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Grants & Funding Opportunities for Founders

Real grants & funding opportunities for founders — verified, not scraped junk. 31 real opportunities right now.

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Founder

Segal Family Foundation Grant

Segal Family Foundation

A trust-based philanthropic funder giving first-time and renewal grants to grassroots, African-led organizations serving youth.

📍 Sub-Saharan AfricaPaidEasy
#grant#grassroots#africa
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Founder

Villgro Incubation Program

Villgro Innovations Foundation

India's longest-running social enterprise incubator, providing seed funding and incubation across health, agribusiness, climate action, and gender-inclusion sectors.

📍 IndiaPaidMedium
#accelerator#social-enterprise#india
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Founder

AirAsia Foundation Grant Programme

AirAsia Foundation

A grant program funding ASEAN-based social enterprises and community groups with a proven track record of social or environmental impact.

📍 Southeast AsiaPaidMedium
#grant#social-enterprise#asean
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Founder

Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge

Dutch Postcode Lottery

An annual startup competition for green innovations tackling climate change, plastic pollution, or food waste.

📍 Netherlands, Germany, UK, Norway, SwedenPaidMedium
#competition#green-tech#europe
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Founder

UNICEF Venture Fund

UNICEF Office of Innovation

An equity-free funding vehicle for open-source, frontier-tech startups improving child health, education, and wellbeing outcomes.

📍 Global (LMIC focus)PaidMedium
#grant#frontier-tech#child-wellbeing
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Founder

Women Who Tech FemTech + HealthTech Grant

Women Who Tech

A global grant challenge for women-led FemTech and HealthTech startups addressing healthcare access gaps.

📍 Global (USA-based)PaidMedium
#grant#femtech#healthtech
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Founder

Microsoft AI for Accessibility Grant

Microsoft

A twelve-month grant and support program for researchers, startups, and nonprofits building assistive technology using AI.

📍 GlobalPaidMedium
#grant#accessibility#ai
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Founder

The Accessibility Fund

The Accessibility Fund

A multi-year cohort program funding small, disability-focused organizations, especially in the Global South, with unrestricted grants and a nonprofit accelerator track.

📍 Global (priority Global South)PaidMedium
#grant#disability#social-enterprise
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Founder

Global LEAP Solar E-Waste Challenge

Efficiency for Access Coalition

A challenge funding innovative e-waste management approaches within the off-grid solar sector in Sub-Saharan Africa.

📍 Sub-Saharan AfricaPaidMedium
#grant#e-waste#solar
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Founder

Milken-Motsepe Prize in Circular Economy

Milken Institute / Motsepe Foundation

A competition for scalable, tech-driven African businesses transforming waste into value through circular economy business models.

📍 AfricaPaidHard
#competition#circular-economy#africa
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Founder

Beyond the Grid Fund for Africa

Nordic Development Fund-backed initiative

A results-based financing facility funding off-grid energy access companies serving displacement-affected and underserved communities in Africa.

📍 AfricaPaidHard
#grant#energy-access#africa
Founder

Echoing Green Fellowship

Echoing Green

An eighteen-month fellowship for early-stage social entrepreneurs, providing a stipend, capacity-building support, and a peer community.

📍 Global (USA-based)PaidHard
#fellowship#social-entrepreneurship#funding
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Founder

Grand Challenges Canada Stars in Global Health

Grand Challenges Canada

A seed funding stream for bold early-stage global health innovations, part of a broader seed-to-scale funding model.

📍 Canada / Global SouthPaidMedium
#grant#global-health#innovation
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Founder

UNHCR Refugee-led Innovation Fund

UNHCR Innovation Service

Provides direct funding, mentoring, and expertise to organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless people building community-based innovations.

📍 GlobalPaidMedium
#grant#refugee-led#social-enterprise
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Founder

AYuTe Africa Challenge

Heifer International

A pan-African competition identifying and funding young agritech entrepreneurs building solutions for smallholder farmers, run across multiple national competitions.

📍 Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Malawi, UgandaPaidMedium
#competition#agritech#africa
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Founder

Cartier Women's Initiative Regional Award

Cartier Women's Initiative

A global award for women-led impact businesses, providing cash grants plus a leadership program across nine world regions.

📍 Global (Switzerland-based)PaidHard
#award#women-entrepreneurs#funding
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Founder

Alfanar Venture Philanthropy

Alfanar

The first venture philanthropy organization in the Arab world, providing multi-year grants plus a dedicated portfolio manager to growth-stage social enterprises.

📍 Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, PalestinePaidHard
#grant#social-enterprise#mena
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Founder

NESsT Latin America Accelerator Programme

NESsT / IKEA Social Entrepreneurship

A three-year tailored accelerator for social enterprises in Chile and Colombia providing capital and business support benefiting marginalized groups.

📍 Chile / ColombiaPaidHard
#accelerator#social-enterprise#latin-america
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Founder

Imagine H2O Pilot Fund

Imagine H2O

Provides recoverable grants and impact-linked loans helping water-technology startups pilot solutions with early adopters worldwide.

📍 GlobalPaidMedium
#grant#water-tech#startup
Founder

Africa's Business Heroes Prize Competition

Jack Ma Foundation

A pan-African entrepreneurship competition recognizing outstanding African founders across sectors, with a substantial cash prize pool and mentorship from global business leaders.

📍 Africa (all countries)PaidHard
#competition#africa#entrepreneurship
Founder

Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme

Tony Elumelu Foundation

A pan-African entrepreneurship program providing seed capital, mentorship, and business training to early-stage African founders across every sector and all 54 countries.

📍 Africa (all 54 countries)PaidMedium
#accelerator#africa#entrepreneurship
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Founder

MIT Solve Financial Inclusion Challenge

MIT Solve

A challenge for solutions expanding financial access to excluded individuals and small enterprises, with winners receiving funding and MIT Solve's mentorship network.

📍 Global (online application)PaidMedium
#competition#fintech#financial-inclusion
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Founder

Visa Everywhere Initiative

Visa

A global startup competition supporting founders building innovative payment and commerce technologies, with cash prizes and mentorship from Visa's innovation team.

📍 Global (regional heats)PaidMedium
#competition#fintech#startup
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Founder

Youth Co:Lab National Innovation Challenge

UNDP / Citi Foundation

A regional startup idea challenge for young people building solutions to social problems such as education access, care work, and disability inclusion, with seed funding for finalists.

📍 Asia-Pacific regionPaidMedium
#competition#social-enterprise#youth
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Founder

Young Social Entrepreneurs Programme

Singapore International Foundation

An eight-month program helping young people start or scale social enterprises, combining mentorship, cross-border study visits, and seed funding for top proposals.

📍 Singapore (with international components)PaidMedium
#accelerator#social-enterprise#mentorship
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Founder

MIT Solve The Care Economy Challenge

MIT Solve

A challenge specifically for technology-enabled solutions to childcare, eldercare, and disability-support gaps, funded through MIT Solve's broader innovation network.

📍 Global (online application)PaidMedium
#competition#social-impact#care-economy
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Founder

We Empower UN SDG Challenge

UN Women

A challenge recognizing women-led businesses that advance the UN Sustainable Development Goals through their core commercial operations, with a cash grant opportunity for finalists.

📍 Global (regional finalists)PaidMedium
#challenge#women-entrepreneurs#sdgs
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Founder

Biomimicry Institute Ray of Hope Accelerator

Biomimicry Institute

A six-month accelerator for early-stage startups building nature-inspired solutions to environmental challenges, pairing founders with biomimicry experts and seed funding.

📍 Global (remote cohort)PaidMedium
#accelerator#climate#biomimicry
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Founder

D-Prize

D-Prize

A competition funding entrepreneurs to distribute proven poverty interventions — like clean water, basic health products, or educational materials — into new communities.

📍 Global (online application)PaidMedium
#grant#poverty#social-enterprise
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Founder

MIT Solve Global Challenges

MIT Solve

An open innovation platform that runs annual challenges (health, climate, economic prosperity, learning) and connects selected Solver teams with funding, mentorship, and MIT's network.

📍 Global (online application)PaidMedium
#competition#social-impact#funding
Founder

Hello Tomorrow Global Challenge

Hello Tomorrow

A global deep-tech startup competition connecting founders working on hard-science solutions (energy, biotech, materials, etc.) with investors, corporates, and a large cash prize pool.

📍 Global (finals in Paris)PaidHard
#competition#deep-tech#startup
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