Stories & Updates

Kenny Eck started his first company when he was just 7, and his sixth startup hits a huge milestone this year: a consistent revenue stream, along with plans for a physical office and new services.

His father and stepmother, both pharmacists, wanted Garry Johnson III to have a well-paying, stable career in healthcare. His 2017 University of Delaware bachelor of science in kinesiology and exercise science, leading to a career as a physical therapist, filled the bill, but then he had to have The Talk. 

He had discovered entrepreneurship and wanted to pivot.

Tortilla imprinted with logos and bacon made from mushroom roots are two unusual components of Alanna Weiss’ startup career.

In 2018, while a student at the University of Delaware, she created a food delivery and catering company specializing in quesadillas. Tortilla Text was born from that, with the ability to print messages, logos or other information directly on tortillas.

After graduation in 2020, she was hired by a company now known as MyForest Foods. Its game- changing product – and its first product to hit the shelves – is MyBacon, which is made of just six ingredients: Mushroom mycelium (the root-like structure), salt, coconut oil, sugar, natural flavors and beet juice concentrate (for color).

The revelation for Amira Idris Radović’s business – one that could significantly improve the quality of life for her customers – came in the football team’s gym at the Carpenter Sports Building.

Alexa Chronister, who founded an advocacy group for the chronically ill in her University of Delaware freshman dorm, believes that servant leadership is an important but unheralded concept.

This article is part of a series celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Horn Entrepreneurship by highlighting alumni, their stories and accomplishments.

Bryce Fender and Joel Amin for a long time have wanted to improve the world, and they were well into making their impact when they learned that changing the world involved doing the dishes, and getting dirty at times.

The pair, friends since middle school, acquired life-changing skills through Horn Entrepreneurship. With friend Demetrius M. Thorn, in 2017 they created Wilminvest, which buys and renovates houses, ultimately renting them to families in unstable housing situations while being connected to the social services they need for the duration of their stay.

This article is part of a series celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Horn Entrepreneurship by highlighting alumni, their stories and accomplishments.

The origin story of Alchemize Fightwear involves a rebellion against hot pink and purple, a statement against male thinking and a push to empower women. The company, founded by Maya Nazareth when she was a 19-year-old University of Delaware student, has been profitable since Day 1.

This article is part of a series celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Horn Entrepreneurship by highlighting alumni, their stories and accomplishments.

The first big innovation that Blue Hen Dental co-founder Farhad Baqi orchestrated for the Smyrna, Delaware, dental practice was a device called the Curing Cube, which sped up the time to harden the resins and dental composites used in making impressions from as much 15 minutes to as little as 10 seconds.

This article is part of a series celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Horn Entrepreneurship by highlighting alumni, their stories and accomplishments.

When James Massaquoi was attending Caesar Rodney High School and working at Taco Bell, he didn’t have a clear path for college. In fact, he would later be turned down in his first two choices in majors, finance and accounting.

This article is part of a series celebrating the 10^th anniversary of Horn Entrepreneurship by highlighting alumni, their stories and accomplishments.  

Back in 2012, when Ben Rapkin took his first entrepreneurship class, instructor Dan Freeman, the founding director of Horn Entrepreneurship, asked him to restart the Entrepreneurship Club.