Summer Founders Application 2025 

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Team Member 1
















Have you ever taken any of the following ENTR courses?
Yes No


Have you participated in any of the following?
Yes No


Students accepted into the Summer Founders Program who seek to earn course credit may enroll in ENTR450/650 - Business Accelerator for New Ventures. The curriculum embedded in the Summer Founders Program will satisfy the course requirements of ENTR450/650. There will be no work in addition to the work required by the Summer Founders Program. If you are accepted into the Summer Founders Program, do you wish to register for either of these classes? Regular summer tuition rates will apply.

Yes No
Team Member 2
















Have you ever taken any of the following ENTR courses?
Yes No


Have you participated in any of the following?
Yes No


Students accepted into the Summer Founders Program who seek to earn course credit may enroll in ENTR450/650 - Business Accelerator for New Ventures. The curriculum embedded in the Summer Founders Program will satisfy the course requirements of ENTR450/650. There will be no work in addition to the work required by the Summer Founders Program. If you are accepted into the Summer Founders Program, do you wish to register for either of these classes? Regular summer tuition rates will apply.

Yes No
Team Member 3
















Have you ever taken any of the following ENTR courses?
Yes No


Have you participated in any of the following?
Yes No


Students accepted into the Summer Founders Program who seek to earn course credit may enroll in ENTR450/650 - Business Accelerator for New Ventures. The curriculum embedded in the Summer Founders Program will satisfy the course requirements of ENTR450/650. There will be no work in addition to the work required by the Summer Founders Program. If you are accepted into the Summer Founders Program, do you wish to register for either of these classes? Regular summer tuition rates will apply.

Yes No
Team Member 4
















Have you ever taken any of the following ENTR courses?
Yes No


Have you participated in any of the following?
Yes No


Students accepted into the Summer Founders Program who seek to earn course credit may enroll in ENTR450/650 - Business Accelerator for New Ventures. The curriculum embedded in the Summer Founders Program will satisfy the course requirements of ENTR450/650. There will be no work in addition to the work required by the Summer Founders Program. If you are accepted into the Summer Founders Program, do you wish to register for either of these classes? Regular summer tuition rates will apply. 
Yes No
     
Questions for Consideration



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Admission


For regular admission, applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Applicants have 45 days or by May 1, whichever comes first, to make a decision. 

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Disclaimer and Signature

The Summer Founders Pre-Accelerator is designed to support nascent UD startup teams who wish to pursue advanced learning by spending the summer working to validate their business hypothesis. Summer Founders is modelled after the startup accelerator concept and can be thought of as a “pre-accelerator”.  Therefore, it is expected students will seek to validate their business hypothesis and commit to a thorough and complete effort and work fulltime throughout the summer and commit to not work in another internship or job during this period.

Participants must commit to work full-time on their funded project during this period and commit to not work in another internship or job during this period.


All University of Delaware teams, regardless of college or major, are welcome to apply. All team members must be University of Delaware students enrolled at least half time and in good standing.


Funding is made possible through donations. These donors DO NOT and UD DOES NOT take ownership or equity in your business or non-profit and have NO governance or control of your business or non-profit. All we ask is you commit to working hard on your project over the course of the summer. 


The Director of Horn Entrepreneurship shall be the arbiter of all rules and rule clarifications. 


The Director reserves the right to disqualify any participants who violate these rules or the spirit of the program.


*Changes in program content or schedule may be made before and/or during the course of the program.   


Horn Entrepreneurship maintains full discretion over the selection process and all funding and in-kind services associated with the program, including grant amounts, terms and conditions.

 

Summer Founders includes open session presentations and external review of business concepts. Participation is voluntary, and as such, participants are responsible for determining whether to disclose proprietary or sensitive information. The University of Delaware assumes no liability for accidental or voluntary disclosures of proprietary information or intellectual property

 

Ownership of IP

You own any intellectual property (i.e., patents, hardware, algorithms, copyrights) you bring to the program. IP developed through the program and/or the process of business model testing and customer development etc. is shared equally among the members of the team (unless the team agrees to an alternative sharing agreement prior to the collaborative development of the IP). If the team is working with University of Delaware owned IP (i.e., research being conducted by one of the team members or a UD patent), you MUST check with the University’s Technology Transfer Office to better understand licensing issues.

 

Concerns about sharing your idea

If you feel your idea may become real, you should discuss intellectual property rights with your team from the beginning. If you can’t come to agreement with the team, you will need to join another team, pick another project, or drop out of the program.

 

Non-disclosures.

All Horn Entrepreneurship programs are open programs. There are no non-disclosures among students, faculty, mentors, advisors or any assisting outside party. Please keep in mind that ideas are best viewed as liabilities, rather than assets, because there are significant costs associated with pursuing them (in terms of time and money). Also, initial ideas seldom prove successful; most companies succeed because the process of learning, discovery, and execution that shapes an initial idea that is mostly wrong into something that people actually want to use. This process requires willingness to share your ideas openly with peers and others.


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Contact Information