Why Five Startups Chose the Smaller Delaware
Ecosystem, from Connectivity to Chicken Farms
In the First State, founders are finding access, support and community – all without the friction of the bigger markets
April 22, 2026
Written By Holly Quinn
Edited By Danya Henninger
Startups don’t necessarily aim for Silicon Valley anymore. And ecosystems, especially small ones, don’t need to compete with Silicon Valley to attract them.
Delaware is known more for corporate registrations, chemicals and banking than for early-stage companies building new technology. But a growing group of founders from Iowa, Alabama and Missouri, among other places, are choosing to move their companies to the small Mid-Atlantic state between Philadelphia and Baltimore.
“It’s easier to navigate, and you can get access to certain people,” Soner Haci, cofounder of PONS, a healthtech startup expanding into the state, told Technical.ly.
Some are arriving through accelerator and incubation programs designed to bring new startups to the state. Both Bronze Valley VentureLab, which operates in both Alabama and Delaware, and the CAFE GrowthStage Incubator at the University of Delaware’s FinTech Innovation Hub in Newark, actively recruit startups and encourage them to establish a presence in Delaware.
It’s not Silicon Valley, nor is it like bigger East Coast ecosystems like New York, Boston and DC. What it has, founders who have relocated to Delaware say, is connections, inclusion and (yes) lots of chickens.
Be where the chickens are
For Lloyd Yates, the decision came down to Delaware being one of the country’s leading poultry processing regions.
“We want to be where the chickens are,” said the cofounder of agtech startup Tylman Tech.
Yates, who had been building the company in Iowa after growing up in Chicago, originally focused his company on body-scanning technology for humans before a conversation with a farmer made him see opportunity in the poultry industry.
Now, Tylman Tech is building AI-powered camera systems that monitor chickens throughout their lifecycle, helping farmers and processors track growth, detect issues earlier and recover usable meat that would otherwise be lost.
“As a startup, you want to go to a place where you can succeed,” Yates said. “Where your customers, your talent, your capital are,” he said.
Another agtech startup, KiposTech, is following a similar path into Delaware’s poultry ecosystem. Originally founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the company is now headquartered at the GrowthStage Incubator in Newark. It is developing biosecurity hardware to reduce disease risk in poultry barns.
“Delaware is the main chicken state, and we have a huge customer base,” said Raj Singh, who cofounded the company with Hema Ravindran.
That sense of belonging wasn’t something she expected from Delaware. “It was really welcoming,” she said. “It felt like home immediately.”
Wilmington’s connection to VC firm and CDFI Bronze Valley, with roots tied to Alabama’s Black-owned First Tuskegee Bank, has helped shape an ecosystem where Black founders are finding both opportunity and community.
In Delaware’s small startup ecosystem, networking matters as much as a polished pitch deck. That stood out to Haci of PONS, which started in New York City, then participated in the Bronze Valley accelerator and began expanding into the state.
“The program was not only focused on a three-minute pitch,” he said. “We were more looking [for] connections.”
Instead of refining presentations, Haci said he was looking to build relationships with potential partners, researchers and institutions that could help move the business forward. For founders used to larger ecosystems with less accessible players, operating in a “small pond” can be a benefit.
Tapping into government funding
Like many smaller ecosystems, Delaware has struggled to attract large amounts of venture capital compared to hubs like New York or Silicon Valley. In place, it has leaned into direct state support.
Martha Underwood, who relocated her spatial and event design company Prismm from Birmingham, Alabama, said that support played a major role in the move.
After going through the CAFE FinTech accelerator, Prismm secured $1 million in federal funding through the state’s State Small Business Credit Initiative, along with a $125,000 EDGE grant to support growth and product development.
“They were intentional about giving the dollars needed to really catapult you,” Underwood said.
KiposTech has also benefited from that support, having secured a $300,000 EDGE grant as it moves from pilot testing to commercialization, Singh said.
Programs like EDGE and SSBCI can attract companies with grant money, with a requirement that companies maintain a presence and hire locally. At the FinTech Innovation Hub, the CAFE GrowthStage Incubator led by Pedro Moore houses about 30 companies and focuses on hands-on support alongside workspace.
“We provide wraparound services to help them speed up their success,” Moore said.
Companies in GrowthStage have collectively raised about $2.5 million since the incubator launched last year, according to Moore.
Underwood, of Prismm, pointed to the University of Delaware and Delaware State University as key partners.
“They’re coming with baseline knowledge,” she said. “And now [it’s] just teaching the nuances.”
The biggest benefit of a small ecosystem?
“The speed to connectivity,” said Moore. You’re only a few connections away.”
