Stories & Updates

While the summer heat leads many to long lazy days, two University of Delaware students and one alumna spent the summer of 2021 working diligently to advance social justice and equality of opportunity through their startups. The three changemakers participated in the inaugural Advancing Equity Thru Entrepreneurship Summer Internship Program (ETE), a program designed to support mission-driven social innovators and entrepreneurs as they develop projects and ventures supporting underrepresented and under-resourced groups.

University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics and Horn Entrepreneurship are proud to announce the 37 2021 Blue Hen 17&43 Award winners.

Horn Entrepreneurship’s Summer Founders Pre-accelerator came to an end with Demo Day on August 19, 2021. However, the founders continued progress towards more successful startups never ends. The unique experience of Summer Founders increases the possibility of students launching viable startups and social ventures, all while gaining valuable advice that will provide dividends in the coming years. Summer Founders includes all aspects of an accelerator except a financial investment, with cohort members receiving guidance from experienced entrepreneurs, advisors and mentors. The founders are also paid stipends to allow them to fully focus on their startup pursuits as long as they continue to demonstrate progress, much like how they might need to sell an investor on progress to get a next round of funding.

Anna Solomon is sales manager at NextFab, a Philadelphia makerspace. At UD, she earned a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2015.

The Blue Hen 17&43 Awards are the University of Delaware’s way of recognizing students and alumni who are part of today’s most promising new ventures and fastest-growing companies. Applications are being sought through July 23, 2021, with an award presentation planned for September.

University of Delaware startups GetPotluck and TheraV won a total of $40,000 at the 2021 Startup302 competition, a Delaware-based funding competition for technology-enabled startups led by underrepresented founders.

Like many teens and young adults in the U.S., Darian Elmendorf had spent many years throughout high school and college silently battling anxiety and depression. And while his struggles were real and acutely felt in his daily life, they were not, at first, readily identifiable.

[Photo by Andrew Hutchins]

At 26 years old, Joe Vela had just quit his Philadelphia tech job to commit to drumming full time and to go on tour with his band, Tweed. It had only been a few years after he and his bandmates had graduated from the University of Delaware, and the opportunity to pursue music was one which they all agreed came only once in a lifetime.

Elizabeth (Lizzy) Adams is a marketing manager for Google, focused on higher education. At UD, she earned a bachelor of arts in mass communication, with minors in journalism and political science in 2013, followed by a master’s degree in entrepreneurship and design, plus a certificate in social media and marketing. While studying at UD, she also worked as a communication specialist for the College of Education and Human Development and as a communication coordinator for the Institute of Global Studies and the Office for International Students and Scholars.

The WE Hatch Practical Insights & Networking Conversations series connects participants with two successful women (a recent graduate and an experienced alumnae leader), who share insights into their careers they wish they had known, practiced or explored earlier. In the virtual sessions participants have the opportunity to listen, discuss, and network in breakout rooms.