Startup grants and programs in the United States (2026)
We track 32 programs open to startups in the United States beyond the worldwide ones: 29 national or local and 3 regional programs that include the United States. 25 are open now and 7 are paused until their next round. By type: Government Grants (17), Banking & Payments (5), Research & Students (4), GPU & Compute (2), Data & Analytics (1).
The largest headline value among open national or local programs is ARPA-E UNLOCK SBIR/STTR (DOE) from U.S. Department of Energy — ARPA-E (Awards from $323,090 up to $4,630,944; ~$45M total program funding (DE-FOA-0003631)). 17 of the national programs are government grants, vouchers or tax credits; 2 of them come from U.S. National Science Foundation. 6 accept students or researchers. The next dated deadline or opening is 4 November 2026 (NSF SBIR/STTR Phase I (America's Seed Fund)). On top of these, 234 worldwide programs (mostly cloud, AI and software credits) are open to United States-based startups; the eligibility checker filters all of them for your company.
National and local programs in the United States (29)
| Program | What you get | Type | Status | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ARPA-E UNLOCK SBIR/STTR (DOE)U.S. Department of Energy — ARPA-E | Awards from $323,090 up to $4,630,944; ~$45M total program funding (DE-FOA-0003631). | Innovation grant (SBIR/STTR) | Open | 2026-10-23 |
| DoD SBIR/STTR — Air Force & Space Force (AFWERX via DSIP)U.S. Department of the Air Force (AFWERX) | Phase I up to $323,000 (up to 6 months); Direct-to-Phase II up to $2.1M (up to 24 months). Contracts, no equity. | Innovation contract (SBIR/STTR) | Open | 2026-10-30 |
| Rho Partner PerksRho | Partner-perk value: Rho advertises 'up to $1M+ in savings' across its ~150-perk library (marketing aggregate, not cash; e.g. Algolia $10k… | Banking perks | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| USDA NIFA SBIR/STTRU.S. Department of Agriculture — NIFA | Phase II awards $600,000–$650,000 (FY2027 NOFO, ~$24.75M total). Phase I awards were $125,000–$181,500 in the last published Phase I NOFO. | Innovation grant (SBIR/STTR) | Open | 2026-10-23 |
| Brex Startup PerksBrex | Partner-perk value: Brex advertises 'over $350K' in discounts and credits on AI/SaaS tools for Brex customers (marketing aggregate across… | Banking perks | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| Ramp Rewards / Startup PerksRamp | Partner-perk value: Ramp advertises 'over $350,000 in partner rewards' (aggregate across all partner offers, e.g. Datadog up to $100k… | Banking perks | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| NSF SBIR/STTR Phase I (America's Seed Fund)U.S. National Science Foundation | Phase I grant up to $305,000; Phase II up to $1,250,000; Fast-Track up to $1,555,000 (NSF 26-510). NSF takes no equity. | Innovation grant (SBIR/STTR) | Open | 2026-10-23 |
| Nebraska SBIR/STTR Grant ProgramNebraska Department of Economic Development | Phase 0 up to $5,000; Phase I match up to $150,000 (or 65% of the federal award); Phase II match up to $300,000 (or 65%) | SBIR matching | Open | 2026-10-30 |
| Illinois SBIR/STTR Matching ProgramIllinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity (DCEO) | Up to $75,000 for federal Phase I awardees; up to $250,000 for Phase II awardees | SBIR matching | Open | 2026-10-30 |
| Hawaii HSBIR Matching GrantHawaii Technology Development Corporation (HTDC) | Phase I match: up to 50% of your federal SBIR/STTR Phase I award, max $75,000; Phase 0 proposal support also offered | SBIR matching | Open | 2026-10-30 |
| NSF I-Corps National TeamsU.S. National Science Foundation | Up to $50,000 award for the 7-week program (includes a $10,000 participation fee paid from the award) | Commercialisation grant | Open | 2026-10-30 |
| 1517 Medici Project grants1517 Fund | Stipend grants starting at $1,000 (no equity, no IP claim) | Micro-grant | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| Amplitude Tech for Black FoundersAmplitude | Full Amplitude Startup Plan free while criteria are met; dollar value not stated | Product analytics | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| Mercury PerksMercury | 270+ partner perks (e.g. AWS $5k credits, GitHub $10k credits, Notion 6 months free, Gusto 3 months free); total not stated | Banking perks | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| NAIRR Pilot — Research ResourcesU.S. National Science Foundation (NAIRR Pilot) | 12-month allocations of compute, model and platform resources from the NAIRR Pilot catalog (no $ value stated) | Government AI compute | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| NAIRR Pilot — Start-Up ProjectsU.S. National Science Foundation (NAIRR Pilot) | Up to 2,000 GPU-hours (or equivalent) on one national AI resource for 3 months | Government AI compute | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| New Mexico SBIR/STTR Matching GrantNew Mexico Economic Development Department | State matching grant for federal SBIR/STTR awardees (maximum per award not stated on the program page) | SBIR matching | Open | 2026-10-30 |
| NIH SBIR/STTR (Parent Omnibus PA-27-100 / PA-27-102)U.S. National Institutes of Health (with CDC & FDA) | Phase I (R43/R41) and Phase II (R44/R42) grants; budget limits follow SBA guidelines and vary by NIH institute, with topic-specific… | Innovation grant (SBIR/STTR) | Open | 2026-10-23 |
| NSF ACCESS AllocationsU.S. National Science Foundation (ACCESS) | Free HPC/GPU allocations: Explore up to 400K, Discover 1.5M, Accelerate 3M ACCESS credits; Maximize larger | Government HPC/GPU compute | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| One North Carolina Small Business ProgramNorth Carolina Department of Commerce (Office of Science, Technology & Innovation) | Reimburses part of SBIR/STTR Phase I proposal costs, plus SBIR and STTR matching funds for awardees (FY2027 round: $2M available) | SBIR matching | Open | 2026-10-30 |
| Pilot Startup BoosterPilot | First-year bundle for $750: onboarding, bookkeeping, federal & state tax filings, payroll/banking setup | Bookkeeping / tax | Open | 2026-10 |
| Rippling Startup StackRippling | Up to 6 months free on Rippling products (subscription + implementation), first 3 months of EOR free; dollar value not stated | HR / Payroll | Open | 2026-10 |
| Colorado Advanced Industries Early-Stage Capital & Retention GrantColorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) | Up to $250,000 per project (cap can rise to $500,000 for projects spanning more than one advanced industry); company matches $2 for every $1 | Commercialisation grant | Paused: opens Jan 4, 2027 | 2026-10-30 |
| NASA SBIR/STTR Phase INASA | Phase I up to $225,000 (SBIR 6 months; STTR 13 months); Phase II and SBIR Ignite follow-ons | Innovation grant (SBIR/STTR) | Paused: next round TBA | 2026-10-23 |
| MassVentures START ProgramMassVentures | 16 Round 1 grants of $100,000 and 7 Round 2 grants of $200,000 (Round 3 is a seed investment, not counted here) | SBIR commercialisation grant | Paused: opens Feb 1, 2027 | 2026-10-30 |
| Kentucky SBIR/STTR Matching FundsKY Innovation (Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development) | Matches up to $100,000 for a Phase I project and up to $150,000 for a Phase II project (reimbursable grant) | SBIR matching | Paused: next round TBA | 2026-10-30 |
| ACL NIDILRR SBIR Phase I (Disability & Rehabilitation)U.S. Administration for Community Living (HHS) | Phase I grants of $95,000–$100,000 for 6 months; 11 awards expected (~$1.1M total). | Innovation grant (SBIR) | Paused: next deadline Dec 16, 2026 | 2026-10-23 |
| Delaware EDGE Grant — STEM TrackDelaware Division of Small Business | Up to $750,000 in total split among STEM-track winners (award size scaled by pitch); 3:1 state-to-business match | Startup grant | Paused: next round TBA | 2026-10-30 |
| Google for Startups Accelerator: North America (Energy)Google | Equity-free mentoring, Google product credits and Cloud credits (amounts not stated), plus Cloud TPU access | Corporate accelerator | Paused: next round TBA | 2026-10-23 |
Regional programs that include the United States (3)
| Program | What you get | Where | Status | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lambda Cloud compute offer for Y Combinator companiesLambda | $20,000 in Lambda Cloud credits for on-demand GPU instances | 18 countries | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| Lambda Cloud credits for NVIDIA Inception membersLambda | $1,000 in Lambda Cloud credits for on-demand GPU instances (B200, H100, A100, GH200) | 18 countries | Open | 2026-10-22 |
| Google Cloud Research CreditsGoogle | Google Cloud credits sized to your proposal (amount not stated on page), valid 1 year | 75 countries | Open | 2026-10-22 |
Other countries
Germany · Ireland · Saudi Arabia · Egypt · Morocco · United Kingdom · Tunisia · Canada · Japan · Norway · Singapore · India · Thailand · South Korea · Malaysia · Hong Kong · New Zealand · Australia · Jordan · Pakistan · Brazil · Bahrain · Qatar · Lebanon · All countries
Program terms change often. Open a program to see its official source and verification date, and confirm on the provider's page before you apply. Spotted something out of date? Report a correction.