# Web3 startup grants: funding for early-stage teams

> Web3 startup grants in 2026: programs that fund product teams by stage, from Starknet's $25,000 seed grants to Gravity's $200,000, and what they ask back.

Last reviewed 2026-10-31. Dates are UTC.

Web3 startup grants are non-dilutive funding from chain foundations, DAOs and companies for teams building products on their networks. As of October 2026, web3grant's directory includes Starknet Seed Grants (up to $25,000), Aptos Ecosystem Grants ($5,000 to $50,000), the Stellar Community Fund (up to $150,000) and Gravity Developer Grants (up to $200,000). Most want an MVP or a live product, and many add KYC or KYB checks and milestone payments.

## Key takeaways

- Startup grants are gated by product stage: Starknet Seed Grants want an MVP that has not gone to market, Aptos wants a live product with real users, and Unichain Grants want $250,000 or more in TVL.
- Published ceilings for startup programs run from $7,500 (Unichain Grants) to $200,000 (Gravity Developer Grants), against a median published ceiling of $50,000 across web3grant's directory.
- Not every grant is free of strings: 1inch's Aqua incubator takes a share of revenue, Solana Foundation convertible grants can turn into an investment, and Sentient runs an investment track beside its grants.
- 55 of the 99 programs in web3grant's directory pay in milestone tranches, so plan cash flow around delivery dates, not the award date.
- Some programs pay for growth rather than code: SDF Marketing Grants fund user acquisition up to $500,000 for live Stellar projects.

## What is a Web3 startup grant?

A Web3 startup grant is money a chain or protocol gives a product team to build on its network, without taking equity. Foundations pay because each successful app brings users, transactions and fees to their chain; [why blockchains give grants](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/why-blockchains-give-grants) covers the incentives in detail.

Startup grants differ from public-goods grants. Programs such as the Ethereum Foundation's ESP fund only free, open-source, non-commercial work (and ESP has had nothing open to apply to since open proposals ended in 2025), and the Solana Foundation's standard grants mainly fund public goods. A startup with a commercial product needs a program that funds products, or a route built for them, such as Solana's convertible grants. If you are new to the model, [what Web3 grants are](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/what-are-web3-grants) is the place to start.

## Which programs fund early-stage startups?

The right program depends on how far along you are. The groups below follow the stage each program asks for in its eligibility rules.

### Idea to MVP

Early programs pay smaller amounts and want proof you can build, not traction. **Starknet Seed Grants** pay up to $25,000 in STRK to early-stage teams with an MVP or proof of concept that have not gone to market and are active in the Starknet community, for example through a past hackathon. Teams already live with users are pointed to Starknet's Growth Grants, which range from $25,000 to $1M in STRK.

**Team1 Builder Grants** on Avalanche pay Mini Grants of up to $10,000 on open application, and a committee can move strong projects to Accelerator Grants of up to $30,000. Team1 replaced Retro9000, which ended in 2026. **HTX DAO's Genesis Grant**, launched in September 2026 with a $10M fund, says it prioritizes early-stage teams validating a prototype, and **Cardano PRIME** takes DeFi teams from idea stage to live on mainnet.

- [Starknet Seed Grants Program](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/starknet-seed-grants): Starknet Foundation. Grant size: Up to $25K (USD equivalent). Always open: no deadline, applications reviewed as they arrive.
- [Team1 Builder Grants](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/avalanche-retro9000): Team1. Grant size: Up to $30K (USD equivalent). Always open: no deadline, applications reviewed as they arrive. Note: Retro9000 ended in 2026. This entry now covers Team1 Builder Grants, the program the Avalanche Builder Hub points builders to.
- [HTX DAO Genesis Grant](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/htx-dao-genesis-grant): HTX DAO. Grant size: Not published. Always open: no deadline, applications reviewed as they arrive.
- [Cardano PRIME](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/cardano-prime-defi-grants): AlphaGrowth. Grant size: Not published. Always open: no deadline, applications reviewed as they arrive.

The Stacks Endowment's Getting Started track ($2,500 to $10,000 in STX) also fits this stage, but its Q3 2026 cycle closed on September 23 and Q4 dates have not been announced.

### Working product, ready to grow

Larger grants usually go to teams that can show a working product, a demo or users. This table compares what each program asks for as of October 2026:

| Program | What you need | Ceiling | Paid in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Aptos Ecosystem Grants](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/aptos-foundation-grants) | Live product with real adoption or early demand | $50K | Includes APT |
| [Stellar Community Fund](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/stellar-community-fund) | Significant traction, full technical architecture | $150K | XLM |
| [Gravity Developer Grants](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/gravity-developer-grants) | Live mainnet product, or a detailed go-to-market plan | $200K | G |
| [Horizen Builder Ecosystem Fund](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/horizen-builder-ecosystem-fund) | Privacy-first app; in-house privacy engineering for RFPs | $150K | USDC |
| [Palladium Labs Canton Grants](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/palladium-labs-canton-grants) | Financial product on Canton using Alpend | About $148K | Canton Coin |
| [Nosana Grants](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/nosana-grants-program) | AI project that uses Nosana GPU compute; deck, demo and roadmap | $50K | USDC, NOS, credits |
| [Unichain Grants](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/uniswap-foundation-unichain-grants) | DeFi project live on Unichain with $250K+ TVL | $7.5K | USD or USDC |

A few details change the math. Aptos grantees can add Gas Station credits, up to $25,000 in audit credits and up to $100,000 a year in Google Cloud credits. Stellar's SCF #46 round is open until November 8, 2026, and pays 10% on acceptance, then 20%, 30% and 40% as you deliver MVP, testnet and mainnet tranches. Horizen pays 10% at approval and ties the rest to proving your privacy feature, a security audit and real mainnet usage.

**Circle Developer Grants** fund teams whose product runs on Arc and Circle's stack, paid in USDC by milestone, and ask for evidence of usage, pilots, partners or revenue. **BNB Chain Builder Grants** advertise up to $200,000, but the last winner announcement on the BNB Chain blog is from 2023, so it is unclear how many grants are still made.

### Go-to-market money

A few programs pay for distribution once the product exists. **SDF Marketing Grants** fund paid ads, events, PR and in-app incentives for projects live on Stellar, up to $500,000, but nothing that promotes speculation, token prices or promised returns. Kaia's **IOK Fund** pays go-to-market grants of up to about $20,000 in KAIA for dApps launched or launching within one to two months. The **Polymarket Builders Program** pays grants from a pool of more than $2.5M plus weekly USDC rewards based on the order volume your app routes.

- [SDF Marketing Grants](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/stellar-sdf-marketing-grants): Stellar Development Foundation. Grant size: Up to $500K (USD equivalent). Always open: no deadline, applications reviewed as they arrive.
- [IOK Fund](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/kaia-iok-fund): Kaia DLT Foundation. Grant size: Up to $20K (USD equivalent). Always open: no deadline, applications reviewed as they arrive.
- [Polymarket Builders Program](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/polymarket-builders-program): Polymarket. Grant size: Not published. Always open: no deadline, applications reviewed as they arrive.

## Which incubators and residencies fund startups?

Incubators add mentoring, introductions and staged money, and they usually ask more of you. Three are in the directory:

- **[TRON Builders League](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/tron-dao-builders-league):** long-term funding and incubation from a $10M pool for projects on TRON and BTTC, released in stages. It announces no winners and calls itself a partnership model.
- **[Hashgraph Innovation Program](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/hashgraph-association-funding):** a Swiss non-profit co-funding startups, enterprises and governments on Hedera. Expect an interview, an NDA, due diligence including KYC, and a quarterly board vote, usually 6 to 8 weeks in total.
- **[World One](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/world-one-residency):** $10,000 a month for three months for solo builders shipping on World ID, in person in San Francisco and only for people authorized to work in the US.

Several others were checked but are not in the directory. The Cardano Foundation's Accelerator Program takes registered legal entities with a live product; on September 21, 2026 it named eight ventures for its Fall 2026 cohort, each receiving CHF 10,000, with no next window published. Codebase by Avalanche, which paid a $50,000 stipend per team, showed "Applications Closed" on October 2, 2026. The UNICEF Venture Fund makes equity-free investments of up to $100,000 in for-profit companies registered in a UNICEF programme country, and its rolling call was open when we checked on October 2, 2026, though its dedicated blockchain call closed on March 10, 2026 ([UNICEF Venture Fund](https://www.unicefventurefund.org/apply-funding)).

## Grants vs equity: what does a startup give up?

A standard grant takes no equity and is not repaid, which is why founders call it non-dilutive funding. Some programs still ask for something back, and the terms are in the agreement, not the headline:

- **Revenue share:** [1inch's Aqua Revenue Stream Incubator](https://www.web3grant.com/grants/1inch-aqua-incubator) pays up to $50,000 in exchange for a share of your revenue from the first dollar. Approved teams so far agreed to 10% to 50% of a defined revenue base, with a buy-out option after three years.
- **Convertible grants:** the Solana Foundation's convertible grants cover public goods with a commercial side and turn into an investment only if the project hits set milestones, such as raising a priced round.
- **Investment tracks:** Sentient's $42M program has a grant track and a separate investment track for companies building open-AI businesses.
- **Ecosystem commitments:** most Horizen grantees agree to join the ZEN staking rewards pool, for example by sharing protocol fees, and Gravity funds only projects that run on Gravity or treat it as a primary network.

Grants are often smaller than venture rounds, and they pay against milestones. The guides on [Web3 grants vs venture capital](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/web3-grants-vs-venture-capital) and [non-dilutive funding for crypto startups](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/non-dilutive-funding-for-crypto-startups) compare the trade-offs. Have a lawyer read any agreement with revenue, token or conversion terms; [Web3 grant agreements](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/web3-grant-agreements) explains the common clauses.

## How do startups win Web3 grants?

Startups win by matching the program's stage gate exactly and proving it with data. Reviewers fund teams whose evidence fits the eligibility list line by line.

1. **Apply at the right stage.** Starknet Seed Grants exclude teams live on mainnet for over three months with an established user base, while Unichain wants $250,000 in TVL. Applying a stage early or late wastes a cycle.
2. **Bring verifiable numbers.** Ink Spark asks you to back claims about users, volume or TVL with data reviewers can verify, and says idea-only and testnet-only projects are unlikely to be funded.
3. **Tie milestones to usage.** Horizen and the Stellar Community Fund release most of the money at later milestones such as testnet, audit, mainnet and real usage. Write milestones you can prove; [milestone-based grants](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/milestone-based-grants) shows how.
4. **Explain why this chain.** The Solana Foundation asks why the project needs Solana rather than another chain, and Gravity's form asks for a contract deployment address on Gravity.

The full method is in [how to write a Web3 grant proposal](https://www.web3grant.com/guides/how-to-write-a-web3-grant-proposal).

## Next steps

Filter the [full directory](https://www.web3grant.com/grants) by ecosystem and category to find programs on your chain, check the [deadline calendar](https://www.web3grant.com/deadlines) for round-based programs such as the Stellar Community Fund, and [get email alerts](https://www.web3grant.com/#alerts) when new rounds open. Applications always go through each program's official site.

## FAQ

### Do Web3 startup grants take equity?

Most Web3 startup grants take no equity and are not repaid. The exceptions are spelled out in the agreement: 1inch's Aqua incubator takes a revenue share, Solana Foundation convertible grants can become an investment if milestones such as a priced round are hit, and Sentient offers a separate investment track. Read the grant agreement before signing, and ask a lawyer about any revenue, token or conversion clauses.

### Can a pre-launch startup get a Web3 grant?

Yes, but only from programs built for that stage. Starknet Seed Grants want an MVP or proof of concept that has not gone to market, Team1 Builder Grants on Avalanche take new ideas through Mini Grants of up to $10,000, and Gravity accepts a detailed go-to-market plan from projects not yet live. Aptos, Ink Spark and Unichain Grants require a live product, so a pre-launch startup should skip them.

### How long does a Web3 startup grant take to approve?

Across web3grant's directory, the median time to a decision is about 4 weeks as of October 2026, though most programs do not publish review times and these are estimates. Starknet says you hear back in about four weeks, Palladium Labs decides within a week of a short intro call, and the Hashgraph Innovation Program usually takes 6 to 8 weeks. Payment then follows milestones, which can stretch over months.

### Can a startup take a grant and venture capital at the same time?

Often yes, but disclose it and check each program's rules. VeBetter Grants allow VC money or token sales if disclosed, though VeBetter reports very low activity as of October 2026. Octant counts funds raised above $1M in the last 12 months against you, and its next epoch has no date yet. Ink Spark grants do not cover salaries or runway, so they complement rather than replace investment.

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From web3grant: https://www.web3grant.com/guides/web3-startup-grants. Program details change often: confirm on each program's official site before applying.