Delaware state is located in the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., bordering New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east, Pennsylvania to its north, and Maryland to its south and west. The state is known as the “First State” because it became the first to ratify the U.S constitution on December 7, 1787. Delaware is also famous because it doesn’t have a state sales tax. The capital city of Delaware is Dover, but the largest city is Wilmington. Delaware’s tech scene is booming, which has helped boost the state’s local economy.
Which Tech Companies Were Founded in Delaware?
Tritek
James Malatesta founded Tritek in 1984 as a tech company specializing in designing hardware and software products for email services. The company’s headquarters are located in Wilmington, Delaware, which is its assembly plant and the processing center for its mails. Tritek offers many products, including Mail sorting, Compact Elite, Nomad, Tritek Compact, ACE Workstation, Inbound Presort Mail, Digital Email Delivery, Return Mail, Correct Elect Vote-by-Mail.
The company provides machinery and services primarily in the United States but offers its products globally. Its major customers include J P Morgan Chase Bank and George Mason University.
Many cities and counties in America depend on Tritek’s vote-by-mail technology to run a smooth and credible election. Washington state, New Jersey, and the five boroughs of New York City are some cities that depend on Tritek’s vote-by-mail product. Tritek has worked with both small and large companies worldwide. These large organizations include Siemens, the United States Postal Service, and Lockheed Martin.
The History of Tritek: What to Know
In 1981, before Tritek was founded, Independent Computer Services (ICS) had a contract to establish a mail sorting machine service for a Leigh Marsland Mail Sorting Equipment in Canada. In 1984, ICS was impressed with the Leigh Marsland Mail Sorting Equipment and purchased it. Being the legal owners of Legacy Equipment, the company’s software developers created modern readers and computer systems that would effectively run on the Instrument. Also, ICS developed Model 88-5, an Optical Character Reader (OCR), which was used to presort mail on its Legacy Equipment.
ICS was impressed with the Model 88-5 instrument and decided to name the company that developed it Tritek Technologies. Tritek was derived from the three technologies used in mail sortation: conveying, computing, and sorting.
The Founding of Tritek: How it Happened
Tritek was a tech startup on mail sorting machine services. It developed its first multi-font programmable optical reader for mail processing machines in 1988.
In 1991, Tritek designed the 91-5 Ultrasorter, its first high-speed flats sorter. United States Postal Services first used the equipment on its FMBCS (flat mail barcode sorter) development project to sort and track letters and flats. The 91-5 Ultrasorter was much more effective than the previously designed high-speed flats sorter, leading to its licensing by the United States Postal Services.
In 2003, Tritek introduced the “Rule Editor” software to aid organizations in sorting their mails according to a custom programmed set of software rules tied to a database. The software would help firms sort generically addressed inbound mail pieces, handle ad mail, or forward mail to a different address quickly. Since 2009, Tritek Technologies has been helping to trace undeliverable mail pieces the post office has returned to the sender. Usually, returned mails are difficult to process with automated equipment because their addresses have been corrupted.
LabWare
Labware is a software industry based in Wilmington, Delaware. It is a tech startup for developing and implementing Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) and Electronic Laboratory Notebooks (ELN) founded by Vance Kershner in 198. Labare uses the Smalltalk programming language to develop its two products, LIMS and ELN.
LIMS is a software that supports modern laboratory operations such as data tracking, flexible architecture, and data exchange interface. On the other hand, ELN is a computer program designed to provide a digital laboratory notebook that aids scientists, engineers, and technicians to keep records.
The History of LabWare: What to Know
LabWare founder Vance Kershner, the current president and CEO of the company, is a mechanical engineer and an entrepreneur. He wanted to produce reliable software that would aid laboratories in conducting their crucial research. According to a LabWare report by Natoli and Cori Anne, they state that Vance targeted the laboratory automation space as something he could contribute to because it was not very effective at the time.
By 2013, the company’s LIMS products had been sold to approximately a quarter of the world’s market.
LabWare has been recognized as the best LIMS product in the Scientific Computing and Instrumentation’s Reader’s Choice Award yearly from 2000 to 2008. In 2004, it won the Front and Sullivan Product Quality Leadership Award and the best company in European Laboratory Information Management Systems Company of the Year Award in 2008.
The Founding of Labware: How it Happened
LabWare is one of the largest private companies in Delaware, with offices in fifteen countries and customers in ninety. Its products are used in powerful states such as the US, Ireland, Australia, and South Africa to test for food, water, air, and soil quality. LabWare is famous for its training facility at Oberod Estate, Delaware, built for one of the prominent Du Pont family members, Jane du Pont Lunger.
It sells its products to various Pharmaceutical companies, including Wyeth, Teva, AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Merck, and Bristol Myers Squibb. However, the company is not limited to only Pharmaceutical companies; it offers services to other industries such as food and beverage, environmental, and water testing. On March 8, 2015, LabWare launched version 7.0 of its LIMS and ELN with significant features like a simplified user interface and improved mobile support. In 2020, LabWare launched its cloud-based LabWare LIMS solution making different laboratories collaborate easily. A few months later, the company introduced the LabWare GROW, an improved version of its LabWare LIMS designed for cannabis testing labs. In October 2014, LabWare joined the Pharo Consortium, an open-source platform object-oriented programming language for the classic Smalltalk-80.
What are the Biggest Tech Companies Located in Delaware?
ILC Dover
ILC Dover is one of the largest tech companies in Delaware, with annual revenue of $121.8M. The company is famous for its space suits which have outfitted every United States astronaut in the Apollo program. Additionally, ILC Dover has worked with large organizations such as the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) and NASA.
The History of ILC Dover: What to Know
ILC Dover was formed under one of the divisions in the International Latex Corporation, a company founded by Abram Spanel in 1932. The International Latex Corporation supplied products to the US army during World War II. Some of the products included attack boats and life rafts. In 1947, International Latex Corporation was split into four divisions. One of the divisions, the Metal Division, eventually became ILC Dover.
The Founding of ILC Dover: How it Happened
The US Navy and Air Force contracted ILC Dover in 1965 to produce high-altitude pressure helmets and suits. The company did an excellent job and was awarded the prime contract for the Apollo Lunar Space Suit. ILC Dover designed a magnificent spacesuit worn by astronauts in the Apollo program, one of which was Neil Armstrong’s outfit during the first moonwalk. By 1969, ILC Dover designed a sun shield to protect Skylab, the first US space station. In 1974, the company had to expand its market as the Skylab program had ended. The same year, the US Air Force purchased ILC Dover’s first aerostat, which would be used at Cudjoe Key Air Force Station.
To expand its market, DLC Dover created a new business unit that will produce personal protective equipment for private and public firms. The new venture was productive as the company was able to sell over two million chemicals, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) masks as of 2010. Also, its CBRN mask, M40, and M42 became the standard field mask for the US Army. In 1977, ILC and Hamilton Standard, an American aircraft propeller parts supplier, collaborated to develop the Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) suit. Astronauts wore the EMU suits during Space Shuttle and Space Station extravehicular activity (EVA). In 1994 and 1995, ILC found new clients, the German company Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH and the American Blimp Corporation, which contracted to produce envelopes for each company. Over the years, ILC was designing a unique lighter-than-air (LTA) vehicle that would attract global customers. In 2001, Cargolifter, a transport company for heavy and outsize loads based in Germany, contracted ILC Dover, TCOM, and Uretek to produce the largest pressurized LTA vehicle.
In 1994, ILC won a contract from Jet Propulsion Laboratory to develop and manufacture the airbag landing system for the Mars Pathfinder Mission. Like its previous projects, ILC delivered incredible airbags used in the pathfinders landing on July 4, 1997, and the landing of the twin rovers during the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Missions in 2003.
Other than investing in the development of personal protective equipment, ILC Dover also ventured into the pharmaceutical industry in the 1990s. It designed the flexible containment systems used to safeguard operators and ensure product purity in the complete process of manufacturing potent pharmaceutical agents.
What are the Largest Private Tech Companies in Delaware?
L. Gore & Associates
W. L. Gore & Associates is a multinational tech company that produces its products from fluoropolymers. It is a privately held corporation founded in 1958 with its headquarters in Newark, Delaware. It is one of the largest companies in Delaware, with annual revenue of $3.168 billion. Also, it has 10,500 employees, which is higher than most private and public companies globally, and it has over 50 branches in East Asia, Australia, and Europe.
The History of W. L. Gore & Associates: What to Know
Wilbert Lee Gore and his wife Genevieve Walton Gore are the founders of W. L. Gore & Associates, a company that started in the basement of their home until 1960. This was after W. L. Gore & Associates was contracted to produce seven and a half miles of multi-Tet cable. The two founders built their firm in Delaware, just a few distances from their home.
In 1963, Bob Gore completed his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the University of Minnesota and decided to join the company. In 1969, he researched the process of stretching extruded PTFE, and the results showed that polymers could be expanded. Bob did further research on stretching extrude PTFE, which led to the production of Gore-Te expanded PTFE, commonly used by companies in manufacturing its products.
In 1985, Bill Gore was recognized with the Prince Philip Award for producing Polymers, leading to positive change in Mankind. In 2005, Bob Gore was awarded the Perkin Medal by the Society of Chemical Industry for his important discoveries. A year later, Bob’s invention of expanded PTFE led to his induction into the National Inventors Hall of Fame.
Bill Gore served as W. L. Gore & Associates president until 1976, when he stepped down for Bob Gore. Bill maintained his position as chairman until he died in 1986. His wife, Genevive Gore, filled the gap and served until she died in 2005.
The Founding of W. L. Gore & Associates: How it Happened
The company’s founder, Bill Gore, worked for DuPont for 16 years as a technician in various positions. He decided to start his company after being involved in DuPont’s fluoropolymer research.
He started in his basement, where he sought to discover a process for insulting a series of parallel electrical wires using PTFE. After a series of unsuccessful experiments, Robert W. Gore (Bill’s son) aided him in finding a suitable method for encapsulating the wires. This led to W. L. Gore & Associates’s first patent.
The company received its first contract in 1960 from Denver Water Company. Ten years later, W. L. Gore & Associates had grown into a powerful company with manufacturing plants in major countries like Germany, Scotland, and Japan.
What are the Largest Publicly Traded Tech Companies in Delaware?
DuPont
DuPont is a biotechnology company based in Wilmington, Delaware. It was founded by Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours in July, 1802. The company was a tech startup for gunpowder mills made from sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal. DuPont has 34,000 employees with a revenue of $20.397 billion, and its services are offered globally. According to a report from market capitalization in 2014, DuPont was ranked fourth in a list of the largest chemical companies worldwide and was the eighth-largest based on revenue.
The History of DuPont: What to Know
DuPont founder, Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours, moved to America to escape the French Revolution and religious persecution against Huguenot protestants. He decided to start a gunpowder company from a small capital he raised in France. In 1902, DuPont President, Eugene du Pont, died, and Charles Lee Reese replaced his position. Before Charles’ appointment, the company’s partners agreed to sell their shares to three great-grandsons of du Pont’s family.
The company was rebranded DowDuPont on December 11, 2015, after E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (commonly known as DuPont) agreed to merge with Dow Chemical Company. After the merger, DowDuPont had an estimated value of $130B. Both companies had an equal share of their resources, while each maintained its headquarters. The combination of DuPont and Dow Chemical Company was closed on August 31, 2017.
DowDuPont created three independent divisions, including the agriculture business, the material science segment, and the specialty products named DuPont.
In 2019, DuPont spun off from DowDuPont and started selling its products as an independent entity. This was followed by the appointment of Edward D. Breen in February 2020 as the new CEO of the company.
The founding of DuPont: How it Happened
DuPont started at Eleutherian Mills, a gunpowder mill site used in manufacturing explosives from 1802 to 1921. By the mid-19th century, Dupont was the largest supplier of gunpowder in the US. Its product was commonly used by the US Army and the Union Army during the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865.
By 1902, DuPont decided to venture into dynamite and smokeless powder production. The company gained more from its new products and acquired more companies, which led to government scrutiny in 1912. DuPont was accused of monopolizing the explosive business and was ordered divestment. The court ruling led to the establishment of competitive companies such as Hercules Powder Company and the Atlas Powder Company. DuPont was forced to retain single-base nitrocellulose powders, while the newly developed company, Hercules, acquired double-base powder, which combines nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine.
In an attempt to regain its market dominance, DuPont published an instructional brochure entitled “Farming with Dynamite,” which would enlighten its clients on the benefits of its dynamite product and effective ways of using it. Later, the company established two laboratories in the US that would develop non-explosive products and research cellulose chemistry and lacquers.
In the 1920s, DuPont invested heavily in material science, hiring one of the best American chemists, Wallace Carothers, to aid in its production. In 1928, Wallace helped the company produce neoprene, polyester super polymer, and nylon. In 1935, DuPont launched Phenothiazine to be sold as an insecticide. In the 1950s and 1960s, DuPont introduced various products, including Mylar, Dacron, Orlon, Lycra, Nomex, Qiana, Corfam, and Corian.
In 1981, the company acquired Conoco Inc., an American company that specialized in oil and gas production. In 1999, It purchased the pioneer Hi-Bred agricultural seed company based in the US.
In October 2001, DuPont agreed to sell its Pharmaceutical business to Bristol Myers Squibb for $7.798B. It also sold its textile business in 2004. DuPont was approved to sell its Plenish Soybeans product in 2010. On May 16, 2011, DuPont completed its acquisition of the Danisco company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, for $6.3B. The company also acquired Bunge Limited, an agribusiness, and food company, on May 1, 2012.
On July 1, 2015, DuPont launched the trading of Chemours stock on the New York Stock Exchange. In November 2021, the company acquired Rogers Corporation, based in Chandler, Arizona, for $5.2B.
What are the Forgotten Tech Companies in Delaware?
Lineo
Lineo was founded on September 2, 1999, as Caldera Thin Clients, Inc., a subsidiary of Caldera Inc. The company was rebranded to Lineo on July 20, 1999, after the company decided to major in the development of Linux. Although the company was rebranded, it still maintained its thin clients’ sales offices.
The History of Lineo: What to Know
After the company was created in 1999, one of the company’s founders, Bryan Wayne Sparks, was appointed president and CEO. At the time, Lineo had only 14 employees.
It was specialized in producing Embedix, a lightweight Linux distribution for embedded systems, together with other products such as DR-DOS, an operating system compatible with DOS.
In October 2001, Lineo introduced an open-source for its redistribution and modification of the Digital Research binaries related to CP/M and MP/M. The remaining Digital Research assets were acquired by Canopy Group, while DeviceLogics acquired the DR-DOS in 2002.
By April 2002, some of the company’s assets had been auctioned off. In July 2002, Lineo was rebranded to Embedix Inc. A Few months later, Embedix Inc. was acquired by Metrowerks, a subsidiary of Motorola.
In 2002, Lineo sold most of its assets, starting with the embedded modules and uClinux software, which Arcturus Networks Inc purchased. It also sold its router division to CyberGuard, and McAfee acquired the Secure Computing unit. Lineo’s wholly-owned subsidiary, United System Engineering (USE), reformed and trades as Lineo Solutions.
The Founding of Lineo: How it Happened
Lineo had designed powerful technologies that made them stand out in the tech market. The technologies included Rt-Control, FirePlug, Embedix, Embedix SDK, and the Embrowser.
Lineo’s modern technologies enabled its software developers to offer a complete Linux operating system featuring a graphical browser that could run off a floppy disk. Over the years, Lineo developed into an international company with offices in seven countries. Also, it acquired and merged with various companies, including Zentropix, Rt-Control Inc., Moreton Bay, United System Engineering (USE), Fireplug, and Inup.
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