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Free money for your impact tech startup

Congratulations! You’ve decided to launch a technology-enabled startup with a positive social impact!  

Now the bad news: some venture capitalists have a bias against startups with an explicit positive social impact, on the grounds that they have a smaller addressable market, and that the founders are not sufficiently focused on creating shareholder wealth. And of course, effectively all venture capitalists are going to require some equity for their investment. Nearly every major Silicon Valley venture-capital firm has now invested in a B Corp, but traditional VC may not be a fit for you. 

Fortunately, there are a wide range of organizations that specifically want to support firms like you. We attempt here to list all the organizations which provide free support to for-profit companies and do not take equity:

  • 776 Fellows receive a $100,000 grant and support from the Seven Seven Six network of founders, investors, and partners. For people age 18-23 focused on climate change.
  • Ashoka is a foundation that engages in scouring for and choosing the leading social entrepreneurs across the globe, who it refers to as Ashoka Fellows.
  • Aspen Tech Policy Hub. “Our program mixes the best of both Washington and Silicon Valley, bringing together stakeholders in policy and technology to train the next generation of policy entrepreneurs.  The Aspen Tech Policy Hub is a West Coast policy incubator, training a new generation of tech policy entrepreneurs. We take tech experts, teach them the policy process through an in-residence fellowship program in the Bay Area, and encourage them to develop outside-the-box solutions to society’s problems. We model ourselves after tech incubators like Y Combinator, but train new policy thinkers and focus the impact of their ideas.
  • Bloomberg New Economy Forum Solutions.  “Mike Bloomberg announces an open call for solutions to global challenges facing the new economy. Entrepreneurs, academics, founders, and big thinkers are invited to submit their solutions to societal problems that need momentum, support, and adoption from the private sector.”
  • The Buckminster Fuller Competition: The Buckminster Fuller Challenge is an annual international design challenge awarding $100,000 to support the development and implementation of a strategy that has significant potential to solve humanity’s most pressing problems. Winning solutions are regionally specific yet globally applicable and present a truly comprehensive, anticipatory, integrated approach to solving the world’s complex problems.
  • Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge looks to support business ideas and early-stage entrepreneurs that use technology for social impact worldwide. There is more than $1,000,000 in prize money to help accelerate these technology solutions.
  • The Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Fund for Entrepreneurial Studies. “The Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Fund for Entrepreneurial Studies supports entrepreneurs attempting to build something that advances business and society in revolutionary ways. “
  • Columbia Business School Tamer Fund for Social Ventures. Requires Columbia affiliation.
  • Common Mission Project. Supporting mission-driven entrepreneurs, student teams, universities, and research centers, aiding in national security, climate, sustainability, and resiliency.
  • Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation identifies entrepreneurs that display characteristics of “exceptional social leadership through discretion, influence, vision, ambition, intelligence, and follow-through.” 
  • DV Hacks, led by BCG Digital Ventures: “A 48-hour hackathon to improve how we live, work, collaborate, and learn.”
  • Echoing Green Fellowship is a two-year fellowship that provides social entrepreneurs tackling issues like climate change, poverty, and racial injustice with a stipend, leadership development, and other tools/resources. The stipend is in the form of a recoverable grant for for-profit organizations. Applicants must be targeting the US and be able to commit to a 40-hour workweek.
  • Future Labs Flash Pitch.  “For pre-seed and seed companies based in the US and Israel with a focus on AI for social impact.” 
  • Halcyon Incubator offers a residency program with free residency, a living stipend, workspace, mentorship, and support to early-stage social entrepreneurs who are looking to change the world.
  • Intuit Prosperity Accelerator selects startups to work for 4 months on specific challenge areas concerning consumers and small businesses post COVID-19. Participating startups receive access to a mentorship network, $20,000, and an investment opportunity.
  • Miller Center for Social Entrepreneurship has accelerators that focus on helping social entrepreneurs and offers support programs and mentors. The accelerators look for social entrepreneurs from around the world to connect to Silicon Valley mentors to help find ways to eliminate poverty around the world.
  • Google AI for Social Good. “Our 20 selected organizations will receive coaching from Google’s AI experts, Google.org grant funding from a $25 million pool, and credits and consulting from Google Cloud. They will also be offered the opportunity to join a customized 6-month Google Developers Launchpad Accelerator program, including guidance from our nonprofit partner, DataKind, to jumpstart their work.  We looked for projects across a range of social impact domains and levels of technical expertise, from organizations that are experienced in AI to those with an idea for how they could put their data to better use. “
  • Google for Startups Accelerator. “Geared toward social impact startups working to create a healthier and more sustainable future, the accelerator provides access to training, products and technical support. Startup founders will work with Google engineers and receive mentoring from over 20 teams at Google, as well as outside experts and local mentors.”  
  • Kairos Fellows.  “The Kairos Fellowship is designed to build the next generation of leaders in the field of technology, analytics, digital campaigning, and online organizing.”
  • J.M. Kaplan Innovation Prize.  “The J.M.K. Innovation Prize seeks out innovators who are spearheading transformative early-stage projects in the fields of the environment, heritage conservation, and social justice.  The J.M.K. Innovation Prize is open to non-profit and mission-driven for-profit organizations that are tackling America’s most pressing challenges through social innovation. In 2019, we will award up to ten Prizes, each including a cash award of $150,000 over three years, plus $25,000 for project expenses, for a total award of $175,000. 
  • MassChallenge. “Selected startups are early-stage (<$1M in funding and <$2M in annual revenue) and participate in a four-month, industry-agnostic accelerator where they receive: Hands-on support from top mentors and experts, free co-working space, access to MassChallenge’s unrivaled network of corporate partners, tailored workshops and office hours and the opportunity to win a portion of more than $2M in cash prizes.” “Startups do not receive any upfront funding but do have the opportunity to compete for approximately $3 million in zero-equity cash awards at the end of the program. MassChallenge does offer a limited number of scholarships, provided by our sponsor organizations.”
  • Maze X is a “3-month pan-European program followed by 6 months of ongoing support. We offer 7.5K no-equity stipend + corporate pilot opportunities with our founders. “
  • MIT Solve initiative. “MIT Solve advances lasting solutions from tech entrepreneurs to address the world’s most pressing problems. Solve is a marketplace for social impact: we find tech entrepreneurs from around the world and broker partnerships across our community to scale their innovative work—driving lasting, transformational change.”
  • Mulago Foundation Rainer Arnhold Fellowship. “The course brings Fellows and faculty together for an intensive week to work on design for maximum impact and scalability. Held in a retreat center on the coast in Bolinas, California, the course gives Fellows the rare opportunity to focus completely on their ideas and a systematic way to apply them.”
  • Notley Ventures. “Notley is a catalyst for social innovation unlocking opportunities with today’s impact organizations and changing communities.  Our mission is to scale and support businesses, nonprofits, individuals, and programs making positive change in the world.” 
  • Omdena. “The Omdena AI Incubator is the only AI development program in the world exclusively for early-stage impact startups. We believe the future lies with startups that are driven by solving real-world problems rather than just maximizing shareholder profits. Thus, we will help 50 startups in the next 12 months by giving instant access to our platform of more than 1,700 AI engineers.”
  • O’Shaughnessy Fellowships. “One-year $100,000 program for ambitious people who want to build something great.”
  • Peacetech Accelerator. “The PeaceTech Accelerator provides the mentorship and training needed to scale both for and not-for-profit peacetech initiatives rapidly, securely, and cost-effectively. Startups are selected based on their ability to produce innovative technologies that manage, mitigate, predict, or prevent conflict and promote sustainable peace.”
  • Recurse Center.  “The Recurse Center is a self-directed, community-driven educational retreat for people who want to get better at programming.”
  • Robin Hood Fellowship aims to support high-impact startups to build products for low-income Americans over four months. The Fellowship is in search of Fellows from diverse backgrounds that have the skills to make a difference.
  • Roddenberry Foundation Catalyst Fund.  “The Catalyst Fund awards small grants for early-stage, innovative, and unconventional ideas that address serious global challenges.“
  • SEIF Awards Tech for Impact.  The SEIF Awards target European impact entrepreneurs who develop or make innovative use of technologies to tackle social and/or environmental challenges and contribute to the UN Social Development Goals. Each Award grants the winners CHF 10,000. Together with our partners UBS and PwC we provide finalists a unique opportunity to increase their international awareness, gain reputation and present themselves to a top-class jury.
  • Skild. “For the past 16 years, Skild has helped organizations design and run hundreds of innovation challenges and employee engagement programs…The biggest one is the Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge: $350K annually in cash prizes to 14 companies.”
  • Skoll Foundation. “The Skoll Foundation drives large-scale change by investing in, connecting, and celebrating social entrepreneurs and innovators who help them solve the world’s most pressing problems.”
  • Summit Fellows.  “Through a series of invitation-only events, Summit fosters a global community of entrepreneurs, academics, athletes, artists, astronauts, authors, chefs, engineers, explorers, philanthropists, spiritual leaders, scientists, and beyond.”
  • Thiel Fellowship.  “Founded by technology entrepreneur and investor Peter Thiel in 2011, the Thiel Fellowship is a two-year program for young people [under 22] who want to build new things. Thiel Fellows skip or stop out of college to receive a $100,000 grant and support from the Thiel Foundation’s network of founders, investors, and scientists.”
  • Three dot dash. “Powers the most influential social entrepreneurs between the ages of 13 -19, who have found a solution or innovation to address a basic human need.” 
  • TPESF Intellectual Entrepreneurship Program: “The Paul E. Singer Foundation is offering support for young professionals looking to develop intellectually-driven, public policy and community-focused projects. Ideas for books, podcasts, video series, investigative research, essays, educational campaigns, and creative proposals.”
  • UNICEF Innovation Fund provides up to $100,000 in funding and other support to open source solutions/technology startups that have the potential to improve the lives of children and benefit humanity. They are currently looking for companies using machine learning, artificial intelligence, blockchain, or extended reality, to tackle digital risks to children. Should make your solution open source for investment.
  • World Summit Awards for Young Innovators. “WSA Young Innovators is a special recognition for young social entrepreneurs under 30 years of age, using ICTs to take action on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs). Together with the WSA winners of each year, they are honored as outstanding digital innovation with social impact.”
  • YC120 (part of Y Combinator).  “We’d like to find more curious, creative people who are doing exciting work in emerging fields and give them an opportunity to start building their network.”

We suggest looking at Grants.gov, which offers a plethora of government grants to businesses in any sector. You may also want to look at product-based crowdfunding, e.g., Indiegogo.  

You’re eligible for the many accelerators, as well as specifically the impact accelerators.  Among the numerous accelerators with specific focus on impact:

Oliver Libby, Managing Partner, H/L Ventures, notes, “it is important to remember that impact funders occupy the same spectrum of returns as regular investors.  From 100% loss capital (e.g. a grant) to shooting for massive returns (some impact VCs), an entrepreneur can unlock everything in between, including first-loss capital, impact bonds, patient capital from program-related investments and families, and more.  The market is also coming to understand that high impact can sometimes come with high returns too.”   

Rachel Butler, President, Catalytic Impact Foundation, mentioned Fiscal Sponsorship as an option. “It’s an arrangement where an entity in need of funding (and it can be a for-profit, social enterprise) teams up with a 501c3 that has an aligned mission, and money can be raised through the 501c3 and used to support a specific project being done by the social enterprise.  So, for example, if the 501c3 has in its mission to support improving education, and a for-profit social enterprise is developing an app to help improve access to better education for people in underserved communities, the 501c3 could support that specific project.  The 501c3 does have to maintain discretion about how they use the funds (as a safeguard to just having it be an arrangement for funneling philanthropic funds), and there are some other stipulations, but otherwise it’s pretty straightforward.  The ‘Project’ can actually do the fundraising, as an agent of the 501c3, and have the money directed to the 501c3.  The project is usually something that has a fairly short time frame with measurable milestones that indicate progress.  The 501c3 also takes an administrative fee for their role in the collaboration. “

Emily Rasmussen, Founder & CEO of Grapevine.org, suggests turning philanthropic donations into for-profit investments using Donor Advised Funds (DAFs). DAFs are like HSAs for charitable giving. You make a tax deductible donation into a DAF account, get an immediate tax deduction, and then donate your funds out to charities over time. In the meantime, your funds are invested to help grow your fund, just like an endowment. With some 501c3 DAF sponsors (e.g., Impact Assets), after making  a tax-deductible donation into their DAF account, donors can then advise the sponsor to invest their charitable assets into a specific social enterprise deal. These deals are sourced by the donor investor and any future returns go back into the DAF account and are available for future impact investments or charitable donations.

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