Hello everyone,
24 new opportunities on the Innovation, Research and Smart Cities page this cycle, all added since the July mid-month update and nine of them closing within the month. Three currents run through them: Europe is buying strategic autonomy one consortium at a time, artificial intelligence is being funded as scientific infrastructure with trustworthiness attached, and the individual-investigator research machinery keeps running at scale.
Europe is buying strategic autonomy, one consortium at a time. The Chips Joint Undertaking has four calls open at once, from AI-chip demonstrators to a single EUR €70 million contract for a unified EU evaluation platform, while EuroHPC funds quantum machine learning and the Horizon Europe Cluster 5 mobility slate, administered by CINEA, runs a dense set of connected and automated mobility calls including a EUR €100 million flagship. Telecom joins in through CELTIC-NEXT’s 5G and 6G call. The pattern is unmistakable: coordinated public money concentrated on chips, compute, and mobility, the EU strategic-autonomy build-out we flagged in July.
AI is being funded as scientific infrastructure, with trustworthiness attached. The European Innovation Council’s DeepRAP Pathfinder targets deep reasoning, abstraction, and AI safety; the European Commission’s RAISE pilot builds doctoral networks for AI in science; and Schmidt Sciences funds AI-in-science faculty fellows returning to African institutions. Even the mobility calls specify trustworthy, energy-efficient generative AI. Funders are no longer buying AI applications so much as the methods, training pipelines, and safety guarantees underneath them, the govern-or-deploy turn we named in July.
The individual-investigator machinery keeps running at scale. The European Research Council’s Advanced Grants, the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships, and the Royal Society’s University Research Fellowship anchor a dense field of frontier-science awards, alongside the Sloan Research Fellowships, the Heising-Simons 51 Pegasi b Fellowship, the Humboldt Research Fellowship, and two Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin early-career calls. Long-horizon, investigator-led money at this density is the research-machinery pattern we have tracked all year. Beneath it, a twin-transition cluster (FutureProofTextiles, MANTRA, the EU social-economy calls) and an urban strand (UN-Habitat, the New European Bauhaus) fund SMEs and cities to modernize.
Open Calls: Current grant and opportunities with a deadline. Grants are listed by closing date. 54 open opportunities- 24 new!
Rolling Applications: current grant and opportunities with rolling applications (but it’s still best to submit as early as possible). 15 rolling opportunities!
Long term planning: Grants that have closed their current rounds, but are expected to open new windows. 6 long term opportunities!
A quick tip for returning readers: if you want to jump straight to the newest additions, use CTRL F to search for “New!” and navigate quickly to the latest funding opportunities
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Startup Acceleration Program (President Tech Award, Uzbekistan), President Tech Award (IT Park Uzbekistan).
IT Park Uzbekistan is opening the Acceleration Track of the President Tech Award to growth-stage startups that have already found product-market fit and are ready to scale beyond their home market. The state runs this competition to build a technology sector that creates jobs and reaches customers abroad, and the acceleration track is where it puts money behind ventures with proven traction rather than early ideas. The design asks for teams with recorded sales and a founder who will show up in person for the full program, signaling that they want commitment and execution, not pitch decks. The strongest fits are revenue-generating startups with a working product, a real sales record, and a serious plan to enter new markets.
Geographies: Uzbekistan (Central Asia).
Who can apply: Growth-stage startups that have reached the Product-Market Fit stage and have recorded sales for at least three months. Teams must have 3 to 8 members, with at least one founder participating offline in the program from September to December. Participants should be ready to work intensively to scale and enter new markets..
Funding amount: Acceleration Track: total investment pool of $1,500,000; follow-on investment of up to $50,000 per startup distributed in tranches against milestones and KPIs; $100,000 prize fund..
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology; SDGs: SDG8; SDG9; Focus areas: growth-stage startups; product-market fit; b2b sales; investor readiness; market entry.
Deadline: August 10, 2026.
The bar is traction, not ideas: product-market fit with at least three months of recorded sales, a team of 3 to 8, and a founder willing to attend in person in Uzbekistan from September to December. This is for revenue-generating startups ready to scale abroad, and the in-person and sales requirements deliberately screen out pitch-deck-stage teams.
Clicks & Mortar Accelerator, Grid110. *New!*
Grid110, the Los Angeles economic development nonprofit, has partnered with SHOPLINE to launch Clicks and Mortar, an accelerator for product founders who sell both online and in person. The program backs early stage makers in food, beauty, fashion, and home goods with equity free grant capital, a fully onboarded SHOPLINE storefront, and mentorship from operators who have built retail businesses. Rather than ending in a demo day, the cohort finishes on the floor of a December holiday marketplace, signaling that the partners measure success in actual sell through rather than pitch polish. The design favors founders ready to work a compressed ten week sprint into their biggest sales season. The strongest fits are Los Angeles product businesses with a physical product and early revenue traction.
Geographies: Northern America (United States).
Who can apply: Los Angeles product and retail founders selling (or ready to sell) a physical product: food and beverage, beauty, fashion, home goods, and makers of all kinds.
Funding amount: Up to $20k in grant funding, no equity taken.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Economic Development & Livelihoods; SDGs 8. Focus: consumer products, direct-to-consumer retail, makers.
Deadline: August 12, 2026.
C4B Open Call 2026 for Pilot Projects (Circular Bio-Based Business Models), C4B Project (Circular Bio-Based Business Models).
The C4B project, a European consortium funded under Horizon Europe, is opening its 2026 call to support pilots of circular bio-based business models across Europe. C4B wants to move promising ideas from concept into working practice, backing use cases that turn agricultural and forestry biomass into higher value bio-based products through integrated value chains. It seeks teams ready to test models that build in fairness, sustainability, and circularity from the outset, and that can show they scale in real regional settings. Asking applicants to build on one of the C4B business models signals that the project is after replication and adaptation, not one-off invention. The strongest fits are farmer groups, biorefinery SMEs, and sector organizations with a concrete pilot and a credible route to wider uptake.
Geographies: Europe.
Who can apply: Legal entities (e.g., SME, start-up, spin-off, research organisation) established in an EU Member State (including overseas countries and territories) or a Horizon Europe Associated Country. Target audience includes groups of farmers, foresters or other primary producers in rural areas, biorefinery SMEs.
Funding amount: Max EUR 60,000 per project; total budget EUR 480,000; 8 projects funded.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Economic Development & Livelihoods; SDGs: SDG8; SDG9; SDG12; SDG15; Focus areas: circular economy; bioeconomy; biorefinery; bio-based products; sustainable business models; by-product valorization.
Deadline: August 14, 2026.
The eligibility gate is EU or Horizon Europe Associated Country establishment, and the design gate is that your pilot must build on one of the C4B business models. This is about replication and regional scale-up of circular bio-based value chains, so the strongest fits are SMEs, start-ups, or producer groups adapting a proven model, not teams pitching a wholly original invention.
Market and Audience Development Grant, National Arts Council Singapore.
The National Arts Council Singapore seeks to amplify the reach and sustainability of Singapore’s arts ecosystem through strategic market and audience development initiatives. The MAD Grant supports artists, collectives, and organizations in building robust audiences, patrons, and supporters both domestically and internationally. NAC funds comprehensive market-building activities including research, branding and publicity campaigns, resource material production, and international touring opportunities. The council enables participation in global arts platforms and facilitates international visit programs that position Singapore artists within broader cultural networks. NAC calls for projects that strengthen the commercial viability of artistic work while expanding cultural engagement across diverse audiences. The funder supports digital arts engagement strategies that reflect contemporary consumption patterns and cross-border connectivity. Through this grant, NAC catalyzes the development of sustainable arts careers and organizations capable of thriving in competitive local and international markets. The council prioritizes initiatives that demonstrate clear audience development outcomes and contribute to Singapore’s cultural export capacity.
Geographies: Asia, Global. Singapore (applicant base), projects may be executed globally. (Singapore-registered or Singapore citizen/PR applicants only, international activities eligible for support).
Who can apply: 1. Individuals who are Singapore citizens or Permanent Residents (PRs), preferably residing in Singapore and actively contributing to the local arts scene (e.g. artists, collectives, performers, writers, presenters, curators, producers, impresarios, dramaturges and other people working in the arts). Priority given to Self-employed Persons...
Funding amount: Non-Profit Organisations and Individuals: up to 70% of a realistic budget (general projects); up to 100% (airfare and freight); up to 70% (associated travel costs). For-Profit Organisations: up to 50% of a realistic budget (general projects); up to 100% (airfare and freight); up to 50% (associated travel costs). Capped at SGD $70,000 per financial year for each applicant. Maximum 3 travel-related grants per financial year.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Arts, Culture & Media; Focus areas: performing arts; visual arts; literary arts; audience development; arts marketing; international touring; arts export; singapore arts; market development; cultural intermediaries; SDGs: 11; 8; 17
Deadline: August 14, 2026. (23:59 SGT).
Singapore citizenship or PR status required for lead applicants and majority of team - foreign collaborators allowed only as minority partners, making this narrower than the “international” framing suggests.
2026 Global FinTech Hackcelerator, Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The Monetary Authority of Singapore, working with the Global Financial Technology Network, opens the 2026 Global FinTech Hackcelerator to early-stage fintech firms with market-ready, AI-driven solutions. MAS frames the call around three problems set by corporate partners: credit and fraud risk modeling in digital banking, wealth management for a digitally native generation, and helping small businesses manage their risk exposure. It seeks ventures that move beyond demos toward products financial institutions can adopt at scale.
Geographies: Global.
Who can apply: Early-stage fintech firms from bootstrapped to Series A with a market-ready solution mapped to one of the three posted problem statements.
Funding amount: USD 61,800 prize per problem statement (SGD 80,000); plus SGD 20,000 finalist stipend. Prize pool up to SGD 240,000.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology; SDG8, SDG9. Focus: Applied fintech problem-solving.
Deadline: August 14, 2026.
MAS is recruiting durable solutions and founders into Singapore's financial ecosystem, which is why the prize is equity-free and comes with a festival stage rather than a claim on your IP. It wants products banks can adopt, not clever demos. Answer one named problem statement squarely, show your solution is genuinely market-ready, and speak to how it scales inside a real financial institution.
SFF FinTech Excellence Awards 2026, Singapore FinTech Association (SFA).
The Singapore FinTech Association, working with the Monetary Authority of Singapore and PwC Singapore, opens its annual FinTech Excellence Awards to recognize companies and individuals reshaping financial services. The awards reward solutions already deployed in the market across emerging fintech, financial inclusion, regulatory compliance, sustainability, and, this year, artificial intelligence, signaling that the organizers want proven impact rather than promising prototypes.
Geographies: Global.
Who can apply: Fintech companies, financial institutions, and technology firms with a deployed solution, plus nominated ecosystem mentors; no Singapore regulation required.
Funding amount: USD 37,000 per corporate winner (SGD 50,000); mentor award SGD 5,000 each.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology; SDG8, SDG9, SDG10. Focus: Deployed fintech excellence.
Deadline: August 14, 2026.
These awards reward proof, not promise: the organizers want solutions already live in the market, which is why prototypes fall short here. The separate mentor track hints they also prize quiet ecosystem stewardship. Lead with concrete deployment evidence, real users, measurable outcomes, and choose the single category where your track record is strongest, since you may only submit your best solution.
Window III - Research Infrastructure and Systems Grant (Gambia), National Research and Innovation Fund (NRIF).
The National Research and Innovation Fund is a statutory Gambian state fund, and its Window III call puts money into the physical and digital backbone of national research: laboratories, equipment, and the shared systems that let institutions actually do science. The fund wants research capacity that outlasts any single project, which is why it will pay to rehabilitate and equip existing facilities but not to construct new buildings. It asks that infrastructure serve at least two institutions and that applicants show a credible commitment to maintain it, signaling a preference for durable, shared assets over one-off purchases. The strongest fits are accredited Gambian universities, government research institutions, and TVET centers ready to run infrastructure collaboratively and sustain it well past the grant.
Geographies: The Gambia (Africa; Western Africa).
Who can apply: Eligible lead applicants are universities and tertiary education institutions accredited in The Gambia; government research institutions and specialised research agencies; and TVET centres accredited by the National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority (NAQAA).
Funding amount: Award Range: Up to GMD 2,500,000; Total Budget: GMD 3,000,000.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Innovation, Science & Technology; SDGs: SDG4; SDG9; Focus areas: research infrastructure; laboratory upgrades; shared research facilities; digital platforms; equipment procurement.
Deadline: August 15, 2026.
This is a closed national scheme: lead applicants must be Gambian-accredited universities, government research institutions, or NAQAA-accredited TVET centres. The fund pays to rehabilitate and equip existing facilities but not to construct buildings, and requires that infrastructure serve at least two institutions with a credible maintenance commitment, so frame requests around durable shared assets.
Innovations, Commercialisation and Growth Thematic Call, Foundation for Economic Education (Liikesivistysrahasto), Finland.
The Finnish Foundation for Economic Education, Liikesivistysrahasto, runs this annual themed call on innovations, commercialization, and growth to strengthen Finland's competitiveness through high-quality business research. It funds work on how innovations, services, and business concepts get commercialized and scaled into international markets, framing commercialization broadly across innovation management, internationalization, and digital channels, with the 2026 cycle emphasizing pricing and sales management.
Geographies: Finland.
Who can apply: Finland-based, university-affiliated researchers and research groups doing academic business or economics research.
Funding amount: Up to approximately USD 35K per personal grant (EUR 27,000 doctoral / EUR 32,000 postdoctoral annually); multi-year group grants also available.
Targeted Sectors / SDGs: Economic Development & Livelihoods; SDG8, SDG9. Focus: commercialization research.
Deadline: August 15, 2026.
This Foundation is building Finland's competitiveness through rigorous business scholarship, so it wants research that is scientifically sound and speaks to real commercial questions, with the 2026 cycle leaning toward pricing and sales. The strongest applications connect academic depth to problems firms actually face. Anchor your work to the theme and its Finnish economic relevance, and let the practical payoff sit alongside the scholarly contribution.
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