TRENDS
21 small business grants to apply to in 2021.
By Joe Cardillo
January 11th, 2021
trends
21 small business grants to apply to in 2021.
By Joe Cardillo
January 11th, 2021
We dug into a series of grants to help small business owners and startups grow their company
We dug into a series of grants to help small business owners and startups grow their company
Last updated April 1, 2021
One way to get momentum as a business owner? Find and apply for grants.
Small business grants can come from federal, state, or local governments, as well as from corporations and foundations.
There are many general grant programs for small businesses as well as those aimed at helping specific business owners get started or grow, e.g. veteran, women, Indigenous & Native American, Hispanic & Latinx, and Black entrepreneurs. Unlike loans or investment, grants do not require repayment of any kind.
While the dollar amount (typically $5K to $50K) isn’t likely to make or break your business, a grant can be a good way to grow in the early stages. And, it can help to delay more expensive forms of funding like venture capital, loans, and credit card debt until you have a foundation in place.
Below are a few tips to help you get started applying for grants, and we’ve also included a list of 21 business grants you can apply to this year.
1. Visa “She’s Next” Grant Program
$10K grants awarded to 60 Black women-owned businesses across six (6) key cities in the U.S.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Black women-owned businesses with a minimum annual revenue of $24K or more, in business for 2+ years, currently selling a consumer product or service (B2C) in market and generating revenue, and has an active digital presence.
Region: Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, Atlanta, Chicago, or Washington, D.C., USA
Deadline: April 16, 2021
2. Business Owners’ Idea Café Small Business Grant
$1K grants plus advertising opportunities with this grant program for early stage business owners. Applications are ongoing.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Open to anyone who currently owns a business in existence for at least six months. There are no entry fees and a complete business plan is not required.
Region: USA
Deadline: Rolling
3. Fearless Fund + Mastercard $10K Grants
This program awards a total of seven (7) small businesses $10,000 each to help them continue to build and grow their business. There is 1 national winner and 2 winners each located in Atlanta, New York City or New Orleans, and can enter during each city-specific entry period.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Black Women-owned businesses with $3M or less in annual revenue.
Region: USA
Deadline: April 25, 2021
4. Essence + Pine-Sol Build Your Legacy Grant
Black women are the fastest growing group of entrepreneurs AND the most underfunded. This program awards $100,000 to help champion Black women and the entrepreneurial spirit.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Black women entrepreneurs who are able to provide a copy of their business plan, business registration, and investment plan for the money.
Region: USA
Deadline: April 16, 2021
5. Amber Grant for Women
$10K (monthly) and $25K (annual) awards to women-owned businesses, there is a $15 application fee. Applications are ongoing.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Women owned businesses
Region: USA
Deadline: Rolling
6. JMK Innovation Prize
The JMK Innovation Prize seeks to identify, support, and elevate innovators who are spearheading transformative early-stage projects in the fields of social justice, the environment, and heritage conservation.
In 2021, the program will award up to ten Prizes, each including a cash award of $150,000 over three years, plus $25,000 in technical assistance funds, for a total award of $175,000. Awardees also receive guidance through the Fund and its resource network, providing tools and training that can help turn innovative ideas into life-changing social impacts.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Early stage social entrepreneurs (mission driven for profit or nonprofit.
Region: USA
Deadline: April 30, 2021
7. SoGal Black Startup Founder Grant
Available to new founders across the globe, grant amounts are $5K to $10K and are for people who are looking to build a high growth startup, applications reviewed on a rolling basis
Who is eligible for this opportunity: a) self-identify as a Black woman or Black non-binary entrepreneur (inclusive of multiracial Black women and multiracial Black non-binary folks b) have a legally registered business c) plan to seek investor financing in order to scale, now or in the future d) have a scalable, high-impact solution or idea with the ambition to be the next billion dollar business.
Region: International
Deadline: Rolling
8. St. Louis Arch Grants Startup Competition
The Arch Grants Startup Competition awards innovative, scalable, and job-creating startups with $50,000 non-dilutive grants and access to an ecosystem of resources in exchange for headquartering their business in St. Louis for at least one year.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Businesses willing to locate their headquarters in the City of St. Louis for at least one year, 51% of the founding team or one founder and 51% of the team need to live in St. Louis for the program year, and at least one founder must be working on the company as their primary or full-time professional role.
Region: International
Deadline: April 30, 2021
9. Jane Walker • IFundWomen First Women Grant Program
Jane Walker has teamed up with IFundWomen, together with a network of powerful icons, to support 15 groundbreaking women-owned businesses across Entertainment & Film, Music, Sports, Journalism and Hospitality on their journey towards a monumental first. Each recipient will receive a $10K grant plus a one-year IFundWomen Annual Coaching Membership.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: women owned businesses located in the US with at least $25K in annual revenue, in business for 2+ years, in one of the following categories: entertainment & film, journalism, sports and hospitality.
Region: USA
Deadline: June 30, 2021
10. IFundWomen (multiple grant programs)
IFundWomen provides a universal grant application for their partner programs, which include grants to new and existing women-owned businesses. Deadlines and programs vary, award amounts of $2.5K to $50K.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Varies (must be woman-owned businesses)
Region: USA & Canada
Deadline: Varies
11. Epic Games Mega Grants
Epic Games has committed $100M to provide financial grants to creative, noteworthy, and innovative projects built in and around Unreal Engine or projects that enhance the open-source 3D graphics ecosystem. Grants range from $5,000 to $500,000, and cover a variety of endeavors from game development, architecture projects, and film production to academic uses and software tool development. No matter what size grant you receive, you will continue to own your IP and will be free to publish however you wish.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Varies – open to businesses & individuals and can encompass games, film, TV & live events, education and research, and tools and open-source development.
Region: International
Deadline: Ongoing
12. FedEx Small Business Grants
Nav’s Small Business Grant runs on a quarterly basis and awards $10,000 to help business take their company to the next level, as well as a $5,000 prize to a runner up.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: All small businesses are eligible
Region: USA
Deadline: Rolling, quarterly
13. GirlBoss Foundation Grants
Awarded bi-annually, and each grant winner receives $15,000 in project funding, plus features on Girlboss.com and via newsletter, and social media platforms.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Women owned businesses
Region: USA
Deadline: Varies, awarded bi-annually
14. Nav Quarterly Business Grant
Nav’s Small Business Grant runs on a quarterly basis and awards $10,000 to help business take their company to the next level, as well as a $5,000 prize to a runner up.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: All small businesses are eligible
Region: USA
Deadline: Rolling, quarterly
15. Halstead Grant (for jewelry entrepreneurs)
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. The grand prize is a $7,500 cash grant plus other benefits.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Women entrepreneurs in the jewelry industry, with businesses under 3 years old.
Region: USA
Deadline: August 1, 2021
16. Small Business Administration (SBA) Shuttered Venue Operators Grant
Grants for a range of live music & performance venues/businesses, with the grant amount being 45% of your 2019 gross earned revenue OR $10 million, whichever is less, if you were in operation before January 1, 2019.
If you began operation after January 1, 2019, grant amount will be for the average monthly gross revenue for each full month you were in operation during 2019 multiplied by six (6) OR $10 million, whichever is less.
$2 billion has been reserved for small businesses with fewer than 50 full-time employees. The program hasn’t opened yet, but will do so shortly. When it does, the first round of money will go to those with the steepest revenue declines.
Who is eligible for this opportunity:
– Live venue operators or promoters
– Theatrical producers
– Live performing arts organization operators
– Relevant museum operators, zoos and aquariums who meet specific criteria
– Motion picture theater operators
– Talent representatives, and
– Each business entity owned by an eligible entity that also meets the eligibility requirements
Region: USA
Deadline: TBA, opens April 2021
17. StreetShares Foundation Veteran Business Grant
This grant is open to veterans, active-duty members, or the spouse of a veteran or active duty member. Applicants can win $15K for 1st, $6K for 2nd, and $4K for 3rd place in the yearly contest, applications typically open up in late-Summer.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Applicants must be 21 years old and a veteran, reserve or transitioning active duty member of any of the United States Armed Forces, a spouse of a military member or the child or immediately family member of a Military Member who died on active duty (i.e., a “Gold Star” family member).
Region: USA
Deadline: Varies, typically opens in late-Summer.
18. Caleb Brown Urban Entrepreneur Community Grant
The Urban Excellence Community Grant awards new community businesses with a monetary gift of up to $1,000 and 500 hours of complimentary business consulting from Caleb Brown for one (1) year. The project will support those creative entrepreneurs seeking to build or grow small businesses in their communities. Caleb Brown will develop mentoring support for the business owner in the spirit of contributing to the advancement of the creation of community jobs and economic development.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Existing businesses that are less than 3 years old or are in planning stages, and that serve an urbanized area. Companies must serve an Urbanized Area defined by the Census Bureau as the following: A central place and adjacent territory that contain at least 50,000 people and an overall density of 1,000 per square mile.
Region: USA
Deadline: Monthly, entrepreneurs can submit an application by the 15th of each month to be eligible
19. National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) Grant
This grant award of $4K is designed to help small businesses and freelancers take their business to the next level, and are usually given out on an annual basis. You will need to be a member of NASE in order to apply.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: To be eligible for an NASE grant, applicants must:
– Be a member in good standing:
– Annual Members: May apply immediately
– Monthly Members: May apply 90 days after joining.
– Gold Members: May apply immediately
– Veteran Members: May apply immediately
– Student Members: Not Eligible
– Dues must be current at the time of application and when the grant is funded.
– Demonstrate a business need that could be fulfilled by the grant
– Provide a detailed explanation of how you will use the grant proceeds
– Show how the grant will improve your business growth and success
– Offer supporting documentation such as a resume and business plan
Region: USA
Deadline: Varies, usually on an annual basis
20. 4.0 Fellowships (for education related businesses)
These fellowships are aimed at accelerating founders who are working on an idea or business that aims to improve education. This can include a school, tools or technology, or a product or service. There are small grants of $600 for businesses in idea stage as well as $10K grants for businesses that are already growing. Applications open mid-year and close September.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: Anyone with an idea to make education better in the United States. By education, we mean that your idea is in service of learning – defined broadly – and is geared at children (from birth to young adults), families, or educators. It can be a school (any kind – private, public, charter, homeschool), program, service, tech tool, physical product, or something else.
Region: USA
Deadline: Applications open mid-year, close in September.
21. National Black MBA Association® Scale Up Challenge
Annual pitch competition for early stage businesses led by Black founders, with awards of $50K, $10K, $5K, and $1K.
Who is eligible for this opportunity: For early stage companies (ok to have raised small amounts of friends & family capital or received other grants). Additionally, must 1. Be a U.S. resident, and over the age of 18. 2. Have a founder who is Black (of African descent), who maintains an ‘at least equal stake’ in the startup (if the startup has three owners, at least 33% of its ownership must be Black). 3. At least one member of each Scale-Up Pitch Challenge team must be an active member of the National Black MBA Association® in order to participate.
Region: USA
Deadline: Applications open mid-year, due in August, and the pitch program takes place each Fall.
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