Sonura Care Wins $25,000 Top Prize at Shore Hatchery's 27th Round

Salisbury University's Ratcliffe Foundation Shore Hatchery competition handed its top award of $25,000 to Sonura Care, Inc., a Philadelphia startup building a wearable medical device for premature infants.

Founders Sophie Ishiwari and Gabriella "Gabby" Daltoso pitched the Sonura Beanie at the competition's 27th round. The device does two things at once for babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU): it provides auditory protection and supports parental connection during a fragile stage of care.

Judges awarded the semester's largest funding amount to the neonatal care innovation, according to the university. The pitch round, held at Junior Achievement of the Eastern Shore's Perdue Henson Center, drew 12 applicants from across the Mid-Atlantic competing for a share of more than $100,000 in prize money.

What do winners get besides cash?

Money is only half the program. Winners and participants also receive mentoring from the Shore Hatchery board, whose members include named business leaders:

• Mike Cottingham of the Rommel Companies
• Maurice Ames of Maryland Capital Enterprises
• Trent Pusey of Taylor Bank

That mentorship layer is deliberate. The program, administered by the Dave and Patsy Rommel Center for Entrepreneurship at SU's Franklin P. Perdue School of Business, aims to fund and guide entrepreneurs who already run active small businesses and want greater scale and market reach.

"The goal of this program is to assist where we can make the most lasting impact," said Michael Jensen, SU's executive director of entrepreneurship. "We want to play a role in expanding business growth and increasing job creation in our communities."

How big is the track record?

This round's winners join 144 previous award recipients. Those alumni have self-reported estimated profits of roughly $98 million and created 1,241 jobs to date, according to the university.

The numbers give the program a concrete scoreboard: 27 rounds of funding, 144 funded businesses, and more than a thousand jobs traced back to the competition's support.

"This program offers an important stepping stone for startups," Jensen said. "The award removes specific obstacles to growth and enables expansion."

Who can apply next?

Up to $200,000 is available annually through the Shore Hatchery program. The board of directors selects recipients based on live presentations, so pitching skills matter as much as the business plan. Competitors who don't win still get face time: all entrants can meet with SU's team at the Rommel Center for Entrepreneurship to discuss resources available to support their businesses.

Interested entrepreneurs can call 410-546-4325 or visit the Ratcliffe Shore Hatchery webpage for application details.

For Sonura Care, the $25,000 arrives at a moment when NICU-focused devices are drawing attention for combining clinical function with family-centered design — and the mentoring that comes with the prize may prove as valuable as the check itself.