14 of Delaware’s biggest tech stories in 2023

It was a year of disinformation wars, generative artificial intelligence (AI) and augmented reality. It’s enough to make anyone question what reality is anymore.

In the Delaware technology ecosystem (a word I suspect is on the “out” list for 2024), reality is pretty good. We’ve been included in tech and clean energy hubs, seen the number of resources for startups increase and got closer to 100% high-speed broadband access.

Fun fact: The most read story on the Technical.ly platform — including all five markets, and it’s not even close — was “The remote work scam that’s blowing up in the recruiting industry,” a harrowing tale of small Newark design firm BrandSwan and how it navigated a cyber attack that misled innocent jobseekers into thinking they’d been hired for sweet remote positions. Ultimately, the scammers were phishing for bank account information until BrandSwan and the scammed jobseekers united to fight back.

That story is a great example of a community member reaching out to us with a story people should know about. It turned into something that was not only engaging to readers but could possibly prevent someone from falling for this cyber scam.

This was going to be a top ten of Delaware stories of 2023 — the articles that were most important, regardless of the click ranking — but we landed on 14, including the BrandSwan report. So here are, in order of publication date, another 13 of the biggest tech stories in Delaware in 2023:

The newly launched Tech Council of Delaware believes the state is a tech hub (March)

The Tech Council of Delaware is so much a fixture of the Delaware tech and economic development scene that it can be easy to forget it officially launched in March. There were 13 stories involving the Tech Council this year, but this is the big one.

Why this Alabama venture investment platform is taking on Delaware (April)

Bronze Valley, a Black-owned VC firm, community development financial institution and venture lab out of Birmingham, Alabama, launched its gBETA-partnered accelerator program in Delaware last summer. It brought new startup resources to the First State and the surrounding mid-Atlantic region.

Wilmington-based NESTER tells you the real monthly cost of your home (April)

We profiled NESTER, the property tech startup for homebuyers founded by former Sallies president Brendan Kennealey, in April. This month, it announced a partnership with the City of Wilmington that will allow qualified residents to access the long-term cost estimation tool for free.

This Sussex County startup accelerator is all about blue tech (June)

The blue tech sector (that’s tech relating to the ocean) continued to grow in Delaware in 2023, thanks in part to the public-private Project ABLE. Last summer the nonprofit Delaware Coastal Society launched a blue tech accelerator focused on growing small blue tech startups.

As NERDiT grows, its workforce development program settles in downtown Wilmington (July)

NERDiT Cares, the workforce development program spun out from the ever-growing NERDiT Now tech repair and recycling company, launched its downtown Wilmington location in October. In July, we got an early peek at the site and program.

This AI startup moved to Wilmington to pilot a transportation data program (July)

We love a story about a startup that chooses to move to Delaware! The City of Wilmington’s Department of Public Works accepted a pitch from infra ai about piloting its transportation asset data AI service earlier this year.

Here’s how esports will be part of some Delaware students’ curriculum this year (August)

Launching an eSports Pathways curriculum in Delaware high schools was a goal for Futures First Gaming (FFG). This year, it got one step closer when A.I. du Pont High School, which added an esports arena and launched a complimentary team in 2022, began offering its first esports industry class as an elective designed in partnership with FFG.

5 questions with Delaware Broadband Director Roddy Flynn (August)

2023 was, in many ways, the year of broadband equity, and Delaware is ahead of the curve when it comes to meeting the goal of 100% broadband access statewide. Roddy Flynn was selected to head the new Delaware Broadband Office and sat down with us for an access- and equity-focused conversation in August.

The Fintech Innovation Hub is about making an impact (September)

The Fintech Innovation Hub at the STAR Campus at the University of Delaware, a Delaware Technology Park project backed by Discover and the Small Business Development Center, officially opened this year. It’s already making an impact with programs like the CAFE Fintech Accelerator.

DOE names Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub to top clean energy program (October)

Delaware officially became part of the US Department of Energy’s Clean Energy Hubs program when the Mid-Atlantic Clean Hydrogen Hub was selected. It’s one of only eight such hubs nationwide.

Delaware nabbed part of a regional EDA Tech Hubs designation (October)

The Economic Development Administration (EDA) Tech Hubs program was abuzz in 2023 as the potential for hundreds of millions in federal funding laid on the line. Delaware entities joined the Greater Philadelphia Region Precision Medicine Tech Hub, led by Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA, which landed Tech Hub designation in October.

How orgs and allies stand up for DEI in a post-affirmative action America (November)

The threat to equity and DEI programs was a major story in 2023, with high-profile lawsuits targeting organizations like the Atlanta-based Fearless Fund and its Woman of Color Grant. We talked with Ayanna Khan, president of the Delaware Black Chamber of Commerce, about it.

Giving unused NASA tech new life (November)

NASA chose the Delaware Innovation Space for its unique STEM pitch competition, where technologists and entrepreneurs took unused NASA tech and turned it into earth-bound startups.