By Craig Anderson

DOVER — A state of Delaware program that helps small businesses start or grow during the first few years of operation reached 100 grants distributed Thursday.

The Delaware Division of Small Business announced the most recent grant awards for the Encouraging Development, Growth and Expansion (EDGE) competition Thursday at the Kent County Administration Building in Dover.

The awards were given to 10 Delaware small businesses to reach the milestone.

Awardees in the latest spring round of the competition include a company working to treat severe allergic disease and cancer; one Wilmington-based company developing an app to teach baseball to inexperienced and underserved children; one company in Seaford looking to expand deliveries of their pies; and one in Dover opening a second location for counseling to families facing infertility.

Including this round, $6.51 million has been awarded to 100 promising Delaware small businesses since the program launched in 2019, in industries ranging from advanced medical technology to farming and restaurants.

Delaware Gov. John Carney, Delaware chief deputy secretary of state Kristopher Knight and Division of Small Business director Regina Mitchell announced the companies at an event.

“We started the EDGE grant program in 2019 to give small businesses an ‘edge’ over their competition. I’ve been impressed every year with the innovation and creativity of business owners across the state, and what EDGE grant winners have done with their awards to advance their business,” said Gov. Carney in a release.

“I’m proud that we’ve been able to deliver this necessary funding to 100 small businesses since 2019 and I congratulate this year’s winners.”

According to the release, businesses that are less than seven years old and employ no more than 10 full-time employees (or full-time equivalent), are eligible to apply for an EDGE grant.

‘The grants are awarded through a competitive selection process. After thorough internal review, 14 finalists were selected to pitch their proposals to an outside expert panel of judges. Ten companies are selected each round for awards. Five STEM-based companies each receive up to $100,000 for eligible expenses while five Entrepreneur Class (non-STEM) businesses each receive up to $50,000.

Winners in the STEM Category included:

• Anvigen (Newark)

• Cellergy Pharma (Wilmington)

• Make the Play (Wilmington)

• NESTER (Wilmington)

• Toivoa (Newark)

Winners in the Entrepreneur Category included:

• 3&D Sports Performance (Wilmington)

• Beachin’ Bash (Rehoboth Beach)

• Coastal Key Lime Pie (Seaford)

• G & R Campground (Houston)

• Willow Counseling Services (Dover)