Stories & Updates

August marks the unofficial start of the back-to-school season. There’s excitement, but there’s also stress as parents shop for fall clothing for their children. How expensive is it going to be? Will the clothing last? What if kids hit a growth spurt or have a change of opinion about a particular brand or style?

With purpose-driven ventures, powerful storytelling, and a passion for solving environmental challenges, the 2025 Ratcliffe Eco Entrepreneurship Fellows (REEF@UD) took center stage at the fourth annual REEF@UD Demo Day, held on Monday, May 5 at the Venture Development Center.

Meet Davis Pfund—a Renewable Energy Professional, Social Entrepreneur, Community Builder, Event Producer, Visionary Artist, Multi-Instrumental Musician, and Avid Tree Hugger. With a passion for sustainability, social impact, and regenerative living, Davis has launched multiple ventures that combine entrepreneurship with a mission to create a better world.

This article was originally published on The Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics' "Seeing Opportunity" page.

The Deshpande Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Higher Education honored Horn Entrepreneurship’s Social Entrepreneurship Initiative with its 2023 Excellence in Curriculum Innovation in Entrepreneurship Award.

University of Delaware students showed their passion for the environment on Monday, May 8, at the 3rd Annual Ratcliffe Eco Entrepreneurship Fellows Pitch Day, hosted by Horn Entrepreneurship at the Venture Development Center. This year’s six teams of eco-entrepreneurs pitched their innovative and creative business ideas persuasively, addressing unique environmental issues to a panel of expert judges for a prize pool of $6,000. 

This IHeartUD Giving Day, Horn Entrepreneurship is celebrating and remembering a longtime supporter of Horn by creating the Rysheema Dixon Legacy Award. Meant to honor the impact Dixon had on the local entrepreneurial ecosystem and the City of Wilmington, the funding will be used to support UD student social innovators and entrepreneurs who best exemplify Dixon’s commitment to improving the lives of others through social innovation. Recipients of the Rysheema Dixon Legacy Award will be expected to utilize award funding in pursuit of sustainable societal impact.

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.

The Horn Hen of the month article series is a new series dedicated to highlighting Horn students that are inspiring others and impacting their community. One nominated Horn student will be chosen each month and a written feature will document their hard work and progress as they go through their time at Horn, within our community and beyond. The winning student will also receive a gift card and a Horn Hen of the Month certificate.

The last six months might have flown by for you, but the last six months these students, alumni, faculty and staff were building their businesses, becoming better students and professors, and more. Take inspiration from their achievements in this article. 

This year’s Startup302 competition attracted 125 startups from Delaware, the Philadelphia region, the United States and countries including Canada, Brazil, Colombia, Italy, Nigeria, Uganda and Bangladesh. These teams competed for a prize pool totaling $170,000.