Non-dilutive funding (no equity)
Non-dilutive funding is money you keep without giving up ownership — grants and cash prizes, not investment. These let you extend runway without dilution. Bursary ranks the ones you qualify for and drafts the application.
Check what you qualify for →Start here · fastest to claim
No company needed, rolling deadlines, low effort — the quickest wins on this list.
61 programs · updated 2026-07-12
Startup World Cup 2026 (Regional)
$1,000,000 grand finale + regional cash
Apply remotely to an open regional (deadlines vary; Philadelphia closes Jul 15, Kansas City open through Aug 6); winners advance to the SF $1M finale Nov 6. Legal entity required.
Needs company
Build with Gemini XPRIZE
$500,000 top ($2M pool)
Must be a NEW project started after May 19. The moonshot.
No company needed
Supply Chain Acceleration and Logistics Enablement (SCALE) Program
Up to $500,000
Small Business Administration. Federal grant (opp SB-OIIGA-26-001); typically requires SAM.gov registration and an entity. Verify full eligibility on the official page.
Needs company
Kaya AI India Hackathon 2026
$350,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by Kaya — IoT, Machine Learning/AI, Enterprise. 1,435 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
SBIR (America's Seed Fund)
Up to $323,090 Phase I (equity-free)
The largest source of early-stage non-dilutive US funding. Federal agencies (DoD, NSF, NIH, DOE, NASA and more) award equity-free Phase I R&D grants up to $323,090 (2026 cap), with larger Phase II follow-ons. For US for-profit small businesses under 500 employees, over 50% US-owned, building innovative tech. Solicitations are agency-specific on rolling schedules; browse open topics at the link.
Needs company
ARC Prize 2026 — ARC-AGI-2
$700K pool / $275K grand prize
Solo or team, fully remote via Kaggle notebook; hit 85% on the private ARC-AGI-2 eval within compute limits, open-source within 7 days.
No company needed
Thiel Fellowship
$250,000 over two years
Truly non-dilutive (no equity), but you must be 22 or younger and skip or leave school; about 20-30 spots a year. Award raised to $250K (verified 2026).
No company needed
Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program
Up to $180,000
Small Business Administration. Federal grant (opp SB-OIIFT-26-001); typically requires SAM.gov registration and an entity. Verify full eligibility on the official page.
Needs company
Sundance Institute Documentary Fund
$25,000 to $100,000
Feature-length only (52+ min), budget under $1.2M; 2026 cycle closed, next open call early 2027.
No company needed
National Geographic Society Grants
Level I up to $20,000; Level II up to $100,000
Individuals 18+ apply directly; funds science, conservation, storytelling, education or tech; themed calls carry their own deadlines.
No company needed
O'Shaughnessy Fellowship
up to $100,000
Equity-free, open worldwide to individuals 13+ with no entity required; annual cycle (2026 round closed Apr 30) so apply when the next opens, expect ~40+ hrs/week.
No company needed
Echoing Green Fellowship
up to $100,000
Seed funding for social entrepreneurs; requires an independent startup-stage venture (2 years or less), full-time commitment, 18+, English proficiency; annual cycle.
Needs company
AI Genesis 2026 (lablab.ai)
$60,000+ prize pool
Online build Oct 26 to Nov 2 then optional invite-only onsite in Dubai; solo or team, free to enter.
No company needed
Emergent Ventures
$1,000 - $50,000
Mercatus/Tyler Cowen grants + fellowships for ambitious "zero to one" ideas, ages 13+. For-profit OK, a quick path to revenue is a plus. Short written rolling app; dedicated tracks for India, Africa, the Caribbean, and Ukraine.
No company needed
Creative Capital Award
up to $50,000
Unrestricted project grants for individual artists (visual/performing arts, film, literature); US-based artists only, annual open-call cycle.
No company needed
Slack Agent Builder Challenge
$42,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by Salesforce — Beginner Friendly, Enterprise, Low/No Code. 4,243 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
Reddit’s Games with a Hook Hackathon
$40,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by reddit — Beginner Friendly, Gaming, Web. 2,764 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography
$30,000
Photographers worldwide 18+ (non-students) for documentary work; $50 entry fee (waivers for underrepresented photographers); no AI-generated imagery.
No company needed
OpenAI Codex Open-Source Fund
up to $25,000
No entity. You need an active public open-source repo to qualify.
No company neededNeeds repo
Gold House Futures (Gold Art Prize)
Up to $25,000
Applicants must identify as Asian and/or Pacific Islander; cash lives in the Gold Art Prize track, not base membership.
No company needed
ARC Prize 2026 — ARC-AGI-3 Milestone
$25K / $10K / $2.5K
Interactive reasoning benchmark, solo/remote via Kaggle; Sep 30 snapshot awards the live leaderboard top 3. No entity.
No company needed
U.S. Chamber CO-100 Small Business Award
$25,000 top prize ($2,000 to honorees)
Open now; has a $300 entry fee; for-profit, 1+ year operating, under 250 employees, under $20M revenue.
Needs company
VentureWell E-Team Program
up to $25,000
Students only: requires a team of 2+ currently enrolled at a US institution plus a faculty advisor, for science/engineering inventions with commercial intent; no fee.
No company needed
Startup World Cup — Philadelphia
$20,000 equity-free
Equity-free pitch cash. Deck + onsite pitch Sep 18 in Philly.
No company needed
Warrior Rising Business Shower
up to $20,000
Veterans only: must be a US military veteran or immediate family and complete the free Warrior University program to pitch for the non-dilutive grant; rolling.
No company needed
Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant
~$11,000 (15,000 CAD)
Emerging representational artists only (painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing); 4 review cycles a year, no fee.
No company needed
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready
$10,000
No revenue gate. Finish 2 free courses to unlock the application.
No company needed
Amber Grant (WomensNet)
$10,000
Women-owned only (50%+); US/Canada; pre-revenue and idea-stage OK; $15 application fee; three $10K monthly + year-end $50K.
No company needed
IFundWomen Universal Grant
Varies ($10,000+ typical)
Women-founders only; one 10-minute application matches you to rotating partner grants; free.
No company needed
Hello Alice Small Business Grants
$5,000 to $25,000 (varies)
Rotating hub of partner grants (open ones change weekly); free account required; some need prior-year revenue.
No company needed
SoGal Black Founder Startup Grant
$5,000 to $10,000
Black women / Black nonbinary founders only; needs a registered business + intent to raise; apply by emailing sogal@iamsogal.com.
Needs company
NeuroGolf 2026 (IJCAI-ECAI)
$10,000 + $8,000 top student team
Solo/remote on Kaggle; smallest neural nets that solve ARC-AGI transforms, submit in ONNX; $10K to whoever holds 1st longest.
No company needed
DoorDash Accelerator for Local Restaurants
$10,000 grant + 8-week accelerator
Restaurants/food businesses only, 2+ years operating, up to 3 locations; runs in city-specific cohorts, check the page for an open one.
Needs company
Fund for Investigative Journalism Grant
up to $10,000
For freelance/staff investigative journalists; no fee, but full proposals need a US-outlet letter of commitment (seed grants up to $2,500 skip that requirement).
No company needed
Skip $10,000 Grants
$10,000
Recurring grant (two $10K awards per round, multiple rounds yearly) open to any US entrepreneur 18+; no entity, no fee, lightweight application.
No company needed
Backblaze Generative Media Hackathon: Build with Genblaze on B2
$10,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by Backblaze — Machine Learning/AI, Music/Art, Voice skills. 730 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
CockroachDB × AWS Hackathon - Build with Agentic Memory
$8,750 in prizes
Online hackathon by Cockroach Labs — Machine Learning/AI, Databases, DevOps. 1,284 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
Arm Create: AI Optimization Challenge
$8,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by arm — Machine Learning/AI. 1,220 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
Halstead Grant
$7,500 cash + $1,000 merchandise
Silver jewelry designers only, within 5 years of first sale; portfolio plus 15 business questions.
No company needed
Qwen Global AI Hackathon
$7,000 + credits
Existing demo OK if significantly updated after May 26.
No company needed
Find the ones you qualify for
Tell Bursary who you are in one sentence. An AI matches you and drafts each application free.
Find my money →Frequently asked questions
Who qualifies for non-dilutive funding?
Non-dilutive funding is money you keep without giving up ownership — grants and cash prizes, not investment. These let you extend runway without dilution. Bursary ranks the ones you qualify for and drafts the application.
How is non-dilutive funding different from a loan or investment?
You keep 100 percent ownership and repay nothing. Grants and prizes are not debt and not equity, so they extend runway without diluting you. Bursary ranks the non-dilutive options you qualify for.
How much funding is available?
Programs on this list go up to $1,000,000. Bursary ranks them by what you actually qualify for.
How many programs are on this list?
61 verified programs, re-checked continuously.
Is it free to apply?
Most are free to apply. Bursary reads the fine print and flags any program that charges a fee before you start.
Do I need a registered company?
Not for all of them. Bursary matches programs to your situation and tells you which require a registered entity and which accept individuals.