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APRIL 21, 2016 – NEWARK, DE – Last Thursday, on April 14th, 2016, fifteen teams of high school entrepreneurs representing five US states and six countries competed in the semifinal round of the business concept track of the Diamond Challenge. The semifinal round ended a day full of entrepreneurial activity, where all the business concept semifinalists as long as the finalists for the Diamond Challenge’s social venture track were able to receive pitch coaching, attend workshops, and network among members of the entrepreneurial community. While the business concept teams competed for the coveted finalist titles, social venture teams, which competed separately online and already had finalists, participated in a Social Entrepreneurship Globechangers Bootcamp presented by the Jefferson Awards Foundation founder Sam Beard (pictured below) and Elizabeth Kennedy, National Director of the Globechangers program.

 

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The business concept teams were split into two rooms and each had to pitch in front of a panel of judges. The first room had judges Margaret O’Dwyer, President of the Delaware Youth Leadership Network, Ryan Harrington, Education Coordinator of 1313 Innovation, Jean Genzano, Director of Brand and Publisher Revenue of StumbleUpon, and Ken Anderson, Entrepreneurial and Small Business Support of the State of Delaware. The second room judges were Lisa Ford, Director of Digital Marketing Strategy of Capital One, Linda O’Hara of the Horn Program, and Donald Baker of Fame, Inc. Two teams, Polar Solis and Notifica of Southern California, immediately moved on to the final round, and teams Retracta-ball Pump and Essential Beauty of Maryland had to compete in one final pitch-off for the last finalist spot. Retracta-ball Pump snagged that spot for the final round, and the three teams joined Social Venture teams MentourU from Pennsylvania, Do it for Bunica from Moldova, and Fresquiticos from Costa Rica as the finalists for the competition.

Screen Shot 2016-04-21 at 4.36.16 PM Semifinalist pitching on Thursday, April 14th

Screen Shot 2016-04-21 at 4.36.31 PM Participants visited the Venture Development Center, home of the Horn Program in Entrepreneurship on the University of Delaware Campus on Thursday evening for an awards celebration dinner.

Β A full list of semifinalist teams for the Business Concept Competition include:

 

Retracta-ball Pump

Β Heather Barnstead (Advisor), Nathan Wagener, Gabriel Werner, fromΒ Β Severna Park, MD, USA

Β The Retracta-ball Pump is a ball pump that allows the needle to retract back into the pump, preventing the needle from being lost or damaged.

 

Essential Beauty

Β Heather Barnstead (Advisor), Hannah Nicholson, Erica Szymanski fromΒ Severna Park, MD, USA

Β Essential Beauty is a travel size make-up organizer that can also be used as a counter for anyone challenged with a lack of space.

 

Flow – Our Modular KeyboardΒ 

Β Jim Borden (Advisor), Brandon Howell, Hunter Meyers-Emery from Wayne, PA, USA

Β Our first product is Flow: a revolutionary, modular-based keyboard that allows the user to pick and choose how they use it.

 

Hemmed

Β Lesley Wallace (Advisor), Francesca Mariano, Victoria Granda, Marikate Bryan fromΒ Wilmington, DE, USA

Β Hemmed will accommodate the schedules of business professionals by offering convenient and customizable tailoring services in the office.

 

DraftRivals

Β Laura Victorino (Advisor), Jonathan Victorino, Akshay Padmanabhan fromΒ Danville, CA, USA

Β DraftRivals: a social daily fantasy sports game that is fast and fun. Challenge your friends any time in the season to a spontaneous matchup.

 

Anti-Drone System

Β Eugene Chou (Advisor), Jack Calhoun, Jeffrey Cho, Brian PattersonΒ fromΒ Dublin, CA, USA

Β A system that will keep drones and aircrafts from colliding, that is both safe and efficient. It will do minimal to no damage to a drone.

 

Notifica

Β Srinivasan Ganapathi (Advisor), Aditya Ganapathi, David Hou from Palo Alto, CA, USA

Β A unique security company that offers two products, one to tackle women safety and another to revolutionize the in-home monitoring of asset.

 

Polar Solis

Β Jerry Fleischhacker (Advisor), George Little, Philip Lee, Julian Davis, Rostam Reifschneider fromΒ La Jolla, CA, USA

Β Polar Solis is a windshield that diffracts sun glare by adjusting color and brightness to counteract the fluctuation in levels of UV light.

 

SmartWash

Β Colleen Hayes (Advisor), John Downey, Patrick McKelvey, Matthew Timo fromΒ Lincroft, NJ, USA

Β SmartWash aims to revolutionize the shower experience by tracking shower duration, ultimately helping to save water and your wallet.

 

Pea Band

Β Martin Thompson (Advisor), Hao Yuan, Jingyu Zheng, Yi Cao, Wanqin Wen fromΒ Beijing, China

Β Pea Band, a smart band with user-friendly functions such as a special charging cable, NFC communication, and USB disk functionality.

 

Healthy Spray

Β Cristina Bulancea, Diana ΘšΔƒruΘ™ Alina Buga (Advisor) fromΒ Chisinau, Moldova

Β Healthy Spray is a unique formula with active substances designed to absorb traces of chalk from blackboard with an inviting smell. The solution interacts with chalk from the blackboard Β and reduces Β chalk dustΒ  from the air of classrooms, which can cause respiratory diseases.

 

Tushurai

Β Natia Gogotidze (advisor), Nino Meltsaidze, Diana khecauridze from Georgia

Β Tushurai is developing entrepreneurship in Tusheti, a high mountain region of Georgia to help Tushetian and foreign visitors have an enjoyable time through a cafΓ© with nice atmosphere, delicious food and entertaining activities.

 

The Phoenix Reintegration Center for Former Convicts

Β Mourad Gzara (advisor), Sara Gzara, Meriam Ben Said fromΒ Tunisa

Β We are presenting a center that offers a 6-months reintegration program to ex-convicts to insure them a successful reentry after release.

 

Electronic Pill Box

Β Hannah Kim (advisor), Katherine Ho, Ashley Phuong fromΒ San Jose, CA, USA

Β PRISM assists anyone taking many pills regularly with an all in one solution of a pillbox and an app.

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No matter where our Diamond Challenge alumni go, we are constantly amazed by how they continue to make an impact on the world for the better.

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About Horn Entrepreneurship

Horn EntrepreneurshipΒ serves as the University of Delaware’s creative engine for entrepreneurship education and advancement. Built and actively supported by successful entrepreneurs and thought leaders, Horn Entrepreneurship empowers aspiring innovators and entrepreneurs as they pursue new ideas for a better world.

Follow Horn EntrepreneurshipΒ @udhornΒ and check out our entrepreneurship competition for high school studentsΒ @diamondchalleng.