Governor Meyer and DSB Announce Winners of Spring 2026 EDGE 2.0 Grant Competition

Georgetown, Del. – The excitement level was high as Governor Matt Meyer, and the Delaware Division of Small Business (DSB) announced the winners of the Spring 2026 EDGE 2.0 Grant Competition. EDGE, the Division’s flagship pitch and funding competition, stands for Encouraging Development, Growth and Expansion.

Nine awards totaling $1.15M dollars, were presented to Delaware small businesses in a ceremony at Delaware Technical Community College’s Owen Campus in Georgetown Tuesday evening. Seventeen companies pitched their projects to an expert panel of judges in early May in two categories: Nine in Entrepreneur and eight in STEM.

The winners for the Entrepreneur category are 3E’s Equestrian Education Program (Laurel), Huxley & Hiro (Wilmington), Little Town (Milford), Rooted Properties (Lewes), SOMA Skin & Sculpt (Middletown).

The winners in the STEM category are Dunya Analytics (Wilmington), HouseCall VR, (Wilmington), NeuroSync (Wilmington), and Trial IQ Technologies (Wilmington).

Entrepreneur finalist competed for up to $400K, and STEM finalists for part of a $750K pool of funding.

“Delaware must be the best place to grow a business, and EDGE is critical to turn new ideas into opportunities, create jobs, and keep Delaware’s economy moving forward,” said Governor Matt Meyer. “Our innovation economy depends on the strength, creativity, and resilience of our small businesses, and the support EDGE delivers provides Delaware small businesses with an advantage to grow and compete.”

“EDGE 2.0 is about more than funding, it’s about building a pathway for real growth,” said DSB Director CJ Bell. “We’re giving founders the tools, connections, and support they need to move beyond the early stages and truly scale. This group of awardees represents a group of businesses with the potential to grow, hire, and make a lasting impact across Delaware.”

EDGE 2.0 is an expansion of the Division’s program which launched in 2019. The program features greater levels of funding than in the past, variable award amounts based on the quality of finalists’ pitch instead of on their request, and additional post-pitch in-kind services and/or award supports for finalists and awardees. The supports include memberships to networking organizations and expedited pathways to DSB funding programs and more.

Businesses eligible to apply for grant funding are in operation for less than 7 years, have 15 or fewer employees and less than $700,000 in assets. A 3:1 funding match is required, and the company must be majority (greater than 50%), located in Delaware.

Including this round, EDGE has supported 136 small businesses by distributing a total of $10.3 million in grant funds since its inception. This includes 90 businesses in New Castle County, 28 in Kent County, and 19 in Sussex County.

EDGE is conducted twice a year. Grants are awarded through an extremely competitive selection process. After thorough internal review, finalists are selected to pitch their proposals to an outside expert panel of judges, who recommend whether to fund them and at what level. This round of the competition had 123 applicants.

Since 2019, 59% of the 136 awardees have been either woman, minority, or veteran-owned small businesses. Another 17% have been both women and minority owned, and 12% fall into more than one additional categories previously listed.

This was the thirteenth round of the program. To learn more about EDGE visit de.gov/edge!

Entrepreneur Awardees:

3E’s Equestrian Education Program (Laurel) – $100,000
3E’s provides accessible equestrian education and equine-assisted learning (EAL) opportunities that foster confidence, empathy, responsibility, leadership, and connection to agriculture and nature. Through mounted and non-mounted sessions, horsemanship training, and EAL at the barn and in the community, they Educate, Equip, and Empower youth, individuals with disabilities, and community members while expanding access to high-quality equestrian experiences and education. EDGE funds will be used to purchase necessary agricultural implements and operational equipment to establish a regenerative grazing system that supports herd expansion, stabilizes feed costs, reduces veterinary risk, and
expands safe instructional space, unlocking the full operational capacity of the farmland.

Huxley & Hiro Booksellers (Wilmington) – $100,000
Huxley & Hiro is an independent bookstore and event space in Wilmington. The store recently moved from its original space, expanding its usable square footage and adding a café. However, their second-floor event space is unfinished, limiting the size of events they are able to host. They will use EDGE funding to help update and renovate their second-floor event space, purchase A/V equipment, lighting, and other critical additions to create a fully equipped 100-seat literary and cultural venue with integrated digital broadcasting capability.

Little Town (Milford) – $75,000
Little Town is an indoor early learning and play center designed for children ages 0 to 7. Built as a child scale miniature town, it will include themed play environments such as a fire station, veterinary clinic, market, ice cream shop/bakery, and more. These immersive spaces will allow children to engage in purposeful role play that strengthens imagination, problem solving, communication, and social emotional development. Awarded EDGE funds will be used to execute the initial buildout, support custom-designed play structures, safety furnishings and floorings, as well as the installation of a small beverage preparation area to offer fresh coffees and nutritious smoothies. Funding will also support key operational infrastructure, including a security system, business software system, and website development.

Rooted Properties Group (Lewes) – $85,000
They are a small property redevelopment and management company currently renovating a mid-century fisherman’s motel along the Route 24 corridor into a boutique, design-forward hospitality destination, which is scheduled to open in the summer of 2026. EDGE funding will help them complete the renovations including electrical upgrades, plumbing completion with low-flow fixtures, fire-safety systems, pavilion event infrastructure, dock activation, and hospitality technology systems required for safe operation and guest access.

SOMA Skin & Sculpt (Middletown) – $40,000
SOMA Skin & Sculpt is an aesthetics and wellness clinic delivering technology-supported treatments that improve strength, mobility, body composition, and overall well-being across diverse skin tones, body types, and life stages. Demand for their services is outpacing the constraints of their current location. The founders will use award funds to build out their new location and invest in additional services to deepen their focus on whole-body health and longevity.

STEM Awardees:

Dunya Analytics (Wilmington) – $150,000
Dunya Analytics is a Delaware-based corporation that provides a technology platform enabling companies to identify financial risks and opportunities associated with biodiversity and nature loss, establish pathways toward “nature positive,” meaning that the company has a net-neutral or net-positive impact on natural ecosystems and the communities dependent on them, and track and report progress toward sustainability. Funds from the EDGE Grant will enable Dunya to build additional differentiated IP a Nature Risk & Opportunities Library and Nature Risk Register to support risk identification, financial impacts, and mitigation plans.

HouseCall VR (Wilmington) – $175,000
Where most patient education still relies on printed handouts and rushed verbal explanations, HouseCall uses virtual reality (VR) to put patients “inside the body” for fully immersive, interactive, and engaging patient education. Inconsistent patient education, and low comprehension of materials fuel preventable complications and expensive follow up care. Refined through nationwide user feedback, the initial VR platform is live in clinical use, with four active subscriptions at the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy and a Delaware pilot framework is being developed. EDGE funding will accelerate an AI-enabled teach-back layer to verify comprehension, expand cross-platform deployment, remote updates, and new modules for Delaware’s highest-burden conditions (hypertension and chronic kidney disease), and logistical support and staffing for the Delaware office.

NeuroSync (Hockessin) – 150,000
NeuroSync Mental Health Services is a Delaware-based mental health innovation and neurotechnology company expanding access to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), an FDA-cleared, science-driven treatment for mental health conditions. NeuroSync targets Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and Anxious Depression, with a specialized focus on adults, adolescents, and underserved populations who have exhausted traditional treatment options without adequate relief. With EDGE award funding, NeuroSync will accelerate its launch and growth, making this therapy accessible to all Delawareans. Looking ahead, NeuroSync plans to expand its platform to include additional innovative brain health and neuromodulation treatments, positioning Delaware as a leader in cutting-edge mental healthcare.

Trial IQ Technologies (Wilmington) – $275,000
Trial IQ has developed a platform to enable practices to engage in clinical research using AI, infrastructure and staff expertise in clinical implementation. Today, almost all clinical trials happen at large university hospitals, and most patients never get the chance to access new treatments. Trial IQ solves this by plugging directly into the medical record systems these practices already use. Their software (patent filed) identifies which patients may qualify for a trial, evaluates whether a practice is operationally ready to run research, and guides providers through the process. For Delaware, this means patients gain access to cutting-edge treatments at their own doctor’s office instead of traveling to Philadelphia or Baltimore, and the state builds lasting research infrastructure that attracts national pharmaceutical investment, and positions Delaware as a leader in community-based clinical research. EDGE funding will help Trial IQ connect to medical records systems (licensing and set up), training and onboarding staff and legal and compliance documentation.

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The Delaware Division of Small Business (DSB) is a service-focused state agency, within the Delaware Department of State, that is committed to helping businesses start and grow in Delaware. Our Regional Business Managers can help you navigate government processes, connect with partner organizations that offer resources to small businesses and identify opportunities to access capital. DSB also oversees the Delaware Tourism Office and Office of Supplier Diversity.

Media Contact
Andrea Wojcik
Division of Small Business
O: (302) 672-6840; C: (302) 554-0060
andrea.wojcik@delaware.gov