CALIFORNIA — As the new year unfolds, it opens doors to fresh possibilities for launching a business, pursuing artistic ventures, or breathing life into innovative ideas.
Here is a curated list of grants and opportunities tailored for young entrepreneurs, small businesses, restaurateurs, creative artists, tech innovators, and underrepresented business owners looking for avenues for growth and support in 2024.
Young Entrepreneur Grants
Diamond Challenge
The Diamond Challenge provides a unique opportunity for teens to learn about entrepreneurship while putting their ideas into action. The competition offers $100,000 in prizes and resources to take student ideas to the next level.
Deadline: January 16, 2024
VentureLab Spark Startup Materials & Mentorship Program
Started in 2019, VentureLab Spark Startup provides a four-month mentorship program to kids ages 8-18 with a business idea and up to $500 in materials to help them start or scale their business.
Spring cohort applications due by: January 15, 2024
The E-Team Program
The E-Team Program, part of the VentureWell Accelerator, supports student ventures. They help students advance their inventions through a mix of up to $25,000 in grant funding, entrepreneurship training, mentorship by dedicated staff, national recognition, and networking with peers and industry experts.
Deadline: January 31, 2024
Jacobson Innovator Competition
To encourage the entrepreneurial mindset in youth, the Jacobson Institute sponsors the Innovator Competition each fall and spring. The competition is for any high school student in grades 9-12. Students don’t need a background or coursework in business to compete. First place is awarded a $1,500 cash prize.
Deadline: April 26, 2024
Incfile Young Entrepreneur Scholarship Grant
Incfile, a business formation service, is awarding young entrepreneurs (high school senior, undergraduate, graduate, or trade school student) a scholarship to continue their education. Scholarship is $2,500.
Deadline: Future dates coming soon
Small Business Grants
California Competes Tax Credit
The California Competes Tax Credit (CCTC) is available to businesses that want to locate in California or stay and grow in California. Applicants will be analyzed based on twelve different factors of evaluation, including number of full-time jobs being created, amount of investment, and strategic importance to the state or region. Previous awards amounts have been a $20,000 minimum in tax credits and higher.
Deadline: January 22, 2024 & March 18, 2024
Dream Big Grant
Kind Cause is awarding in-kind technology grants up to $21,600 to nonprofits looking to improve operations. Grant would cover the cost to implement Salesforce CRM.
Deadline: January 31, 2024
STEP Export Voucher
The California State Trade Expansion Program (STEP) seeks to increase the number of eligible small business exporters, and to increase the volume of goods and services they export. Eligible California small businesses can participate in up to two (2) STEP Events per federal fiscal year. For the Export Voucher, eligible businesses can be reimbursed for up to 75% of pre-approved expenses, with a maximum limit of $10,000 within the federal fiscal year.
Deadline: February 8, 2024
Veterans Business Battle Grant
The Jones Graduate School of Business School at Rice University hosts the largest veteran-focused business plan competition in the country. Semi-finalists will be invited to Rice University in Houston, Texas to take part in the final competition on 18-20 April, 2024. Grant awards range from $5,000 -15,000.
Deadline: February 13, 2024
Diesel Engine Upgrade Grants
Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD) has several grant programs to upgrade diesel engine vehicles to a low emission engine.
Deadline: March 31, 2024
American Dream Award
The American Dream Awards shines a spotlight on small businesses that epitomize the modern American Dream through their innovative solutions, outstanding community contributions, and commitment to sustainable business practices. These awards are available to all for-profit businesses operating in the United States. If you become a recipient, you’ll receive a package that comprises $1,000 in funding, access to a small business accelerator, media coverage, and various other perks. Applicants must register for a free Hello Alice account to apply.
Deadline: April 30, 2024
Halstead Grant
The Halstead Grant is an annual award for emerging silver jewelry artists. The experience is designed to help jewelry entrepreneurs create a strategy to kick-start their careers. The grand prize is a $7,500 cash grant and $1,000 in merchandise as well as recognition in the industry. Deadline: May 1, 2024
Amazon Small Business Grant
Small Business Grants are exclusively for Amazon Business small business customers that make less than or equal to 1 million dollars in annual revenue. Grand prize winner receives a $25,000 grant.
Deadline: May 2024
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready
Small businesses can unlock the application of grant funding by first registering on the portal and completing at least two of the following, in any combination: courses, coaching or community events. Small businesses that complete the application will be eligible for consideration to receive a $10,000 grant.
Deadline: Future dates coming soon
Small Business Sweepstakes
Index by Pinger – a communication service company is offering a second round of grant funding for 2023. The Small Business Sweepstakes is awarding 1 small business owner $5,000. The application asks for a little information about the business and what the applicant would do with the winnings.
Due Date: Fall 2024
FedEx Small Business Grant
Ten Grand Prize winners receive $30,000 each. Additional prizes may be available and will be posted to FedEx website.
Deadline: Future dates coming soon
Amber Women’s Grant
WomensNet awards a $10,000 grant on a monthly basis to women-owned businesses. They also have an end of the year $25,000 grant award. There is a $15 application fee.
Deadline: Monthly
Awesome Foundation Grants
The Awesome Foundation distributes $1,000 grants, no strings attached, to projects and their creators. The foundation has awarded $6,582,000 in grant funding since 2009.
Deadline: Monthly
Incfile Fresh Start Business Grant
Whether you’re starting over or starting from scratch, Incfile wants to be there to help your business succeed. One adult entrepreneur will receive $2,500 to put toward business startup costs and will also receive free formation services from Incfile.
Deadline: Future dates coming soon
Marketing Grant for Growth
Utah-based small business marketing and events company Elle Marketing awards a 3-month, full marketing services grant valued at $20,000 of in-kind support to help three small businesses grow.
Deadline: Winter 2024
Freed Fellowship Small Business Grant
Freed Fellowship awards a $500 grant every month to a business owner in the US to invest in their existing business. Freed Fellowship also considers grant winners for a $2,500 grant at the end of the year.
Deadline: Monthly
Turf replacement for SoCal businesses
The Metropolitan Water District is providing up to $100,000 rebates to SoCal businesses to remove existing grass and to replace it with organic, drought tolerant landscaping.
Due date: Ongoing
Old Town Victorville Facade Grant
In efforts to preserve the historic Old Town Route 66 area, the City of Victorville created the Old Town Commercial Facade Improvement Program to enhance commercial buildings, attract private investment, beautify commercial corridors, generate shopping, and preserve the historic area. Grants are up to $50,000.
Deadline: Ongoing
Food Industry Grants
The Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund
To help restaurants recover in times of critical need, DoorDash has partnered with Hello Alice to create the Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund. The fund supports restaurants impacted by natural disasters like fires, floods and hurricanes, and provides relief through $10,000 grants.
Deadline: December 31, 2023
Young Farmer Grant
The National Young Farmers Coalition – Young Farmers, has partnered with Chipotle to support young and beginning farmers and ranchers start up and grow their businesses with a flexible funding opportunity. For the program’s fifth and final year, the coalition will provide 50 farmers or ranchers with $5,000 grants. Grant recipients also receive a one-year membership to the National Young Farmers Coalition.
Deadline: January 15, 2024
The FruitGuys Community Fund
The FruitGuys Community Fund grants are up to $5,000 for projects that help small farms and orchards operate more environmentally and economically, as well as strengthen community outreach.
Deadline: Application portal opens January 1, 2024
Feed the Soul Restaurant Business Development Grant
Feed the Soul Foundation is a non-profit developed to aid marginalized professionals in the culinary industry. The grant amount is $10,000, plus 6 months of business development consulting and training, at a value of $15,000.
Deadline: January 31, 2024
Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund
The Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund is a small grant program that provides direct assistance to veterans who are in their beginning years of farming or ranching. The Fellowship Fund does not give money directly to the veteran, but rather to third-party vendors for items the veteran has identified will make a crucial difference in the launch of their farm business. Awards range from $1,000 to $5,000.
Deadline: February 14, 2024
Fund a Farmer Grant
Food Animal Concerns Trust (FACT) provides grants up to $3,000 to qualifying farmers who need assistance in improving the welfare of their farm animals. FACT offers two types of grants: Pasture Improvement Grants and Certification Grants.
Deadline: January 15, 2024
Value Added Producer Grant
The US Department of Agriculture provides grants up to $250,000 with priority given to beginning and socially-disadvantaged farmers to help develop new products, expand their businesses, and access new markets.
Deadline: May 2024
Brighter Future Fund
American Farmland Trust provides $5,000 grants to support farmers across America.
Deadline: Future date coming soon
Stacy’s Rise Project
Stacy’s, a pita chip company, is awarding $25,000 to small businesses that sell consumer packaged goods (CPG). To be eligible for the grant, the business must have annualized sales of between $25,000 and $1 million. The company gives preference to grant applicants with a woman founder. Applicants must register for a free Hello Alice account to apply.
Deadline: Fall 2024
California Restaurant Foundation Resilience Fund
The California Restaurant Foundation in partnering with SoCalGas, Pacific Gas and Electric and San Diego Gas and Electric provides $5,000 grants to independent restaurant owners with less than $3 Million in annual revenue and no more than five units. Grant funding can be used for kitchen equipment, technology upgrades, employee training and bonuses, and unforeseen hardship.
Deadline: Winter 2024
Art and Music Grants
Frank Huntington Beebe Fund
The purpose of the fund is to provide fellowships for gifted young musicians, generally performers and composers in classical disciplines, who wish to pursue advanced music study and performance abroad, usually in Europe. The fund provides financial support for round trip transportation, living and other expenses. An all-inclusive grant of $22,000 will be offered. Fellowships are for one year and are generally not renewable.
Deadline: January 1, 2024
Jack Hazard Fellowship
Jack Hazard Fellows are fiction, creative nonfiction, and memoir writers who teach full-time in an accredited high school in the United States. The New Literary Project provides a $5,000 award that enables these creative writers who teach to focus on their writing for a summer.
Deadline: January 4, 2024
The American Theatre Wing Training Scholarships
The American Theatre Wing is committed to fostering a future generation of theater makers that reflects the diversity and dynamism of America as a whole.
Public middle and high school students who come from populations historically underrepresented in the theater industry, demonstrate talent and ability in theater arts, but have a lack of economic resources to receive high level training prior to college are eligible to apply.
Scholarship funding can be used for:
- Theater training programs that stand alone or are housed in professional theater settings
- Theater training camps
- After school classes or training program
Deadline: January 8, 2024
Translation Projects
Through fellowships to published translators, the National Endowment for the Arts supports projects for the translation of specific works of prose, poetry, or drama from other languages into English. Grants are up to $25,000. Award amounts are determined by the National Endowment for the Arts.
Deadline: January 18, 2024
Woodberry Poetry Room Creative Fellowship
The Creative Fellowship program invites poets, writers, translators, visual artists, composers, and scholars to propose creative projects that would benefit from an immersive encounter with the Woodberry Poetry Room and its collections. The fellowship includes a stipend of $5,000.
Deadline: February 1, 2024
Internship Grant
WNDB provides grants to help diversify the publishing industry. Grants of $3,000 will be awarded to applicants from a diverse background that have received a paid internship offer from a participating WNDB partner publisher or literary agency.
Deadline: March 1, 2024
Creative Writing Fellowships
The National Endowment for the Arts Literature Fellowships program offers $25,000 grants in prose (fiction and creative nonfiction) and poetry to published creative writers that enable the recipients to set aside time for writing, research, travel, and general career advancement. Deadline: March 13, 2024
The Pollination Project
The Pollination Project seeks to unleash goodness and expand compassion all over the world. Individuals, groups and startup non-profit organizations can apply for a $1,000 grant.
Deadline: Daily
Susan Beech Mid-Career Artist Grant
The Susan Beech Mid-Career Artist Grant provides $20,000 toward the completion of a significant jewelry-related project. The proposed project should be about jewelry, loosely defined. Applicants must be between the ages of 35 – 55.
Deadline: Future date coming soon
Jonathan Larson Grant
The Jonathan Larson Grant is an unconditional annual investment in individual talent. The grant is awarded to musical theater composers, lyricists, and librettists, or writing teams, early in their career, to support artistic endeavors and safeguard long-term music writing careers.
Deadline: Fall 2024
Tech Grants
Grant for the Web
Grant for the Web is a $100 million fund to boost open, fair and inclusive standards and innovation in Web Monetization. The last Call for Proposals aimed to target the creation of more financial nodes in the Interledger network. Up to twenty projects were awarded $75,000.
Deadline: Fall 2024
Theil Fellowship
The Thiel Fellowship gives $100,000 to young people who want to build new things instead of sitting in a classroom. Open to anyone aged 22 and younger.
Deadline: Year Around
Grants for Underrepresented Small Business Owners
EmpowHer Grant
Boundless Futures Foundation, an organization that provides financial and leadership resources for aspiring female entrepreneurs, awards grants up to $25,000 to female entrepreneurs 22 years of age and older with businesses registered and operating solely in the United States.
Deadline: December 31, 2023
Accelerator Program and Grant
Common Future, an organization that’s been working to close the racial wealth gap, is awarding up to 10 diverse-led small businesses $50,000 grants. Grant awardees will also participate in a 3-month long accelerator program that includes a curriculum, coaching and mentorship.
Due date: Fall 2024
High Five Grant for Mom
The Mama Ladder International – a company that connects women at the intersection of mamahood and entrepreneurship is awarding a $10,000 grand prize grant to a mom who owns at least 50% of a for-profit product or service-based business. 1st, 2nd and honorable mention prizes will also be awarded along with $1,000 office furniture credits.
Due Date: Fall 2024
Legal Zoom Fast Break for Small Business
Together with the NBA, WNBA, and NBA G League, Legal Zoom is supporting small businesses with $6 million in grants and services. Small business owners can apply for a $10,000 grant and up to $500 worth of LegalZoom products and services.
Deadline: Spring 2024
SoCal Job Creator Grant
Founders First, an organization that has helped accelerate the success of hundreds of small, service-based, B2B companies, is awarding a total of $100,000 to 25 diverse-led Southern California businesses. To be eligible for the grant the business must have the ability to add 1-2+ net new premium wage jobs in the next 12 months.
Due Date: Future date coming soon
Galaxy Grant
Hidden Star, a nonprofit organization committed to help women and minority entrepreneurs succeed though their small business journey is awarding a $2,500 grant. Hidden Star says the application takes 30 seconds to complete.
Due Date: Winter 2024
Venmo Small Business Grant
Venmo started the Small Business Grant to help level the playing field for small business owners, and to help them make big things happen. Grants awards are $10,000.
Deadline: Summer 2024
Pepper Startup Grant
Pepper, a business helping people tap into the healing power of plants with complimentary one-on-one calls with plant specialists, awards one Black woman recipient a zero strings attached $5,000 financial grant, mentorship, promotion on Pepper’s social media accounts and access to experts in legal, fundraising, finance, marketing, website, and relevant fields as needed.
Deadline: August 2024
Atomic Grants
Passion Collective, a company that helps professional women rediscover their passion and purpose, is awarding a $1,500 grant to a woman entrepreneur. In addition, the winner will receive coaching from leading strategy and culture consulting firm Keystone Group International and a free year of Passion Collective On Demand.
Due Date: Quarterly
“No” Grant
Pure Leaf – a premium iced tea beverage company, says they are awarding a $2,000 grant to give women a little extra financial support to help them say “no” to unrealistic expectations. The award also includes access to SeekHer’s “No is Beautiful” in Motherhood resources and support community.
Due Date: Three times a year
Embark
Embark, a program developed in collaboration between REI Co-op Path Ahead Ventures and Founded Outdoors, wants to help new and aspiring entrepreneurs from Black, Indigenous, Latino, and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities launch an outdoor brand. The program provides $10,000 grant awards to participants.
Due date: Winter 2024
NAACP Powershift Entrepreneurship Grant
The NAACP Powershift Entrepreneur Grant is Daymond John’s quest to find and award up and coming Black Entrepreneurs live on Black Entrepreneurs Day. Black Entrepreneurs across the country can apply for the chance to win $25,000 each to help them grow and scale their businesses. Registration for a free Hello Alice account is required to apply for the grant.
Due date: Winter 2024
Creciendo con TikTok
Creciendo con TikTok is a grant fund that will provide cash awards of $5,000 to 40 Latino small business owners who have demonstrated perseverance, resourcefulness, hard work, and entrepreneurial vision in their communities.
Due date: Future dates coming soon
Wish Local Empowerment Program
Wish Local is dedicating a $2 million fund to give roughly 4,000 Wish Local small business partners financial support. The selected recipients will receive amounts between $500 – $2000. This program will only be open to Black-owned stores, to help promote equality and diversity in American business.
Due date: Ongoing
Fearless Strivers Grant Contest
According to Fearless Fund, less than one percent of venture capital funding goes to Black women-owned businesses. In collaboration with Mastercard, the Fearless Strivers Grant is awarding a $20,000 grant to one Black woman-owned business. The grant is awarded four times a year and comes with digital tools to help them grow their business online and a mentorship.
Due Date: Four times a year
Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program
The Tory Burch Foundation, an organization that empowers women by providing access to capital, education and community, is awarding a $5,000 grant to 50 women entrepreneurs. The grant is accompanied with a yearlong program designed to grow the awardees’ business through workshops, coaching sessions, network-building, and financial resources. The program ends with a company presentation and trip to New York City.
Due Date: Winter 2024
HerRise Micro Grant
The Yva Jourdan Foundation, Inc. in partnership with HerSuiteSpot has provided micro grants of $1,000 to women of color entrepreneurs since 2017 as a way to assist them in starting or growing a business.
Deadline: Monthly
The Coramino Fund
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) partners with comedian and entrepreneur Kevin Hart and tequila maker Juan Domingo Beckmann to provide grants up to $10,000 to 50 Black or Latinx entrepreneurs to help close the wealth and opportunity gaps faced by entrepreneurs of color across the U.S.
Deadline: December 2024
Expanding Venture Capital Access
California’s Infrastructure and Economic Development Bank (IBank) has a total of $250 million available for investment to support underrepresented fund managers and entrepreneurs. According to IBank, studies have shown that startups led by inclusive teams have generated better investment returns than teams that lack diversity.
Deadline: Ongoing
