Delaware Prosperity Partnership recently announced Innovate Delaware, a new statewide initiative that will serve as a central hub to support innovators and better connect them to existing partners and opportunities up and down Delaware.

Housed within DPP, Innovate Delaware will broaden the state's appeal to local startups, attract emerging new companies from beyond the region – particularly those in financial technology, next-generation chemical products, clean energy, sustainable advanced materials and biopharma manufacturing – and enrich Delaware's business environment for those whose work leads to impactful and scalable advancements.

The Innovate Delaware program will focus on four integrated programmatic pillars: pipeline development, capital attraction, corporate connection and international soft landing. It will include two foundational infrastructure elements: a relationship network architecture and a digital front-door platform.

Innovate Delaware’s first major project will be running the Delaware Rural Health Challenge. The challenge is a multi-stage health technology accelerator program designed to define specific gaps and barriers in delivering care to rural, medically underserved and health professional shortage areas, and select innovative health technology companies to deploy novel solutions to address these issues. The challenge will be supported by the Rural Health Transformation Program and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as part of a financial assistance award totaling $157,394,964, with 100% funded by CMS/HHS.

"Delaware has all the ingredients to lead in innovation,” said Gov. Matt Meyer. “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."

As the public-facing identity for this work, Innovate Delaware will connect entrepreneurs, investors, researchers and business leaders with the resources needed to grow and scale in the First State.

“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,” said Noah Olson, vice president of innovation at DPP. “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.”

As a public-private 501(c)(3) nonprofit, DPP operates on a $3.1 million budget funded through the state Bond Bill and by investments from Delaware's private sector. DPP will use separate monies from the Delaware Strategic Fund, totaling $1.36 million over two years, to fund the personnel, technology, marketing and events required to implement Innovate Delaware.

“The Delaware Strategic Fund is designed to support investments that generate measurable economic returns for Delaware – companies created, jobs produced, capital deployed and tax revenue generated – and DPP’s four-pillar innovation strategy is precisely such an investment,” Olson said. “DPP is grateful to have the support of the state to launch our plans, which will move our existing innovation work from primarily relationship-based interactions to systems-level infrastructure that will create durable, measurable impact.”

Leaders who play key roles in Delaware's innovation ecosystem are applauding the approach.

"This is a moment that calls for research not only defended but also advanced through the acceleration of its translation into the world,” said Dr. Laura Carlson, University of Delaware president. “The University of Delaware embraces the governor's vision of an innovation economy and stands ready alongside the Delaware Prosperity Partnership to create an enabling and fostering environment in Delaware for startups and founders."

Cherese Winstead, dean of Delaware State University's College of Agriculture, Science & Technology, said, “As Delaware’s only HBCU and 1890 land-grant university,  DSU has a unique responsibility to ensure that innovation becomes a pathway to economic mobility, entrepreneurship and shared prosperity. Through resources such as our Center for Urban Revitalization and Entrepreneurship Innovation Venture, we are connecting emerging founders and small businesses with the capital, research, technology, mentorship and networks needed to transform ideas into scalable enterprises, create jobs and help expand pathways to wealth creation through innovation and business ownership. Gov. Meyer’s vision strengthens these efforts by connecting universities, industry, investors, government and entrepreneurs into a more powerful statewide innovation ecosystem. Together, we can make Delaware a national model for translating innovation into economic development and opportunity for every community.”

“At the Center for Accelerating Financial Equity, we’re proud to build a national network that connects fintech startups, financial institutions, investors, universities and policymakers to create innovation that improves people’s financial lives,” said Kristen Castell, managing director of CAFE. “Every founder we attract, every partnership we spark and every company we help grow in our accelerator programs strengthens Delaware's reputation as a place where big ideas become real businesses."

Ariel Gruswitz, associate state director of the Delaware Small Business Development Center, said, “As the only statewide, nationally accredited technical assistance provider for small businesses, we highly value our close partnership and collaboration with them and the broader ecosystem to foster innovation and entrepreneurship in Delaware.”