A decade of UD innovation

When Joel Amin and Bryce Fender joined the University of Delaware's Horn Entrepreneurship Summer Founders program in 2017, they set out with a shared belief that business could be a force for good. What started as an idea during that summer has since grown into Wilminvest, a Wilmington-based company that owns and manages 33 properties, employs more than 80 people through its real estate and logistics operations, and focuses on supporting families experiencing homelessness or housing instability.

"Summer Founders is the reason that we are in existence today," said Amin, who co-founded Wilminvest with Fender as UD students during the program. "It encouraged us to 'get out of the building,' and outside of the building is where I met the majority of my network in the housing space - many of whom I still work with today."

For fellow Blue Hen entrepreneur Maya Nazareth, that same lesson in customer discovery became a catalyst for success. Since participating in Summer Founders in 2020, Nazareth has conducted nearly a thousand customer interviews for her company, Alchemize Fightwear, which creates women's apparel for jiu-jitsu, wrestling, MMA and boxing. Nazareth will appear on ABC's Shark Tank on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 10 p.m.