Mid-March Funding Round-Up: 18 New Opportunities!
Too many good opportunities not to share them right away! A mid-month update of the latest impact funding opportunities for social enterprises and non-profits.
Hello everyone, we’re back with another mid-month update with grants and funding opportunities for social enterprises and nonprofits across gender, climate, energy, innovation, urban planning, inclusion, and more for organizations working around the globe for a more purposeful future.
Opportunities are listed by their deadline.
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Latest Funding Opportunities:
2025 Grant Cycle, Alstom Foundation. *New!* *Deadline to submit a request to find an Alstom Promoter closes soon!*
Welcomes proposals from organizations working in one of the foundations key areas; 1. economic & social development (especially in skills development and employability for disadvantaged youth and women and support for street children, orphans and foster children). 2. Environmental protection (projects designed to enhance environmental awareness, protect natural habitats and biodiversity as well as build resilience to natural disasters). 3. Access to mobility (to support economic development of communities by facilitating the movement of both people and goods such that remote and disadvantaged communities may take advantage of local markets, education, health and other facilities). 4. Access to energy and water (especially for remote communities). Each project submission requires the support of an Alstom employee acting on the role of Project Promoter- requests can be made to find a Project Promoter.
Geographies: Algeria, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Türkiye, UAE, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, Uzbekistan, Vietnam.
Who can apply: Non-profits. Each project submission requires the support of an Alstom employee acting on the role of Project Promoter. This employee must be based in the country where the project is implemented.
Funding amount: They typically support around 35 projects each year. Total foundation budget ~€2 million annually.
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Economic and social development, environmental protection, access to mobility, access to energy and water.
Deadline: To submit a request from the secretariat to find an Alstom Promoter is March 20, 2025. Application deadline (with a promoter) April 10, 2025.
Water Scarcity, XPRIZE. *New!*, *Track A closing soon!*
XPRIZE Water Scarcity is a 5-year global competition set to drive a step change in desalination technologies - reimagining systems, methods, and materials. The prize will facilitate the widespread use of desalination in a manner that supports greater socio-economic equity and environmental sustainability. This competition will address issues across desalination and water scarcity by: 1. Encouraging future desalination systems to be more robust, affordable, and sustainable. 2. Advancing novel desalination materials and methods to make existing desalination systems more robust, affordable, and sustainable. 3. Exciting innovators across the globe to get involved in developing public perception campaigns to address water scarcity from a broader perspective. Three competitions paths available in the competition; System-Level Innovation, Novel Materials and Methods and Ideas Competition - The Value of Water.
Geographies: Global.
Who can apply: Teams of innovative groups and individuals, comprising subject matter experts, enthusiasts, start-ups, student teams, amateurs, and all problem-solvers in between.
Funding amount: Total of $119 million available. Prizes range $5,000 - $40 million.
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Water, climate, innovation.
Deadline: Track A (systems level innovation) closes March 31, 2025. Track B (novel materials and methods) closes May 31, 2025.
Consortia Innovation Call: Short Innovation Projects 2025, EIT Culture & Creativity. *New!*
Invites proposals from consortiums to support high-impact initiatives that address pressing challenges in the Cultural and Creative Sectors and Industries (CCSI). This call focuses on fast-paced, results-driven innovation projects with a maximum duration of 6 months, delivering tangible and market-ready solutions within a short timeframe. With a strong emphasis on Fashion, Architecture, Cultural Heritage, Audio-Visual Media, and Gaming, this call seeks to accelerate commercialization and market adoption of innovations that address the challenges of globalization, digital transformation, emerging technologies (such as AI), and environmental sustainability. The project must advance the innovation from TRL 7 to TRL 9 within 6 months.
Geographies: The partners must be from two different EU Member States or HE-associated countries.
Who can apply: Consortium of two entities: one SME or micro enterprise (the innovation developer) as the project leader, and one supporting entity (e.g., research organization, technology provider, or business consultant) providing complementary expertise to support market readiness.
Funding amount: Maximum €120,000 of EIT CC financial support per project, total envelope of €2.64 million. All proposals must have a minimum co-funding rate of 30% across the project.
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Fashion, Architecture, Cultural Heritage, Audio-Visual Media, and Gaming.
Deadline: April 11, 2025.
VinFuture Prize Nomination, VinFuture Foundation. *New!*
Calling for nominations for the 2025 VinFuture Grand Prize and three Special Prizes. The VinFuture Prize is established to honor breakthrough scientific research and technological innovations that create meaningful change in the everyday lives of millions of people. The Prize aims to recognize exceptional inventors and researchers from global academic universities, research labs, and industry. The VinFuture Prize comprises: A Grand Prize of US$3 million, awarded annually for breakthrough research and technological innovations that positively improve the quality of human life, and create a more equitable and sustainable world for future generations. The Grand Prize would be open to all, regardless of the candidate’s nationality, age, gender, social status, or economic background. Three Special Prizes of US$500,000 each with a focus on promoting diversity, equity, and new fields of study will also be awarded annually to: 1. Innovators from Developing Countries, 2. Female Innovators, 3. Innovators with Outstanding Achievements in Emerging Fields.
Geographies: Global.
Who can apply: Researchers and innovators.
Funding amount: Grand Prize of US$3 million, and Three Special Prizes of US$500,000.
Targeted Sectors/ SDGs: Multisector, all SDG’s applicable.
Deadline: April 17, 2025.
Forest Governance Markets and Climate (FGMC2) programme: accountable grants, FCDO. *New!*
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