Delaware Division of Small Business

Supports Delaware small businesses with outreach, business resources, and programs that encourage entrepreneurship and job creation.

Delaware Division of Small Business (DSB) is Delaware's primary small-business economic development agency and sits within the Department of State. It runs offices in Dover and Wilmington and serves as a practical front door for companies trying to start or scale in Delaware.

Its active incentives span the EDGE Grant Competition, Delaware Technical Innovation Program, Delaware Site Readiness Fund, and the Delaware Grocery Initiative and First State Food System Program. EDGE splits into Entrepreneur and STEM tracks, with up to $400,000 in the Entrepreneur pot and up to $750,000 in the STEM pot. EDGE applicants must be majority located in Delaware, in business for less than seven years, have 15 or fewer full-time employees, have less than $700,000 in assets, and bring a 3:1 match. DTIP offers up to $50,000 per application for Delaware businesses that have won SBIR or STTR Phase I and have applied for Phase II. DSB also acts as the disbursement and monitoring arm for Council on Development Finance-backed routes such as Strategic Fund, MISI, Graduated Lab Space, Site Readiness, DTIP, and Brownfield Assistance.

The agency is strongest when a project lines up with Delaware's operating footprint, job creation goals, or commercialization pipeline. It uses regional business managers for pre-application help and runs both competition-based and rolling routes, so applicants have to match the program rhythm as well as the policy goal. The mix reaches from biotech, medtech, quantum, robotics, agritech, foodtech, and manufacturing to site development and food access.