate, and build professional networks.
For Varsha Danduri of Kitin, the biggest hurdle for student founders is the psychological barrier of potential failure. She views the academic environment as an unmatched safety net that offers students early access to innovation and distribution tools. "The only real failure would be being afraid of failing, or not deciding to build because of that fear," Danduri explains. "There has never been a safer or more explosive foundation for launching a startup than during college."
Juan Sanchez and Abraham Misere of MAPS emphasize that the true value of their time at the University of Delaware lies in the resources and connections available to them. They encourage fellow students to move past the theory of the classroom and engage with the real-world opportunities provided by the campus community. "Don't waste the time you have here," Sanchez says. "Use the connections and the resources this place has before you realize it's too late."
Ultimately, the lesson for aspiring entrepreneurs is one of action over perfection. Whether through the collaborative environment of Summer Founders or incremental daily progress, these founders are learning that the entrepreneurial process depends on building relationships, testing assumptions and using customer feedback to develop solutions that people truly need and want.
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.