DELAWARE- Gov. Matt Meyer and the Delaware Prosperity Partnership have launched a new statewide effort to help startups grow, attract investment, and connect entrepreneurs with research, business and funding opportunities.
Called Innovate Delaware, the initiative will operate through the Delaware Prosperity Partnership and is designed to create a more coordinated system for supporting Delaware's innovation economy.
State leaders say the program will concentrate on financial technology, advanced chemical products, clean energy, sustainable advanced materials and biopharmaceutical manufacturing, among other areas.
Innovate Delaware will be organized around four priorities: developing a pipeline of emerging companies, attracting capital, connecting startups with established corporations and creating a pathway for international companies to establish operations in Delaware.
The initiative will also create a statewide network of relationships and a digital platform intended to serve as a central entry point for entrepreneurs seeking assistance.
“Delaware has all the ingredients to lead in innovation,” Meyer said. “We have world-class research institutions, talented entrepreneurs, and a prime, central location. Now we have the infrastructure to turn great ideas into great companies. Innovate Delaware will attract investment and create good-paying jobs to win the future for every Delawarean.”
According to the partnership, the new program builds on findings from its 2025 Delaware Science & Technology Assessment and other studies that identified gaps in the state's infrastructure for supporting innovative companies.
While Delaware has advantages that include its legal and regulatory structure, access to major financial markets and research institutions, the partnership said those resources have not been fully leveraged by startups and other innovative businesses.
Innovate Delaware's first major initiative will be the Delaware Rural Health Challenge, a health technology accelerator focused on rural and medically underserved communities.
Organizers say the program will identify specific challenges in delivering health care in rural areas and areas with shortages of health care professionals. It then will seek innovative companies capable of developing and implementing solutions to those challenges.
The Rural Health Challenge is expected to provide up to $25 million in grants over five years to startups working on health needs in rural Delaware.
The Delaware Prosperity Partnership says it also plans to use $1.36 million from the Delaware Strategic Fund over two years to cover personnel, technology, marketing and events associated with Innovate Delaware.
Noah Olson, the Delaware Prosperity Partnership’s vice president of Innovation, said the approach is intended to give the organization a more systematic role in developing Delaware's technology and innovation economy.
“The four-pillars approach will systematically improve Delaware’s competitiveness in the attraction, development and retention of high-growth companies, venture capital and innovation talent,” Olson said. “It also extends DPP’s capacity to serve the innovation economy with the same rigor and level of activity the organization brings to traditional business attraction.”
University and business leaders also voiced support for the initiative.
Other organizations supporting the initiative include the Center for Accelerating Financial Equity, Delaware Small Business Development Center, Pete du Pont Freedom Foundation and Bronze Valley.
The Delaware Prosperity Partnership is a public-private nonprofit organization with a $3.1 million budget supported by the state Bond Bill and private-sector investments.
