The state of startup funding, 2026.
We track every grant, startup credit, prize and accelerator a founder, builder or creator can actually apply for, and we verify each against its live application page. Here is what the 102-program corpus says about where the money is, who can get it, and how much of it needs no company at all.
Where the money is, by type
startup credits: $1,313,420 · grant: $1,323,590 · prize / contest: $1,124,185 · accelerator: $990,000. Largest single award: Y Combinator at $500K + ~$3.5M credit stack.
Who it is open to
Most programs fit more than one kind of applicant. 81 of 102 (79%) take applications on a rolling basis, with no deadline to miss. Median cash award: $10,000.
Three things the data says
- 01You do not need a company to start. 78% of programs accept individuals. Incorporation is a switch you flip when a specific award requires it, not a prerequisite to apply.
- 02The fastest money has no gate. 64 programs ask for no registered entity, no website, no repo and no upfront cost, claimable the day you find them.
- 03Deadlines are not the bottleneck. 79% are rolling. The real constraint is knowing the program exists and matching it to who you are.
Tell Bursary who you are in one sentence. It ranks the programs you qualify for and drafts each application free.
Find my money →Methodology: figures computed from Bursary's live corpus of 102 programs on 2026-08-31, each verified against its official application page. Dollar totals and the median count only the 94 programs with a fixed cash value; credits with variable or partner-gated amounts and non-cash prizes are excluded from the sums rather than estimated. Browse the full data: all programs.