LADIES, LET’S GET PAID - April Funding Opportunities
APRIL FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND GRANTS PROVIDED BY THE BANK OF AMERICA INSTITUTE FOR WOMEN’S ENTREPRENEURSHIP AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY
Below, you will find links to funding, accelerators, and general resources. PLEASE NOTE: Cornell has no affiliation with these organizations, so any specific questions should be directed to them.
STATE-SPECIFIC OPPORTUNITIES
There are more than 85 opportunities within 34 US states and Washington, DC which are not mentioned in this post (due to lack of space) but are listed here: https://bofainstitute.cornell.edu/more/repost-spreadsheet-with-funding-and-resource-links-for-2024/
OPPORTUNITIES ONLY WITHIN THE UNITED STATES
Amazon's Black Business Accelerator - Dedicated to helping build sustainable equity and growth for Black entrepreneurs by enabling their success as sellers. Grow your business with access to financial support, strategic business guidance and mentorship, and marketing and promotional support. - https://sell.amazon.com/programs/black-business-accelerator
American Dream Grant - The American Dream Awards celebrate small businesses embodying the modern American Dream. Open to all US for-profit businesses, recipients get $1,000, a business accelerator, media exposure, and more. Apply by 4/30/2023 - https://helloalice.com/funding/grants
Angel City Football Club’s Player 22 Small Business Grant Program - Calling all entrepreneurs! Angel City FC, LLC ("ACFC"), a majority women-owned and community-minded organization, has teamed up with IFundWomen to fund and support entrepreneurs who want to launch or grow their small businesses. Apply now for your chance to win a $10k grant plus one year of business coaching! Apply by 4/8/2024 - https://www.ifundwomen.com/grants/angel-city-fc
Backing Small Business Grant (with AmEx) - In partnership with American Express, the Backing Small Businesses grant program supports economically vulnerable and under-resourced small businesses with community reach. This year, eligible small business owners can apply for $10,000 grants for projects that grow or improve their businesses by building community, supporting their economic viability, or bolstering meaningful change. Apply by 4/7/2024 - https://www.mainstreet.org/howwecanhelp/backingsmallbusinesses
Bank of America Access to Capital Connector - The Bank of America Access to Capital Connector is designed to help small business owners find business loans along with coaching and support to run a strong and resilient business. - https://www.accesstocapitalconnector.com/
Bank of America's Business Education Center for Entrepreneurs - Visit Bank of America's Small Business Education site for access to free webinars on Accessing Capital, Building Business Credit and more -https://go.bofa.com/BusinessEducationCenter
Bank of America Supplier Diversity Small & Diverse Business Scholarship Program - Scholarship recipients will be given the opportunity to continue their education and enhance the business operations functions within their companies by attending executive business management programs. Diverse Business Owner must have at least three years of experience developing a successfully running company, at least 3 employees, at least $300,000 in annual revenue. Scholarships for $10,000. Applications open 4/8/24 - 5/23/24 - https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/bofabusiness/
Dannon Light + Fit and Female Founder Collective (FFC) Grant Program - This grant program seeks to empower women entrepreneurs during Women’s History Month. This initiative aims to support five qualified women by offering each recipient a $10,000 grant, a one-hour session with an expert advisor through the North platform, and a one-year membership to the Female Founder Collective 10th House community. Apply by 4/4/2024 - https://femalefoundercollective.com/grant-dannon-light-fit
Enthuse Foundation Women Owned Business Grants - The Enthuse Foundation is offering a series of eight different financial grants to assist entrepreneurs with critical business needs. Funding for $2,500. Apply by 4/8/2024 - https://www.enthusefoundation.org/grants
Fast Break for Small Business (LegalZoom) - LegalZoom, the NBA, WNBA, and NBA G League are committed to helping small business owners. The grant program is focused on reaching entrepreneurs of color, women, low- to moderate-income small business owners, immigrants, and others who have historically had limited access to financing for their business. Grants for $10,000. Apply by 9/13/2024 - https://www.legalzoom.com/fastbreakforsmallbusiness
Genius NY Accelerator - GENIUS NY is a startup accelerator sponsored by Empire State Development that invests $3M annually into seed-stage startups focused on uncrewed aerial systems, automation and AI. Must be willing to commit to living on a full-time basis in Central New York for the period of the program. Applications open for Cohort 8. Winners receive a large investment; one grand prize winner receives $1 million, followed by four $500,000 investments to the remaining teams. Winners also receive funding in the form of a monthly stipend in Phase I, free office space and amenities, workshops and events, business training, a dedicated group of executive advisors, industry mentors, and recruiting, marketing, and fundraising support. Funding up to $1,000,000. Apply by 5/15/2024 - https://geniusny.com/
GrowNY - The Grow-NY business competition provides funding, mentorship, business development support, and other key resources to leading food and ag startups from across the globe. Innovative startups are encouraged to apply for their chance to win up to $1 million. A total of $3 million in prizes will be awarded to seven startups. Apply by 5/15/2024 - https://www.grow-ny.com/
Halstead Grant - Halstead Grant is an annual award for emerging silver jewelry artists. Applicants submit answers to 15 business questions in addition to their design portfolios. The experience is designed to help jewelry entrepreneurs create a strategy to kick-start their careers. Grants of $7,500. Apply by 5/1/2024 - https://grant.halsteadbead.com/
HerRise Micro-Grant ($10 fee to apply) - Each month a $500 micro-grant will be awarded to a for-profit small business owned by women of color. Past recipients used their growth grants for computers, equipment, marketing materials, software purchase, website creation and more. - https://www.hersuitespot.com/herrise/
Idea Cafe Small Business Grant - Idea Cafe, an online resource center for women-owned businesses, has been awarding Idea Cafe Small Business Grants of $1,000 to women entrepreneurs who either own a business currently or want to start their own business. Applications are now being taken for women who would like to apply for the grant money. (no fee but must sign up to be part of Idea Cafe) - https://www.businessownersideacafe.com/business_grants/index.php
IMPACT grants - Primary goal of grant is to fuel the endeavors of businesses and nonprofits that are actively making a significant IMPACT within their communities and beyond. Open to US and Canada-based organizations. Funding of $1,000 -https://impactfundingsolutions.com/impact-grant-application-for-businesses/
Jobber Grants For Home Service Businesses - Any home service business owner or aspiring business owner 18 years old or older, residing in the U.S. and Canada, excluding Québec is eligible to apply. Funding of $10,000. Apply by 6/12/2024 - https://getjobber.com/grants
Josephine Collective - The Josephine Collective looks at deals on a rolling basis, and founders can apply to be considered at any time. Goal is to have the entire process take no more than 3 weeks from presentation to wire. They invest anywhere from $10K to $100K depending on the Collective’s interest. JC prefers early-stage tech-enabled businesses. Companies must be for-profit, US-domiciled, and have an expectation of becoming large-scale businesses. "Lifestyle" businesses, single location businesses with no current plans to scale, and non-profits will not be considered. - https://joinjosephine.com/
Juntos Crecemos Hispanic Digital & Delivery Program (PepsiCo) - PepsiCo is inviting Latina entrepreneurs who work in food service to apply for eight weeks of personalized expert consultation, including best practices across operations, technology, marketing and digital presence. https://pepsicojuntoscrecemos.com/jefaowned/
Kitty Fund - Helping Mompreneurs - Founder identifies as a mother. Business annual revenue does not exceed $5M. Business must be located in the United States. Grant for $500. Apps open in March 2024 - https://foundersfirstcdc.org/kitty-fund
Military Entrepreneur Challenge - The Military Entrepreneur Challenge is a nationwide grant program that gives veteran, military spouse, and Gold Star Family entrepreneurs the opportunity to network, learn, and compete for capital to grow their small business. - https://secondservicefoundation.org/mec/
Minority Business Circle - Supportive network for diverse entrepreneurs in various industries, offering opportunities like grants, loans, significant discounts on essential business products, and a comprehensive step-by-step guide with customized tools to track progress and foster growth. See link for info - https://minoritybusinesscircle.com/
Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award - The Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private, or social sector leaders who are working together as equal partners, not as donors and recipients, to build a cohesive community that serves as a model for collaborating with others for the greater good. Funding up to $100,000. Apply by 7/1/2024 - https://mutualofamerica.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_dnjXsBWU8lmdJGu
Novae Grants Database - Novae Grants database are intended for small businesses with 6-100 employees, though some are also intended for larger businesses and sole proprietor startups - https://grants.novaegrants.com/
ProLiteracy grant - ProLiteracy is offering grants through their Literacy Opportunity Fund to help US-based nonprofit organizations do their work in transforming lives through adult literacy. Grants can be used to support general operating expenses. General operating expenses might include salaries, technology, supplies, teacher stipends, equipment, space rental, etc. Your application may also focus on a particular project, event, or new programming effort. Grants for $6,000. Apply by 4/1/2024 - https://www.proliteracy.org/grants-funding/literacy-opportunity-fund/
SPARK Tank Pitch Competition - Any USA citizen can apply for the SPARK Tank Pitch Competition in Hollywood, FL. The competition is open to entrepreneurs from every industry sector and age group, with ideas at any stage of development, from concept creation to a finished product or business. Funding of $5,000. Apply by 4/5/2024 - https://www.sparkhollywoodfl.com/spark-pitch-competition
SPUR (Shared Purpose, Unlimited Reach) Pathways - Through an integrated and collaborative approach, Macy’s, Inc. and Momentus will provide access to a range of capital options from microloans to growth capital to equity investments. This represents a commitment to underrepresented businesses and aims to galvanize the retail industry to invest in the next generation of entrepreneurs - https://www.macysinc.com/purpose/spurpathways
Start Small Think Big is a nonprofit that helps small businesses with high potential and limited access to the resources needed to create thriving businesses. They partner with small business owners, providing personalized business support and building connections with local communities. If you are interested in being considered as a “client” for free services, you can fill out this form https://partner.startsmallthinkbig.org/bofainstitute (check toggle on side for English/Spanish). They also offer free webinars (in Eng and Span) with upcoming events listed here - https://www.startsmallthinkbig.org/events-for-small-businesses
Truist NonProfit Grant - The Truist Foundation supports nonprofits with grants that target leadership development, economic mobility, thriving communities and educational equity. Quarterly deadlines - https://www.truist.com/purpose/truist-foundation/grant-application
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready Resources and Grants - Verizon announced that new grant funding opportunities for small businesses are available for Verizon Small Business Digital Ready users in Houston, Miami, Phoenix and Los Angeles areas. Small business owners who register on the platform receive free, personalized access to over 40 online courses – some of which are available in Spanish -- coaching opportunities with industry experts, peer networking events, and incentives such as the opportunity to apply for grant funding. Grants for $10,000. Apply by 4/8/2024 - https://www.verizon.com/about/news/verizon-announces-city-specific-small-business-digital-ready-grant-opportunities
Veterans Business Outreach Center - The Veterans Business Outreach Center (VBOC) program offers resources to veterans who are interested in starting or growing a small business. There are 22 locations (soon expanding to 35) and they offer workshops, training, counseling, and mentorship opportunities. - https://www.sba.gov/local-assistance/resource-partners/veterans-business-outreach-center-vboc-program
Warrior Rising Grant - Warrior Rising strives to accept and assist veterans at any point in the process of starting their own business, whether it is only a concept or if they have actual operations. Funding of $20,000 - https://www.warriorrising.org/apply/
Whole Foods Local and Emerging Accelerator Program - Participants benefit from the mentorship of Whole Foods Market experts, tailored educational programs and the potential for direct financial support. Each participant’s products are also considered for placement on the shelves of Whole Foods Market stores in their home city or region at the conclusion of the six-month program. Apply by 4/19/2024 - https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/company-info/information-potential-suppliers
Wish Local Empowerment Program - You must be a Black-owned business with a brick-and-mortar shop within the United States and less than 20 employees. If selected for the program, you must join Wish Local (which is free). Grants for up to $2000 - https://www.wish.com/local/empowerment
Women and Minority Business Owner Down Payment Grant (Bank of America) - Non-repayable grant is for up to $25,000 on SBA owner occupied commercial estate loans for business locations within select opportunity zones (Atlanta, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas and Los Angeles) Program may expand based on pilot. - https://promotions.bankofamerica.com/smallbusiness/downpaymentgrant
YippityDoo Big Idea Grant ($15 application fee) - Each month, one $1000 grant is awarded to a woman, age 18 or over, in the US to invest in their Business or Idea. It can be used as a start up grant, marketing grant, operational grant or whatever you need to help you to the next level with your idea or business. - https://programs.yippitydoo.com/thebigideagrantforwomen
ZenBusiness Free LLC Formation for Moms - To help mothers take the first step toward entrepreneurship, ZenBusiness is covering business formation costs and will help entrepreneurs form an LCC, track expenses, secure a business name, and more. -https://www.zenbusiness.com/moms/
ZenBusiness Small Business Grants - The ZenBusiness 2024 Small Business Grant Program offers $5,000 to small businesses who form a legal business entity (LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp). In order to qualify for this grant, you must have used their formation services in the last 3-6 months. Apply by 12/31/2024 - https://www.zenbusiness.com/grants
GLOBAL OPPORTUNITIES (unless specified in the description)
Amazon App Store Small Business Accelerator - The Small Business Accelerator Program allows developers that earn less than 1 million USD in total annual revenue in the previous calendar year to access additional benefits up to or equivalent to 20% of Appstore revenue. If eligible, you’ll receive a 10% increased royalty payment and AWS credits equivalent to 10% of your app revenue. - https://developer.amazon.com/apps-and-games/small-business-program
Antler Global Startup Program - Antler is a global early-stage VC that runs multiple programs for business startups around the world. See the website for more info about the program and application dates. - https://www.antler.co/platform/#apply-now
Awesome Foundation - Foundation distributes $1,000 grants, no strings attached, to projects and their creators. At each fully autonomous chapter, the money is pooled together from the coffers of ten or so self-organizing “micro-trustees”. Awarded monthly - https://www.awesomefoundation.org/en
AWS Startup Loft Accelerator - AWS Startup Loft Accelerator equips your technical team with tech resources, guidance and a community of peers. From technical deep dives to round tables on day-to-day CTO challenges, including: recruiting, managing an engineering team, building a minimum viable product, and design principles for cloud architecture. Provides $25,000 in AWS credits - https://aws-startup-lofts.com/emea/program/accelerator
Canva Pro For Nonprofits - If you are a nonprofit, you can register now to get Canva’s premium features for free. - https://www.canva.com/canva-for-nonprofits/
Emergent Ventures Grant/Fellowship Application (through Mercatus Center at George Mason University) - Emergent Ventures, a fellowship and grant program from the Mercatus Center, seeks to support entrepreneurs with highly scalable, “zero to one” ideas for meaningfully improving society. Projects will either be fellowships or grants: fellowships involve time in residence at the Mercatus Center in Northern Virginia; grants are one-time or slightly staggered payments to support a project. https://www.mercatus.org/emergent-ventures
Entrepreneurship World Cup - The competition offers over $1 million in cash prizes to top entrepreneurs and provides a supportive community, global exposure, and access to mentorship and resources to help grow their businesses. Apply by 7/31/2024 - https://www.genglobal.org/ewc
Etsy Disaster Relief Fund - Sellers will be eligible for a grant if they experienced a federally declared natural disaster within the past year, have been an active seller on Etsy for at least one year, and their Etsy account is in good standing. Grants for $2,500 - https://advocacy.etsy.com/etsy-emergency-relief-fund-at-cerf/
F6S List of Accelerators and Pitch Competitions - Provides a list of accelerators, contests and pitch competitions around the world. https://www.f6s.com/
48 in 48 - Website Build Event - 48in48 provides free websites to empower nonprofits. They recruit teams of talented designers, developers, project managers and content writers come together and create amazing websites over just one weekend. Non-profits with less than $3MM in revenue are welcome to apply. Their next event focuses on social justice nonprofits. The build event will be in June 2024 - https://48in48.org/events/
Global Good Fund Fellowship - The Global Good Fund Fellowship is a 12-month program supporting the leadership development of social enterprise leaders across the globe. The Global Good Fund develops each innovator by pairing them with professional executive coach and c-suite business executive who serves as a mentor, and by providing leadership assessment resources, a network of peers, sector expertise, and targeted financial capital. Funding of $10,000. Applications open in May 2024 and are due 6/30/24 (can register for more info now) - https://globalgoodfund.org/fellowship-program/
GrowNY - The Grow-NY business competition provides funding, mentorship, business development support, and other key resources to leading food and ag startups from across the globe. Innovative startups are encouraged to apply for their chance to win up to $1 million. A total of $3 million in prizes will be awarded to seven startups. Apply by 5/15/2024 - https://www.grow-ny.com/
Pollination Project - Grants to global non-profits. Annual budget for your group or organization must be less than $50,000. The total cost for the immediate project for which you are requesting funding must be less than $40,000 - https://thepollinationproject.org/apply/
Roddenberry Catalyst Fund - The Catalyst Fund is offering grants to Nonprofits & Social Enterprises to fund ideas or early-stage projects that have a high potential for large-scale impact and sustainable change. You can be a seasoned social entrepreneur or a first-time changemaker. Eligible candidates for the Catalyst Fund may be individuals, teams of individuals, non-profit organizations, or social enterprises. Funding up to $15,000 - https://roddenberryfoundation.org/our-work/catalyst-fund/
Savvy Fellowship - Savvy is a 12-week virtual Fellowship program for young professionals seeking to be part of the new generation of impact entrepreneurs. Applicants should be 40 or younger - https://savvyfellows.com/team/
SheTrades Accelerator - SheTrades Accelerator Programme for women entrepreneurs and business support organizations in the Apparel, Accessories and Home Décor sectors is targeting women-led businesses (WLBs) and Business Support Organizations (BSO) in the Apparel, Accessories, and Home Decor sector from Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Senegal, and South Africa. - https://shetrades-accelerator.converve.io/
Techstars Accelerators - Techstars accelerators have one goal: to help entrepreneurs succeed. During each three-month program, they surround companies (companies should be based in North American time zones) with the best mentors and an unrivaled network of corporate partners, investors, and alumni. Companies can receive $20K for 6% of company. Various locations and due dates - https://www.techstars.com/accelerators/
TiE Global Program for Women - If you are a woman entrepreneur with a passion for innovation and a drive to make a difference, then apply for the TiE Women Program 2024, an incredible opportunity for women founders to showcase their innovative business ideas on a global stage. Funding of $50,000. Apply by 6/15/2024 - https://www.tiewomen.org/
Watson Institute Flagship Fellowship - The Watson Institute is launching a fully-funded Venture Accelerator program for next-generation entrepreneurs with the skills, resources, and experience to scale the impactful ventures they are building. This program is offered with virtual and in-person components that allows fellows to take advantage of the global cohort while also focusing on creating local impact within their communities. The program launches with a 2-week Immersive (10–15 hours time commitment each week). For the remaining 14 weeks, the weekly time commitment is approximately 6–8 hours per week. Funding of $6,000. Applications open in Spring 2024 - https://watson.is/flagship-fellowship/
We Make Change - Global initiative that matches small businesses (mainly not for profits) with volunteers who are professional individuals or are from companies (including blue chip) that have an interest in supporting not for profits. Helps impact startups build a remote volunteer team for free - https://www.wemakechange.org/