Hen Hatch
Semifinalists for Horn Program's Hen Hatch announced
3:09 p.m., Feb. 26, 2014--The preliminary rounds of the student track and alumni, faculty and staff track of Hen Hatch, the University of Delaware’s premier business startup funding competition hosted by the Horn Program in Entrepreneurship, have come to a close.
This year, aspiring entrepreneurs submitted a record number of 64 new business ideas.
Honors Stories
National Medal of Science
Warren Award
An expert panel of 48 seasoned entrepreneurs, investors and business executives evaluated the pitches for feasibility and growth potential and selected 20 teams to advance to the semifinal round.
Semifinalists in the student track are:
- NovoBox, led by Leslie Siron and Crescent Scudder;
- PenguinAds, led by Mac Nagaswami;
- ShopTutors, led by Nathaniel Matherson and Matt Lenhard;
- Udwell, led by Yael Bloom and Tali Cohen;
- NOE Band, led by Anthony Rossi and John Koshy;
- Best Day Ever Studios, led by Brooke Hoffman;
- Boardless, led by Will Kashdan, David Braka and John Corbett;
- Board to Death, led by Chris Melillo and Krista Adams;
- Sleep App-Nea, led by Adam Newirth, Jeff Bonis and Josh Rothhaupt; and
- DAIMYO, led by Kyle Steelman.
Semifinalists in the alumni, faculty and staff track are:
- Original13, led by Kasey Conners, John Kowchak and Laura Pushkar;
- Grasshopper Talent App, led by Liz Brenner, Nicole McCabe and Deb Stambaugh;
- SimpleCrew, led by Michael McCabe and Alan VanToai;
- Jaggery, led by Asmita and Anand Atre;
- Ghost Crab Games, led by Chris Hoopes and Dustin Twilley;
- POM-CO, led by Andrew Leahy, Lukas Lampe and Jane Goewey;
- I Don’t Give a Fork, led by Leigh Ann Tona;
- PrepairMe, led by Pedro Moore, Garth Spencer and Rayvann Kee;
- Smart with Art, led by Amy Friedman; and
- No Joke Fitness, led by Mark Bailey, Manik Sharma and Ronald Nichols.
The semifinalists will pitch their business ideas to a new set of judges on Friday, March 14 (student track), and Friday, March 21 (alumni, faculty and staff track), at the new Venture Development Center, located at 132 E. Delaware Ave., and the top three business ideas from each track will go on to the final round.
Hen Hatch’s final round will take place on Wednesday, April 30. A $50,000 prize pool in startup cash and services will be awarded.