Stories & Updates

For young and ambitious entrepreneurs, summertime offers an ideal opportunity to nurture and refine their ventures amidst great weather, ample free time, and positive vibes. The Summer Founders program allows a select group of students to fully immerse themselves in developing their startups. Congratulations to this year’s eight teams!

VentureOn 2024: Honoring Teams Based On Social Impact and Community Development 

This is the fourth article in a series highlighting the Spring 2024 VentureOn teams. In this article, we'll delve into teams that focus on ventures related to Social Impact and Community Development. VentureOn is a program that spans a semester and requires an application. It gives students the opportunity to validate a problem and create a practical solution related to their personal interests. These projects can cover social issues, business concepts, or product ideas. The students come from multiple different universities with a variety of different majors and areas of study.

The 4th Annual Ratcliffe Eco Entrepreneurship Fellows Pitch Day, hosted by Horn Entrepreneurship at the Venture Development Center recently took place Monday May 6. Nine participants with a strong passion for the environment and sustainability came together to pitch their ideas to the judges and compete for a grab at the cash prize. Ideas ranged in all areas from, sustainable home buying, to energy conversion, to aquatic ecosystem preservation.

Where ideas meet innovation and charisma meets community, 2024 Diamond Challenge Summit. From April 25th to 27th, a conference celebrating entrepreneurial high school students from all around the globe, featured workshops, panel discussions, innovation sprints, and networking opportunities. Over the past few days, we've witnessed a convergence of groundbreaking ideas, disruptive strategies, and valuable insights shared by some of the brightest minds in the entrepreneurial landscape. 

At the Hen Hatch 2023 event, a gathering of outstanding young entrepreneurs demonstrated their dedication and willingness to put in the work to compete for funding based on their ventures. Amongst the other entrepreneurs participating in the innovation showcase and the finalist round, Samantha McGhee shined bright. She was able to pitch Miss Boulevard with grace and charisma that engaged the crowd and judges. Landing her some crucial funding for her entrepreneurial journey.

On February 28, 2024, 36 teams of high school students from 21 schools met at Rutgers University to participate in the 2024 EntreX Regional Venture Showcase. The showcase provided high school students participating in Horn Entrepreneurship’s dual enrollment program, EntreX Lab, with a platform to pitch their entrepreneurial projects and cultivate essential skills and connections that will serve them well in their future endeavors.

Have you ever noticed how the greatest leaders can't lead others? An Oscar winning actress can't act. A Grammy winning singer can't hold a tune. And a New York best selling author can't write a proper story. Even how innovators can’t innovate. The answer is no, you haven't noticed this at first glance. People like that are talented, decorated, high status individuals who are enchanting through the eyes of others. But unfortunately, not to themselves. Even the best of the best may feel inadequate. No matter the great things someone achieves, there is a lingering voice that makes you feel like all those accomplishments don't matter because you aren’t actually deserving. 

University of Delaware has welcomed a few new faculty members over the past couple years from a wide range of departments and fields. Gladly UD’s Ratcliffe Eco Entrepreneurship Fellows Program (REEF) has added Megan Pillsbury as their director in 2022. A talented individual like Megan Pillsbury has a lot to share and a lot for us to learn about. She was able to speak with Horn Entrepreneurship and share some more about herself, her role, and experiences.

(This article was originally published by University of Delaware's Lerner School of Business as part of their Seeing Opportunity series.)

This year, the UD Alfred Lerner College welcomed several new faculty members into its community. Tomé Salgueiro is an assistant professor of social innovation and entrepreneurship; he spoke with Lerner about his research focus and why he chose to join the University of Delaware.