In the competitive world of startup financing, grants occupy a uniquely powerful position: they deliver capital without equity dilution, debt obligations, or repayment schedules. Unlike angel investment or venture capital, a grant asks for nothing in return except execution — and for early-stage entrepreneurs, that distinction can be the difference between building a company on your own terms and giving away significant ownership before you’ve even found product-market fit. From federal government programs in the United States to multilateral development initiatives across Latin America, the grant landscape for entrepreneurs has never been richer. This guide covers the top startup grants available to founders in both regions, what they fund, who qualifies, and how to approach each opportunity strategically.
Why Grants Matter More Than Founders Think
The conventional startup fundraising narrative focuses almost exclusively on venture capital — seed rounds, Series A, Demo Days, and term sheets. Grants rarely make the headlines, but they quietly fund some of the most important early work that makes those later rounds possible. A $50,000 government grant can fund six months of R&D without touching your cap table. A $150,000 SBIR Phase I award can give a deep tech startup the scientific validation it needs to attract its first institutional investor. Grants are leverage — they extend your runway, de-risk your technology, and signal credibility to future backers.
For Latin American entrepreneurs specifically, grants from multilateral institutions and international development organizations represent a critical bridge between the informal self-funded stage and the formal startup funding ecosystem. They also tend to be explicitly designed for the kinds of high-impact sectors — fintech, agritech, healthtech, cleantech — that define the most exciting innovation happening across the region today.
United States: Top Federal and Private Grants
1. Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program — Up to $1M+
The SBIR program is the largest source of early-stage startup grants in the United States, distributing over $4 billion annually across 11 participating federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, and DARPA. It is specifically designed for technology-driven businesses conducting research and development with commercial potential.
The program operates in two phases:
- Phase I: Grants of up to $150,000 to fund feasibility studies and proof-of-concept work, typically over 6 months
- Phase II: Grants of up to $1 million or more for companies that successfully complete Phase I, covering full R&D development over 24 months
SBIR is particularly well-suited to deep tech startups in aerospace, biotech, cybersecurity, AI, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. The application process is rigorous — proposals must demonstrate both scientific merit and commercial potential — but the return on that investment is substantial. SBIR awardees carry a government imprimatur that dramatically improves their credibility with VCs and corporate partners.
Best for: US-based tech startups with R&D-intensive products
How to approach: Identify which federal agency most closely aligns with your technology domain, study previously funded abstracts in your category, and build a team with both technical and business writing expertise before applying
2. Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program
The STTR program is SBIR’s sister initiative, with a key distinction: it requires a formal research partnership between the startup and a US research institution (university, federal laboratory, or nonprofit research organization). STTR follows the same two-phase structure as SBIR, with comparable funding amounts, and is administered by the same federal agencies.
For founders with university spin-out technologies or ongoing academic collaborations, STTR is often a more natural fit than SBIR. The required partnership can also unlock access to university lab facilities, graduate student talent, and institutional credibility that accelerates both the research and the subsequent commercialization pathway.
3. The Amber Grant — For Women-Led Startups
The Amber Grant is one of the most recognized private grant programs in the United States for female entrepreneurs, offering a $10,000 monthly grant and a $25,000 annual award to a single outstanding recipient each year. Founded in honor of a young woman who never had the chance to pursue her entrepreneurial dreams, the grant requires a simple application and is open to women-led businesses across all sectors.
While the amounts are modest compared to federal programs, the Amber Grant’s application process is accessible, the cycle is monthly (providing frequent opportunities), and winning brings meaningful visibility within the women entrepreneurship community — often leading to follow-on opportunities including angel introductions, media coverage, and accelerator invitations.
Best for: Women-led early-stage startups in the US seeking seed-stage capital with minimal friction
Application: Monthly rolling applications via the WomensNet website
4. Skoll Foundation and CTIA Catalyst — Social Impact Tech
For tech startups with a social impact dimension, several private foundations offer substantial non-dilutive capital. The CTIA Catalyst program provides grants of up to $100,000 to social impact founders working at the intersection of technology and underserved communities. Similarly, the Skip Grant awards $100,000 to early-stage founders — both programs accepting rolling applications from pre-seed and seed-stage companies across the United States.
These programs are particularly relevant for founders building products that address systemic inequities in healthcare access, financial inclusion, education, or climate resilience — sectors where mission alignment with the grant-making institution significantly improves selection probability.
Latin America: Top Regional Grants
5. Startup Chile — Up to $80,000 Equity-Free
Startup Chile is the most internationally recognized startup grant program in Latin America and one of the most successful government-backed entrepreneurship initiatives in the world. Administered by Chile’s economic development agency CORFO, the program offers up to $80,000 USD in equity-free funding to innovative, scalable startups — with no dilution, no repayment, and no equity transfer of any kind.
Startup Chile operates through two distinct tracks:
- The Seed Program: Covers 90% of total program costs for early-stage startups, with the company responsible for the remaining 10%
- The Scale Program: Designed for more advanced ventures with existing traction seeking to accelerate regional growth
The program is explicitly open to international founders — the only requirement being a commitment to spend at least six months in Chile building the business. Since its launch in 2010, Startup Chile has funded over 1,900 companies from 85+ countries, with alumni collectively raising over $1.6 billion in follow-on funding. For Latin American entrepreneurs, Startup Chile is frequently the first major grant milestone that signals a company’s readiness for institutional investment.
Best for: Early-stage tech startups from anywhere in the world; particularly strong for founders targeting the Latin American market
How to approach: Applications open in competitive cohort cycles; prepare a bilingual deck, strong impact metrics, and a clear plan for how you’ll use the Chilean ecosystem to grow
6. IDB Lab Grants — High-Impact Innovation
IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank, is the region’s most active grant-making institution for high-impact tech startups. Unlike traditional IDB loans, IDB Lab grants are explicitly non-dilutive and target early-stage startups whose innovations benefit vulnerable or underserved communities across Latin America and the Caribbean.
IDB Lab has supported hundreds of startups across fintech, agritech, healthtech, edtech, and climate tech with grants that vary in size but can reach seven figures for transformative projects. Their investment thesis prioritizes technology-driven solutions with demonstrated scalability — meaning a Peruvian fintech serving the unbanked, a Colombian agritech improving smallholder yields, or a Mexican healthtech expanding telemedicine access are precisely the kinds of companies they are designed to fund.
IDB Lab frequently co-invests alongside equity partners, meaning a grant award often unlocks additional venture capital investment from aligned institutional investors in the same round.
Best for: Latin American startups with high-impact models addressing financial inclusion, climate, food security, or healthcare
How to approach: Apply through IDB Lab’s open calls, which are sector-specific; demonstrate measurable social or environmental impact alongside commercial viability
7. U.S. Embassy Small Grants Programs
U.S. Embassy Small Grants Programs operate in more than a dozen Latin American countries and offer grants of up to $20,000 to nonprofits, NGOs, individuals, educational institutions, and in some cases startup organizations working on projects aligned with US foreign policy priorities — including democratic governance, economic empowerment, digital inclusion, and environmental sustainability.
In Colombia specifically, applications are accepted on a rolling basis with deadlines in December, March, and May — making this one of the more accessible grant cycles in the region. While the amounts are smaller than IDB or Startup Chile programs, Embassy grants carry diplomatic credibility and often open doors to broader USAID and State Department funding ecosystems.
8. Tinker Foundation — Supporting Latin American Development
The Tinker Foundation funds organizations working to improve the lives of people across Latin America, with grants available to both US-registered charitable organizations with 501(c)(3) status and to Latin American organizations directly. The foundation’s priorities include civic participation, environmental sustainability, and economic development — making it particularly relevant for social enterprise founders whose work sits at the intersection of business and community impact.
How to Maximize Your Grant Success Rate
The entrepreneurs who win grants consistently share several characteristics:
- Mission clarity: Grant-makers fund founders who can articulate a specific, measurable impact — not vague aspirations. Define exactly who you serve, what problem you solve, and how you measure success
- Institutional fit: Every grant has a thesis. Read the funder’s recent awards, their stated priorities, and their language — then mirror that framing in your application
- Traction evidence: Grants at the seed and growth stage increasingly expect some evidence of validation — pilot customers, letters of intent, early revenue, or published research
- Narrative quality: Grant applications are evaluated by committees, not algorithms. The quality of your writing, the coherence of your story, and the strength of your team section matter enormously
- Stacking strategy: The most successful founders don’t rely on a single grant — they build a grant stack that combines federal programs (SBIR), international development grants (IDB Lab), regional programs (Startup Chile), and private foundation awards into a coherent non-dilutive capital strategy
Free capital is the rarest resource in the startup world. The programs on this list represent real, accessible opportunities for founders across the United States and Latin America who are willing to invest the time and rigor that compelling grant applications demand. The runway they provide — and the validation signal they send to future investors — can be transformative at exactly the moment it matters most.