Delaware is known for its vibrant startup ecosystem and some amazing startups that have faced exceptional growth. However, Delaware isn't well known for startup funding, especially when it comes to providing funding to early/seed-stage companies. The active angel investors and VC firms actually writing checks into Delaware startups right now include Arcanum Capital, Velvet Sea Ventures, Leading Edge Ventures, and a handful of individual angels and investor networks that fund the state from just across the Pennsylvania and New York borders.
In an interview, Mehedi from CM Materials highlighted the limited presence of venture capitalists and seed-stage opportunities in Delaware. Sharing personal experience, Mehedi mentioned securing 95% of funding through Zoom calls from outside the state. He also compared the investment ecosystem of Delaware to the system of California and emphasized how easy it is to secure funding in other states.
To some extent, this might be true, but fear not!
In the following article, I have filtered out and prepared the list of the top angel investors and VC firms in Delaware.
Top 6 Angel Investors and VC Firms in Delaware
Here are some of the top-ranked angel investors, VC firms, and investor networks funding startups in Delaware.
Velvet Sea Ventures
- Website: Velvet Sea Ventures
- Investor Type: VC Firm
- Investment Interests: Tech, Healthcare, Media, Gaming, Energy, Bio, Software, SaaS, Marketing, Digital, E-Commerce, Consumer Products, Manufacturing
- Investment Stage: Seed to growth
Headquartered in New York, Velvet Sea Ventures also extends its funding support to Delaware-based startups. The firm was founded in 2019 by Kass Lazerow and Michael Lazerow, along with Matthew and John Giampetroni.
Velvet Sea Ventures is a multi-stage venture capital firm that provides seed-to-growth stage capital investments coupled with strategic support across many sectors. The team has more than 80 years of combined experience as founders and venture investors and has invested over $2.2 billion.
Since Velvet Sea Ventures invests in many fields, their investment range also varies depending on the startup sector.
Some of their notable portfolio companies are:
Scopely: Scopely is an American interactive entertainment company and mobile-first video game developer and publisher.
eToro: eToro is a social trading platform where you can invest in over 3,000 assets, including stocks, ETFs, crypto, commodities, and indices.
Liquid Death: Liquid Death is a canned water company that aims to provide a sustainable alternative to plastic water bottles.
Limitless Ventures
- Website: Limitless Ventures
- Investor Type: Impact Investment Firm
- Investment Interests: Behavioral Health, Addiction Recovery, Middle-Market Healthcare
- Investment Stage: Early and Seed
Limitless Ventures is a Delaware-linked investment firm founded by Alexander Holt in 2017, structured as a family of funds that combines venture capital and philanthropic capital to back companies focused on long-term addiction and behavioral health recovery.
Limitless takes a hands-on approach with the companies it backs, combining capital from non-profit and for-profit sources to scale multi-disciplinary care solutions across the recovery continuum.
Kevin Wren
- LinkedIn: Kevin Wren
- Investor Type: Individual Investor
- Investment Interests: Credit Cards, Financial Services, Mobile
- Investment Stage: Seed
Although not a famous name, Kevin Wren is also a Delaware-based individual investor. He has worked with many financial services firms and is Vice Chairman at MBNA.
Aside from funding, Kevin Wren doesn't arrange any extra startup events. However, he strongly focuses on his portfolio companies and provides them with the required guidance.
One of his notable investments was:
Blispay: Blispay is a financial technology company that offers point-of-sale financing for online and in-store purchases. Wren participated in Blispay's seed round, which valued the company at roughly $12.8M in 2016.
Arcanum Capital
- Website: Arcanum Capital
- Investor Type: VC Firm
- Investment Interests: Decentralized Networks, Global Blockchain, Fintech, AI
- Investment Stage: Seed
Arcanum Capital is one of the most prominent and active VC firms in Delaware. With headquarters in Dover, Arcanum Capital focuses on early-stage Web3 and blockchain companies. It was founded by James McDowall, Karthik Bupathi, Luchang Zheng, and Rahul Andra in 2020 and has funded around 40 companies.
Arcanum has an experienced network of mentors who guide their portfolio companies at different stages of a startup. Its second fund, launched in partnership with staking provider Luganodes, counts Tether among its strategic investors.
Some recent investments in their portfolio are:
Biconomy: Biconomy is a Web3 developer and transaction infrastructure platform. They offer plug-and-play APIs for developers to create and scale their dApps.
Arcana: Arcana is a UX-focused app-chain designed to supercharge your dApp. Arcana offers Web3 Authentication for all users, allowing them to use Email or Google, Twitter, Twitch, Discord, Github, or Steam.
Leading Edge Ventures
- Website: Leading Edge Ventures
- Investor Type: VC Firm
- Investment Interests: business applications, enterprise infrastructure, medical devices, and tech.
- Investment Stage: Early/Seed
Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Newark, Leading Edge Ventures is the closest thing Delaware has to a homegrown VC firm.
The firm was formed by a group of Mid-Atlantic venture and industry veterans specifically to fill the early-stage funding gap in Delaware and the wider Mid-Atlantic region, with a focus on IT and healthcare-related startups.
The investment range of Leading Edge Ventures starts at $50,000 to $250,000 initially, with follow-on capital up to $750,000. Notable companies in their portfolio are:
Pliant.io: Pliant.io is a Massachusetts-based SaaS platform that provides solutions such as API-driven workflow automation.
Ride Health: Ride Health is a New York-based online platform. It provides solutions such as ride scheduling and non-emergency medical transportation.
Tangen Biosciences: Tangen Biosciences is a company that operates a molecular diagnostics platform, and Leading Edge Ventures has backed multiple rounds of its funding.
Delaware Crossing Investor Group
- Website: Delaware Crossing Investor Group
- Investor Type: Angel Group
- Investment Interests: Enterprise Software, Life Sciences, Robotics
- Investment Stage: Early and Growth-Stage
Delaware Crossing Investor Group (DCIG) is a network of former and current executives and entrepreneurs who provide counsel and capital to early-stage companies. Founded in 2005 and based just across the state line in Warrington, Pennsylvania, DCIG was named for its focus on the Delaware River region and invests alongside members in companies across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Delaware.
Members typically invest between $100,000 and $250,000 per deal, and the group meets monthly, alternating between Doylestown, PA and Princeton, NJ.
Final Words
When it comes to angel investors, there aren't a lot of options headquartered inside Delaware itself. However, several VC firms and investor networks are actively funding startups in the state, many of them just across the border in Pennsylvania and New York.
When pitching to any of these programs, remember to prepare a decent pitch deck and pitch accordingly.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many angel investors are active in Delaware?
Angel Match's database currently lists just over 50 investors based in Delaware, a small pool compared to neighboring states. That is why most Delaware founders end up raising from out-of-state VC firms and angel networks instead.
Do I have to raise from investors based inside Delaware?
No. Delaware founders regularly raise from firms based in nearby Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York, including groups like Delaware Crossing Investor Group that explicitly invest across the Delaware River region rather than limiting themselves to a single state line.
Which industries do Delaware-focused investors fund most?
Based on the active firms above, healthcare and life sciences (Leading Edge Ventures, Limitless Ventures), fintech and blockchain (Arcanum Capital), and general tech and consumer (Velvet Sea Ventures) are the strongest areas of interest.
How much do these investors typically write as a first check?
It varies by investor. Leading Edge Ventures typically starts at $50,000 to $250,000 with follow-on capital up to $750,000, while Delaware Crossing Investor Group members typically invest $100,000 to $250,000 per deal. Larger multi-stage firms like Velvet Sea Ventures size checks to the round.
