Fintech and fitness providers are among the newest EDGE Grant recipients

The latest awardees of Delaware’s EDGE Grant for small businesses have been announced. In this third round, there are now twice as many Entrepreneur Class recipients on the $25,000 track, while five STEM startups will receive $100,000 grants.

EDGE — an acronym for Encouraging Development, Growth and Expansion — matches the investment of promising early-stage businesses less than five years old, with the goal to level the playing field with their larger, established competitors.

Check out the awardees below, a few of which have been covered by Technical.ly in recent months. Click on the links to read our most recent story on them:

STEM class

• Desikant Technologies (Wilmington) — A big winner at Startup302 earlier this year, Desikant founder Kwaku Temeng has developed a line of thermoregulation “smart garments.”
• Curative Sciences (Newark) — An early stage startup focused on light-based therapy and oral care products for managing oral side effects of cancer therapy
• Resonate Forward (Newark) — Located at University of Delaware’s STAR Campus, Resonate forward develops technology to help mitigate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
• Neggster (Wilmington) — Founded by Kasai Guthrie, Neggster is a banking app that aims to bring financial services to unbanked people around the world.
• Aqua Science (Newark) — Creators of a BioLight product line for municipalities and companies to test for toxicity in water and soil in order to adhere to applicable regulations.

Entrepreneur class

• Doña Maria’s Pupuseria (Seaford) — A Salvadoran restaurant in Seaford, Doña Maria has plans to expand and enhance its outdoor dining experience.
• Elite Feet (Middletown) — A family-owned and operated retail specialty footwear store that has plans to launch a trailer-based mobile retail store
• Taco Jardin (Smyrna) — Charles “Cheeks” Kelchner’s taco truck is located at Painted Stave Distilling in Smyrna, with plans to purchase another truck to serve Kent County.
• Paragon Life and Fitness (Wilmington) — An inclusive fitness provider, founder Vickie George plans to open a fitness facility that will accommodate people with physical disabilities.
• Grail Sports (Elsmere) — Eugene Delle Donne has plans to renovate the lower level of the Grail Sports Complex in Elsmere to allow them to offer expanded youth programs.
• 1440 Film Co. (Wilmington) — With a studio located on Market Street, 1440 Film Co. is a full-service video production company that gives a selected nonprofit a free film project annually.
  Tempest Risk Management (Wilmington) — Tempest Risk Management plans to launch a portal for Delaware’s small and medium business owners, giving them instant access to critical resources when they are needed during a business emergency or disruption.
• Brimming Horn Meadery (Milton) — Meadery founders Jon Talkington and JR Walker plan to open a Viking-themed food truck to complement their meads.
• Gingham + Grace Clothing (Harbeson) — The clothing retailer has plans to hire a new employee and invest in new inventory.
• Delaware Tool Exchange (Newark) — This veteran-owned tools and equipment consignment business is ready to grow into a second location.