Competition
The Diamond Challenge is run by Horn Entrepreneurship at the University of Delaware to empower the next generation to adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Learn more about why tens of thousands of students have engaged with us!
Do you want to compete?
Rounds of the Diamond Challenge
1
Submission Round
2
Pitching Round
3
Semifinal Round
4
Top 18
5
Final Round
prizes
Semifinalists receive an invitation to travel to the University of Delaware to compete in the semifinal round. Top prizes include additional funding that may be used to support the team’s idea or serve as a scholarship to attend any school in the world.
Semifinalists are awarded an in-kind prize package worth up to approximately $2,100 per team that includes tickets to the Summit, hotel accommodations for up to three nights, meals during the conference, and access to speakers, mentors and innovators.
Top Prize Awards
1
1st Place
A prize package worth over $13,000, including the $2,100 in-kind semifinalist prize package
2
2nd Place
A prize package worth over $9,000, including the $2,100 in-kind semifinalist prize package
3
3rd Place
A prize package worth over $5,500, including the $2,100 in-kind semifinalist prize package
Competition Tracks
Business Innovation
If the primary purpose is to solve a customer problem that by doing so will generate revenue and profit, then the business innovation competition is right for you.The business innovation competition focuses on the development and validation of new business models.
Social Innovation
If the primary purpose is to solve a social problem and make a positive impact on people or the environment, then the social innovation competition is right for you.The social innovation competition focuses on the development of new, social innovation models that may include revenue-generating nonprofit organizations and mission-driven, for-profit ventures.
Global Impact
Click on a location to learn more about our pitch events hosted all around the globe
- Armenia (Dilijan)
- China (Nanjing)
- China (Shanghai)
- Costa Rica (San Jose)
- Greece (Athens)
- Guatemala (Guatemala City)
- Haiti (Port-au-Prince)
- India (Chandigarh)
- Jamaica (Kingston)
- Liberia (Paynesville)
- Moldova (Chisinau)
- Nigeria (Kaduna)
- Nigeria (Ogun State)
- Pakistan (Islamabad)
- Republic of Georgia (Tbilisi)
- Sierra Leone (Freetown)
- South Korea (Yongin)
- Spain (Madrid)
- Ukraine (Kyiv)
Diamond Challenge Schedule
August 31
2018
Registration Opens
One person per team: Register for your entire team and find an adult advisor!
December 30
2018
Submissions Close
Submit your written concept and pitch deck before the deadline!
January 4 – January 20
2019
Submission Round Virtual Judging
Online Diamond Challenge judges will review participant submissions and determine who moves on in the competition. Participants will be notified if they are invited to pitch after submission round virtual judging concludes.
February 1 – March 10
2019
Pitching Round
Judges will score invited virtual team pitch videos and invited live team pitches to determine who becomes a semifinalist.
April 13 – 15
2019
Diamond Challenge Summit
Semifinalists pitch live at the University of Delaware during the culminating event. Students, educators, and supporters from all around the world come together to engage with entrepreneurship education through mentoring sessions, workshops, pop-up challenges, speakers, panels, and more during our three-day global conference.
Past Competitions
2018
BUSINESS INNOVATION COMPETITION
1st Place
Winners
Ishan Kasat, Max Medroso, Joseph Sun, Saman Verma (USA)
Idea
H2ydratiOn
An environmentally friendly filter for the removal of heavy metals, such as cadmium, lead, mercury, and copper, from water.
2nd Place
Winners
Andrew Cramer, Samarth Gowda (USA)
Idea
CampusSelect
A website which connects high school students in the college search process to current, compatible undergraduates at their desired schools through video chat.
3rd Place
Winners
Nick Barrow, Michael Wiciak (USA)
Idea
Project X
A quad-copter that uses indirect propulsion systems in order to redirect airflow which has the ability to conceal propellers thus becoming the safest drone in the world.
SOCIAL INNOVATION COMPETITION
1st Place
Winners
Hassan Sohail, Hafiz Usama Tanveer, Hasham Tanveer, Sarib Zaman (Pakistan)
Idea
Aab-e-Hayaat
An agricultural product that uses enhanced super-absorbent polymer to fight droughts, reduce agricultural water needs by 70%, and cut agricultural expenditure on fertilizers by 50%.
2nd Place
Winners
Noel McDonald, Sophia Morris, Daneka Pusey and Devonte Williams (Jamaica)
Idea
Paradise Care
A non-profit organization that addresses the improper disposal of plastic bottles and transforms disposed plastics to support cottage industry of emergency lights whilst beautifying the environment and educating the population to prevent future occurrence.
3rd Place
Winners
Vincent Hao, Bela Madrid, Alex McCleod, Kari Siegenthaler (USA)
Idea
Digital Bridge
An online portal connecting local businesses struggling with gentrification to web designers, graphic design experts, and other media professionals who volunteer their time toward creating web-based services for these businesses.
2017
BUSINESS INNOVATION COMPETITION
1st Place
Winners
Kei Kojima and Kotaro Kojima (USA)
Idea
AcoustiGLASS
A wearable acoustic object recognition system designed to increase awareness of the surrounding environment.
2nd Place (TIE)
Winners
Ruth-Ann Armstrong, Daniel Chatani, Nathaniel Christie and Gaurnett Flowers (Jamaica)
Idea
BoltBot
A mobile and web application that facilitates simple and easy self-service at supermarkets, eliminating long lines for customers and reducing running costs for supermarkets.
2nd Place (TIE)
Winners
Nishka Ayyar and Riya Gupta (USA)
Idea
PromElle
A peer-to-peer party wear rental marketplace for teen girls to rent and lend gently used formal dresses and accessories from each other’s closets.
SOCIAL INNOVATION COMPETITION
1st Place
Winners
Haley Catton, Isabella Liu, Stash Pomichter, Andrew Yates (USA)
Idea
Elix Incubator
A social impact incubator for teen social entrepreneurs that provides services and education on developing business in a sustainable way.
2nd Place
Winners
Lucy Liu, Jack Sun, Jason Ye and Amy Zhong (USA)
Idea
Voluntu
A website application, will allow volunteers to track and consolidate volunteer hours in an organization.
3rd Place
Winners
Kelly Landis and Sierra RyanWallick (USA)
Idea
AutumnLeaf Fundraisers
A teen-led organization whose members hand-make and sell items at local community events, donating 100% of the money to charity.
2016
BUSINESS INNOVATION COMPETITION
1st Place
Winners
Nathan Wagener, Gabriel Werner (USA)
Idea
Retracta-Ball Pump
A ball pump that allows the needle to retract back into the pump, preventing the needle from being lost or damaged. This aims to save athletes time from last minute needle replacement runs, as well as money.
2nd Place
Winners
Philip Lee, Julian Davis, Rostam Reifschneider (USA)
Idea
Polar Solis
A windshield that diffracts sun glare by adjusting color and brightness to counteract the fluctuation in levels of UV light.
3rd Place
Winners
Aditya Ganapathi, David Hou (USA)
Idea
Notifica
A unique security company that offers two products: one to address women’s safety and another to revolutionize the in-home monitoring assets.
SOCIAL INNOVATION COMPETITION
1st Place
Winners
Ludmila Zgurean, Vladlen Grecu, Daniela Tihon, and Victoria Bradescu (Moldova)
Idea
Do It For Bunica
A website where migrant workers from Moldova can find and pay local youth helpers to assist elderly family members with chores, solving two problems: youth unemployment and the impact of migration on family left behind.
2nd Place
Winners
Nicole Birkner, Diego Uribe (Costa Rica)
Idea
Fresquiticos
A service that provides the consumer with a soda that utilizes the benefits and avoids the disadvantages of traditional sodas by blending healthy ingredients such as fruits and agave nectar.
3rd Place
Winners
Michael Chan, Emily Yu (USA)
Idea
MentourU
A web-based service that creates a network of college students, allowing high school seniors moving onto higher education to ask for genuine advice, information regarding their major, or simply about student life on campus.
2015
BUSINESS INNOVATION COMPETITION
1st Place
Winners
Shreyas Parab, Sriram Hathwar (USA)
Idea
Spell for Success
Their concept is an app that helps spellers prepare for the National Spelling Bee. It aims to provide spellers with the resources they need to win the highly coveted Scripps National Spelling Bee.
2nd Place
Winners
Jackline Ndungu, Elizabeth Ngure, Margaret Gitau, Margaret Njunguna (Kenya)
Idea
Value Addition for Short-Seasoned Foods
This concept addresses the low profits in agricultural businesses that has led to inadequate food supply, as farmers opt for other types of crops. They aim to increase profitability by adding value to short-season foods.
3rd Place
Winners
Eva Dickerson, Felix Munther, Kierian Prince (USA)
Idea
Enkel Tech
Enkel Tech is an app development company that provides users with crowdsourced wait times to local restaurants.
SOCIAL INNOVATION COMPETITION
Winners
Evelina Bunici, Ludmilla Zgurean, Maria Mogildea (Moldova)
Idea
Modern Reflections
Modern Reflections creates cool, comfortable, everyday clothing and accessories with the added benefit of reflectivity. The pieces can be seen up to 70 meters away at night, which helps prevent pedestrian traffic accidents. They also support families whose lives have been heavily impacted by these accidents.
2014
BUSINESS INNOVATION COMPETITION
1st Place
Winners
Devon O’Dwyer, Payas Parab, Raylin Xu (USA)
Idea
Virtual Tutors
An interactive, online tutoring program to be sold to private schools that connects high-achieving students and students seeking extra support within a school.
2nd Place
Winners
Andreas Elterich, Jakub Simacek (USA)
Idea
Second Rate Studios
Second Rate Studios produces a real-time strategy (RTS) video game titled Protect Your Planet that is simple, yet tough to master, similar to chess.
3rd Place
Winners
Tamara Ceaicovschi, Tudor Petrici (Moldova)
Idea
Bike Now
Bike Now is a bike shop on wheels. They will sell, rent, and repair bikes using a van in order to service the remote areas of Moldova. They will also organize bike rides and biking events.
SOCIAL INNOVATION COMPETITION
Winners
Brian Mwangi, Michael Wahome, Stephen Otieno, Steve Gitahi (Kenya)
Idea
Huma-Coal
Huma-Coal is a long-burning processed pellets made from human waste. Production of these pellets would offset the deforestation taking place in Kenya, where trees are cut down to make charcoal for heating and cooking.
2013
BUSINESS INNOVATION COMPETITION
1st Place
Winners
Devin Deloach, Jenna Stevens, Tyler Butler, Emily Nichols (USA)
Idea
Raven Eyes
Raven Eyes offers students professional quality, lab-produced portraits, sports pictures, and student life photos at an affordable price.
2nd Place
Winners
Victor Otieno Omondi Paul, Brian Mburu Mwangi, Mongo Andrew Caezer, Daniel Kioko Kitheka (Kenya)
Idea
Bio Flame: Waste to Wealth
The team proposed building affordable toilets that feed to a new biogas plant which subsequently supplies energy to new communal kitchens for the community. The initiative would also provide clean water, another scarce basic amenity in Kibera. The proposed project promises proper waste management, eradication of communicable diseases, prevention of food contamination and reduction of environmental pollution, all while creating jobs.
3rd Place (Tie)
Winners
Jordan Walls, Mark Wortman, Dhruvil Patel (USA)
Idea
BrakeLite
BrakeLite is unlike regular brake lights because they change opacity of the color when more pressure is applied to the brakes. This helps to decrease the amount of car accidents, rather than the simple on and off on cars today.
3rd Place (Tie)
Winners
Fiona Iyer, Elijah Jabbar-Bey, Emilio Ergueta (USA)
Idea
Service with Perks
Service with Perks matches busy university students with service opportunities that best fit their interests and passions.
3rd Place (Tie)
Winners
Greg Szumel, Chase Conley, Luke Morgan, Roth Johnson (USA)
Idea
Academy
Academy offers a feature-rich web application with a streamlined user interface for students to easily access information they need about courses in their school, all in one place.