Stories & Updates

Social innovation is often the result of collaboration, but the efforts of one person dedicated to furthering a cause can truly make a difference. That’s what the young entrepreneurs and their chaperones from across the globe gathered to celebrate at the 2026 Limitless World Summit, an annual conference hosted by the University of Delaware’s Horn Entrepreneurship that offers secondary school students the chance to hone their entrepreneurial skills and win funding for their business and social ventures. Epitomizing that potential was the 2026 Emerging Innovator of the Year: Soneesh Kothagundla, an 18-year-old health advocate from Georgia, USA.

The Lerner College of Business & Economics recently hosted its spring Sales Competition, a high-stakes event that brought a competitive intensity to the University of Delaware campus. Led by Dan Alia, head of the Sales Minor, the competition serves as a premier test track for undergraduate talent, pushing students to refine their pitches and execute complex missions under pressure.

Horn Entrepreneurship celebrated the achievements of 13 outstanding University of Delaware undergraduate students by awarding them more than $10,000 in cash and Venture Development Center (VDC) credit. These honors recognize the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit thriving within the university's student body.

From sustainable fashion and food waste reduction to coastal restoration and eco-friendly products, University of Delaware students showcased bold ideas for a healthier planet at the fifth annual REEF@UD Demo Day on Monday, May 4, at the Venture Development Center.

Got a venture in motion? Leading a project? Building something that makes life better? Horn Entrepreneurship is now accepting applications for its annual awards and scholarships, offering more than $10,000 in cash to support the next wave of UD student innovators.

The 15 latest recipients of Blue Hen 17&43 awards were announced at the recent Blue Hen Innovation Fest. These awards are Horn Entrepreneurship and the Lerner College of Business & Economics’annual recognition of the most promising early-stage startups founded by University of Delaware alumni.

The final round of Hen Hatch featured four teams with widely divergent concepts: straws that change color to discreetly reveal spiked drinks, an app for women to manage chronic health conditions, a clothing line that supports animal shelters and autonomous robots that look for leaks in water lines.

This October, The Siegfried Group, LLP (Siegfried) and Horn Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware (UD) honored Geoff Woods, author of #1 international bestseller The AI-Driven Leader and Founder of AI Leadership, with the 2025 Siegfried Award for Entrepreneurial Leadership. In a private dinner and award ceremony at Wilmington Country Club, Woods was celebrated for his groundbreaking approach to leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) as a thought partner and commitment to getting in the driver’s seat in a rapidly evolving digital landscape – learning and wielding the emerging technology to spark exponential progress.

UD alumna’s success comes as Horn Entrepreneurship climbs into the top 25 in the 2026 Princeton Review rankings

Four teams advanced to the final round of Hen Hatch, UD’s premier startup funding competition, at the 2025 Blue Hen Innovation Fest on December 4. These finalists will compete to find out how much of the $50,000 prize pool will help them advance their ventures.