All US funding programs
736 US funding programs for small businesses, verified against official sources as of August 28, 2026 — 410 grants, 108 tax credits, 105 loans, 87 assistance programs, 23 competition awards and 3 forgivable loans, run by federal agencies, all 50 states, cities, corporations and foundations. 404 were open to applications that day. Browse by state, industry or program below. Not sure which to pick? Check your eligibility in the free 60-second interactive map and get a ranked shortlist instead of scrolling all 660+ programs.
Updated August 28, 2026 · 736 programs tracked · every entry links to the official source
What US small business funding actually exists
GrantCompass tracks 736 US funding programs open to small businesses as of August 28, 2026. They break down by who runs them — 310 state, 198 federal, 147 corporate or private, 44 municipal and 37 foundation — and by what they actually hand over: 410 grants, 108 tax credits, 105 loans, 87 assistance programs, 23 competition awards and 3 forgivable loans. 404 of the 736 were open to applications on August 28, 2026; the rest were between intakes, upcoming, paused or closed. 322 are open to businesses anywhere in the United States, and the remainder are tied to one of 53 states, districts and territories.
Two numbers explain most of the confusion in this category. First, only 410 of 736 programs — 56% — are actually grants; the other 326 are debt, tax provisions, prizes or services that get listed as “grants” anyway. Second, 545 of the 736 publish a maximum award, and their median is $150,000 — a figure pulled far above the typical small-business experience by a handful of infrastructure-scale programs. This page defines the landscape and routes you to the right sub-page; it deliberately does not repeat what the specialist pages below already answer.
| Level | Programs | Median published ceiling | What it usually is |
|---|---|---|---|
| State | 310 | $150,000 | Grants and state tax credits, tied to operating in the state |
| Federal | 198 | $1,000,000 | R&D awards, agriculture, energy, loan guarantees, IRC credits |
| Corporate / private | 147 | $25,000 | Sponsored grant programs, contests, CDFI lending |
| Municipal | 44 | $25,000 | Façade, storefront and fit-out reimbursements |
| Foundation | 37 | $15,000 | Mission-tied grants, often for creative or community work |
How big the awards are, from the 10th percentile to the 90th
545 of the 736 tracked programs publish a maximum award. Sorted from smallest to largest, the tenth percentile is $7,800 and the ninetieth is $5,000,000 — a 640-fold spread inside one category, which is why a single “average small business grant” figure is close to meaningless. The mean ceiling is $6,346,642 and the median is $150,000; when a mean is 42 times its median, the mean is describing a few enormous programs rather than the field. 98 programs cap at $10,000 or less, 52 at $5,000 or less, and 127 exceed $1,000,000.
Instrument drives most of that spread. Grant-type programs have a median ceiling of $67,500 across the 374 that publish one, while loan programs sit at $500,000 and federal energy tax credits are limited only by project size. For what a typical business realistically receives rather than what programs advertise, see the average small business grant amount, which analyses this distribution properly.
| Percentile | Ceiling at or below | Percentile | Ceiling at or below |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th | $7,800 | 60th | $250,000 |
| 20th | $15,000 | 70th | $500,000 |
| 30th | $30,000 | 80th | $1,000,000 |
| 40th | $52,000 | 90th | $5,000,000 |
| 50th (median) | $150,000 | Mean | $6,346,642 |
The catalog by the numbers
Every figure on this page is computed from the GrantCompass catalog on August 28, 2026, not estimated. 701 of the 736 programs are neither closed, discontinued, expired nor winding down. 545 publish a maximum award; 730 publish enough application detail for us to estimate effort, and the median estimate is 12 hours of work. 366 accept applications on a rolling basis with no fixed deadline, 141 require the applicant to match funds with their own money, and 441 are scored as workable for a first-time applicant with no grant-writing help.
Counts as of August 28, 2026. GrantCompass scores every program for application difficulty, estimated hours and competitiveness — fields no government directory publishes.
Grant, loan, tax credit or contest: what the 736 programs are
Only 410 of the 736 programs GrantCompass tracks are grants. The other 326 are tax credits (108), loans (105), assistance programs that pay in services rather than money (87), judged competition awards (23) and forgivable loans (3) — and nearly all of them appear on somebody’s “small business grants” list. That mislabelling is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this category, because the four instruments differ in who decides, when the money arrives, and whether you ever have to give it back.
The distinction is not a matter of opinion. For federal money it is statutory: 31 U.S.C. §6304 requires an agency to use a grant agreement when “the principal purpose of the relationship is to transfer a thing of value… to carry out a public purpose” and “substantial involvement is not expected”, while §6303 requires a procurement contract when “the principal purpose of the instrument is to acquire (by purchase, lease, or barter) property or services for the direct benefit or use of the United States Government” (law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/31, read August 28, 2026). The eight definitions below apply that logic to everything on this page.
| Instrument | Programs | Median ceiling (n publishing) | Repaid? | When money moves |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grant | 410 | $67,500 (374) | No | On award, or as reimbursement |
| Tax credit | 108 | $387,500 (28) | No | When the return is filed |
| Loan | 105 | $500,000 (91) | Yes, with interest | At closing |
| Assistance program | 87 | $250,000 (27) | No — usually no cash | Never; you receive services |
| Competition award | 23 | $100,000 (22) | No | After judging |
| Forgivable loan | 3 | $240,000 (3) | Only if conditions fail | At closing |
What a grant is
A grant is money transferred to you to carry out a purpose the funder wants achieved, with no repayment and no equity taken. That is the whole definition, and everything else — the application, the reporting, the audit — exists to prove the purpose was carried out. GrantCompass counts 410 grant-type programs, with a median published ceiling of $67,500 across the 374 that state one. A grant differs from a loan in that nothing is owed back, and from an investment in that no ownership changes hands, which is why grant money is described as non-dilutive; 58 programs in the catalog carry that tag explicitly.
The practical test is the paperwork after the award, not before it. Grants come with a reporting schedule and a budget you are expected to spend as proposed; changing what you spend it on usually needs written approval. For federal grants, you also need a Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov before you can submit, which is a multi-day registration rather than a form.
What a loan is, and why loans sit in a grant directory
A loan is capital you receive now and repay later with interest, and 105 of the 736 tracked programs are loans — median published ceiling $500,000. They appear in a funding directory because the terms are often unavailable commercially: the SBA 7(a) Loan Program guarantees bank lending up to $5,000,000, the SBA Microloan Program reaches $50,000 through nonprofit intermediaries, and community development financial institutions underwrite on cash flow rather than credit score alone. Unlike a grant, a loan is not competitive in the same sense — you are being underwritten, not ranked against other applicants.
The decision rule most owners get backwards: a loan you can service is usually faster and larger than any grant you could win, while a grant you cannot win is worth nothing at all. To compare the two properly, see grants vs loans vs tax credits.
What a tax credit is
A tax credit reduces the tax you owe, dollar for dollar, when you file a return — you never apply for it and no one awards it to you. The IRS puts the distinction plainly: “Credits can reduce the amount of tax due”, whereas “Deductions can reduce the amount of taxable income” (irs.gov/credits-and-deductions, read August 28, 2026). GrantCompass tracks 108 tax credits: 86 state and 22 federal. They are the most under-claimed money in the catalog precisely because there is no deadline, no notification and no scoreboard.
Two examples show the range. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is worth $1,200–$9,600 per qualifying hire but requires certification paperwork filed close to the hire date. The Section 41 Research and Development Credit can offset up to $500,000 of payroll tax a year for a qualified small business — raised from $250,000 by the Inflation Reduction Act for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022 (IRS, Instructions for Form 6765, read August 28, 2026). Both are claimed through your accountant, not through an application portal.
What a contest or business award is
A contest awards money on the judgment of a panel or a public vote against published official rules, which makes it the only instrument here with no eligibility formula that guarantees you a fair read. GrantCompass classifies 23 programs as competition awards, with a median ceiling of $100,000, and many more grant-labelled corporate programs run in contest format. A contest differs from a grant in that a strong, fully eligible business can lose repeatedly for reasons no scorecard would ever show.
Two procedural points matter before you enter. Prize money is taxable income in the year you receive it and many sponsors issue a Form 1099, so a $25,000 prize is not $25,000 of usable cash. And official rules are a contract: read the sections on publicity rights, required participation and how winners are announced before you submit a video that a sponsor may reuse.
What an assistance program is (the 87 that pay in services)
An assistance program gives you expertise, training, certification or market access instead of cash, and 87 of the 736 tracked programs work this way. The NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership runs “more than 450 MEP service locations” across all 50 states and Puerto Rico at a subsidised consulting rate (nist.gov/mep, read August 28, 2026); SBA Small Business Development Centers and SCORE mentoring cost nothing; the SBA 8(a) and HUBZone certifications open federal contract set-asides rather than paying anything out.
These programs are systematically undervalued in grant lists because they show no dollar figure, yet a certification that qualifies you for sole-source federal contracts can be worth more than any grant on this page. The practical test: if the offer has no award amount and no repayment terms, you are looking at an assistance program, and the question to ask is what it opens rather than what it pays.
What a forgivable loan is
A forgivable loan is debt that converts to a grant if you meet stated conditions — typically staying in a location, or holding headcount, for a set period. Only 3 of the 736 tracked programs are structured this way, with a median ceiling of $240,000, and they cluster in city economic-development offices where the public purpose is keeping a business in a district. Philadelphia’s Boost Your Business program is one example in this catalog.
Treat a forgivable loan as a loan until the forgiveness clause is met, because that is exactly what it is on your balance sheet. The condition is the whole product: read what triggers repayment, over what period, and whether partial performance means partial forgiveness or none.
Federal grant versus federal contract
A federal grant funds work you propose; a federal contract buys a deliverable the agency has specified. SBIR is where this distinction bites hardest, because the same program name means different things at different agencies. sbir.gov states that “grants are very flexible, allowing considerable latitude to the Principal Investigator”, while a contract is “a binding agreement between a buyer and seller to provide goods or services in return for compensation” where “the scope of the work is fairly inflexible” and “payments are based on deliverables and milestones” (sbir.gov/tutorials/program-basics/tutorial-6, read August 28, 2026).
The agency split is published: the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, USDA and NOAA award SBIR as grants; the Department of Defense, NASA, Homeland Security, Transportation and EPA award contracts; Health and Human Services and the Department of Education do both. Statutory guidelines cap Phase I at $323,090 and Phase II at $2,153,927 (sbir.gov, read August 28, 2026). Full breakdown: SBIR and STTR grants for startups.
Four questions that identify any funding offer
Any funding page on the internet can be classified in about thirty seconds by asking four questions in order, and the answers tell you what you are actually being offered regardless of what the page calls it. Ask: (1) Do I ever pay this back? (2) Does it arrive as money, or as a reduction in tax I owe? (3) Is a person judging me against other applicants, or am I being checked against fixed criteria? (4) Does anyone end up owning part of my business? Anything that fails all four checks — no repayment terms, no award amount, no criteria, no equity — is usually a lead-generation page rather than a funding program.
| Answer pattern | You are looking at | Where the risk is |
|---|---|---|
| No repayment, cash, judged or scored | Grant (410 tracked) | Reporting duties and clawback conditions |
| No repayment, reduces tax owed | Tax credit (108 tracked) | Documentation at filing time, not at application |
| Repayment with interest | Loan (105 tracked) | Personal guarantee and collateral |
| No repayment, no cash amount stated | Assistance program (87 tracked) | Your time, and what it actually opens |
| No repayment, judged by a panel or vote | Competition award (23 tracked) | Taxable prize income; publicity rights |
| Someone takes a share of the business | Investment, not funding of this kind | Dilution — permanent, unlike any row above |
Where to start with 736 programs
The fastest path through a catalog this size is elimination, not browsing. Eligibility rules remove most of the 736 programs for any given business before quality ever comes into it: state programs require operations in that state, which rules out 310 of them for anyone outside the right border; federal R&D programs like SBIR require a registered for-profit entity; and set-aside programs require a specific owner profile or a certification you either hold or do not. 322 programs are open nationwide, so for most businesses the realistic starting universe is those 322 plus one state’s worth of programs.
Four routes work, and they suit different starting points. Pick the one that matches what you already know about your own business, rather than reading all four.
| Route | Best when | Time | Output |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eligibility check | You know your state, industry and ownership | ~60 sec | Ranked shortlist of everything you fit |
| Your state page | Local funding is your priority | ~5 min | One state’s programs with amounts and dates |
| Instrument | You know you need cash, credit or advice | ~5 min | One instrument type across all levels |
| The database | You want to see everything and filter yourself | ~20 min | All 736 rows, sortable and filterable |
Route 1 — filter by eligibility before you read anything
Answering six questions about your business removes most of the 736 programs in under a minute, which is faster than reading even one page of a directory. The GrantCompass eligibility map asks for state, industry, business structure and ownership, then returns every matching program ranked by fit; it requires no signup to see the matches, and the ranked list is free. Start it from the interactive eligibility map on the homepage.
This route is the right one for almost everybody, because eligibility is binary and quality is not: there is no benefit in reading about a $500,000 program that requires a Delaware address you do not have. If you would rather understand the rules yourself before filtering, small business grant eligibility explains what the criteria actually mean.
Route 2 — start from your state
State programs are the largest tier in the catalog at 310 of 736, and they have the smallest applicant pool, because geography eliminates every business outside the state before anything is judged. Each of the 50 states has its own hub page with that state’s programs, award sizes and deadlines — New York carries 13 tracked programs, California and Texas 12 each, Connecticut 12, and even the smallest states carry at least one.
Use this route if local funding is your priority, or if you already know your state runs something and want the whole picture around it. The state directory below links all 51 hubs, and the state block in the catalog lists every state program grouped by state. For how state money compares with federal, see federal vs state small business grants.
Route 3 — start from the instrument you can actually use
Choosing the instrument first collapses the catalog faster than any other filter, because it eliminates on capability rather than on eligibility. If you have taxable income and payroll, the 108 tax credits are the highest-yield place to look and involve no application at all. If you need capital this quarter rather than next year, the 105 loan programs are the only tier that can move that fast. If you need money that never has to be repaid, you are looking at the 410 grants, and you should expect a competitive process.
If you are not sure which one your situation calls for, the eight definitions in the instrument section above settle it in a couple of minutes, and grants vs loans vs tax credits compares the trade-offs in depth.
Route 4 — read the whole database yourself
If you would rather see everything and do your own filtering, the GrantCompass database puts all 736 programs in one sortable, filterable table: award amounts, deadlines, status, level, industry and geography, with every row linking to its program page. It is free to browse and free to save a shortlist, and there is no signup required to read it.
Seven further fields per program — the ones that answer “what does winning this actually require” rather than “what is it worth” — sit behind a paid brief, and one sample program is unlocked in full so you can see exactly what those fields contain before deciding anything. Everything on this page, and every program page it links to, is free.
Questions this page deliberately hands to other pages
This page answers what exists, what the instruments are, and where to start. Six adjacent questions each have a page that answers them properly, and repeating their answers here would only make both worse.
- What is open right now? 404 of 736 programs were open on August 28, 2026 — the live list is small business grants open now.
- What are the odds? Approval rates are published by almost no US funder; small business grant approval rates works through what can and cannot be known.
- How much will I actually get? The median published ceiling is $150,000 but typical awards are far smaller — the average small business grant amount analyses the distribution.
- Which are easiest to win? Easiest small business grants ranks the most winnable programs by application effort and competition.
- What about small amounts? 98 programs cap at $10,000 or less; small business microgrants covers that band, and $5,000 grants the 52 that cap at $5,000 or less.
- Do I qualify, and how do I apply? See grant eligibility and how to apply for small business grants.
Browse by state
Every US state runs something, and state programs are the largest tier in the catalog: 310 of the 736 tracked programs, spread across all 50 states, with 53 states, districts and territories appearing somewhere in the coverage once multi-state federal programs are counted. Volume is uneven — New York carries 13 tracked state programs, California, Connecticut and Texas 12 each, Colorado 11, and Illinois, Minnesota and Virginia 10 — but the smallest state portfolios are often the least contested. Each of the 51 hubs below is a data report for one state or the District of Columbia, listing that jurisdiction’s programs with award sizes, deadlines and current status. The full state-by-state listing, grouped by state, is in the state block of the catalog.
Browse by industry
Industry decides eligibility for a large share of the catalog, and the distribution is not what most owners expect. Counting every program that names an industry (programs can name several, so these overlap), manufacturing is eligible for 373 of the 736, technology 346, agriculture 250, healthcare 208, clean technology 207, services 171, life sciences 159, retail 140 and aerospace 130. A further 231 programs are open to any industry. The practical consequence: a manufacturer or an agricultural producer has roughly twice the eligible universe of a retail or hospitality business, which is a structural feature of US industrial policy rather than anything about the applicants. The hubs below collect the funding for each sector, including the programs that never appear on general grant lists.
Funding for who you are
Ownership-based programs are a real tier, not a marketing category: 57 programs in the catalog are tagged women-owned and 43 minority-owned, and set-aside certifications open a separate channel again. The distinction worth holding on to is that certifications such as 8(a), HUBZone, WOSB and SDVOSB award no cash at all — they qualify you for federal contract set-asides, which can be worth far more than a grant but pay only when you win work. Grant programs for a given ownership profile and certifications for that same profile are different instruments with different timelines, and the hubs below cover each separately.
Program guides
A program guide explains one funding programme end to end — how it works, who qualifies, what it pays and where the process traps people — where a program page in the catalog gives you the facts and the official link. The 18 guides below cover the programs that carry the most complexity per dollar: SBIR and STTR, the federal R&D credit, the three SBA loan families, USDA Rural Development, EDA, NIST MEP, four Inflation Reduction Act tax provisions, and the four certifications that open federal contracting. If you are new to a programme name, read its guide before its catalog entry.
Compare & rankings
Comparison and ranking pages answer the questions a directory cannot: which of two similar programs fits you, and which of many is worth your hours. The pages marked “Data” below are computed from the catalog rather than written from opinion, and each states its method. The comparisons are for the decisions people actually get stuck on — SBIR versus STTR, SBA 7(a) versus 504, federal versus state, 8(a) versus WOSB — and the rankings sort the catalog by ease, size, or reward-per-hour of effort.
Every program in the catalog
All 736 programs GrantCompass tracks are listed below, grouped by who runs them and then by what they fund, so each block is short enough to read. Every entry carries its award ceiling, its geography and its instrument type, and every entry links to a program page with the official source. The four blocks are federal (198), state (310), private and foundation (184) and municipal (44).
Counts are as of August 28, 2026. Groupings below are GrantCompass’s, not any agency’s: we group by funder family and award size because that is how an owner narrows a list, whereas government directories group by legal authority. If a program has moved, closed or changed its ceiling since it was last verified, tell us at hello@grantcompass.co and we will re-check it against the official source.
Federal programs 198
Federal agencies account for 198 of the 736 programs GrantCompass tracks: 109 grants, 41 assistance programs, 23 loan or guarantee programs, 22 tax credits and 3 competition awards. Federal awards are the largest in the catalog — the median published ceiling is $1,000,000 across the 143 federal programs that publish one, against $150,000 catalog-wide — and also the most procedural. Most require a Unique Entity ID from SAM.gov before you can submit anything, which takes days rather than minutes.
Federal money is not, however, general-purpose business funding. The U.S. Small Business Administration states on its own grants page that “SBA does not provide grants for starting and expanding a business” and that “SBA provides grants to nonprofits, Resource Partners, and educational organizations” (sba.gov/funding-programs/grants, read August 28, 2026). Federal grants to businesses concentrate in research, energy, agriculture and export — which is exactly what the groups below show.
SBIR and STTR awards — defense and space agencies
The Department of Defense, its component commands and NASA run 10 of the SBIR and STTR solicitations in this catalog. These agencies award SBIR as a contract, not a grant: sbir.gov lists the Department of Defense, NASA, Homeland Security, Transportation and EPA as contracting agencies, and states that under a contract “the scope of the work is fairly inflexible” and “payments are based on deliverables and milestones” (sbir.gov/tutorials/program-basics/tutorial-6, read August 28, 2026). The statutory guideline is up to $323,090 for Phase I and $2,153,927 for Phase II. None of them take equity. Deep guide: SBIR and STTR grants for startups.
SBIR and STTR Phase I awards — civilian agencies
These 11 Phase I solicitations come from the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, USDA, EPA, Department of Education and Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Energy, NSF, USDA and NOAA award SBIR as grants, where “the applicant often defines the scope of work”; Health and Human Services and the Department of Education award both grants and contracts (sbir.gov/tutorials/program-basics/tutorial-6, read August 28, 2026). NIH Phase I runs up to $323,090 and NSF Phase I up to $305,000. Deep guide: SBIR and STTR grants for startups.
SBIR Phase II and commercialization training
Phase II is not an application you can start cold: every one of these 6 entries requires a completed Phase I from the same agency first. Ceilings reach $2,153,927 at NIH and $1,600,000 at the Department of Energy. The two I-Corps programs are the exception worth knowing about — NSF I-Corps ($50,000) and I-Corps at NIH ($55,000) fund customer-discovery training between the phases rather than the research itself. Compare tracks: SBIR vs STTR.
SBA loan and guarantee programs
The U.S. Small Business Administration guarantees rather than issues most of these 13 programs: a bank or CDC lends, and SBA backs part of the balance. Ceilings run from $50,000 (SBA Microloan Program) to $5,500,000 (SBA 504/CDC Loan Program). Every one is repayable debt, not a grant. Guides: SBA 7(a), SBA 504, SBA microloans.
SBA certifications, counselling and contracting access
These 16 SBA programs deliver something other than cash: federal contract set-asides, free counselling, or structured training. SBA states plainly that “SBA does not provide grants for starting and expanding a business” (sba.gov/funding-programs/grants, read August 28, 2026) — its small-business support runs through lending, certification and its resource-partner network instead. Certification guides: WOSB, SDVOSB, 8(a).
Federal energy, fuel and manufacturing tax credits
These 10 Internal Revenue Code credits pay for equipment and production rather than applications: Section 48 ITC (30% of project cost), Section 48E, Section 45X per-unit manufacturing credit, Section 45Q carbon sequestration ($17–$85 per metric ton), Section 45Z clean fuel, Section 179D and Section 30C. You claim them on a filed return, so the money arrives at tax time, not on an award date. Guides: §48 ITC, §45X, §179D.
Federal hiring, wage and employee-benefit tax credits
These 8 credits reduce federal tax owed when you hire from a target group or pay for a specific employee benefit. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit is worth $1,200–$9,600 per qualifying hire; the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit covers up to 50% of premiums paid; Section 45S covers 12.5%–25% of paid family-leave wages. Most require certification paperwork filed close to the hire date. Guide: Work Opportunity Tax Credit.
Federal R&D, equipment and place-based tax incentives
These 5 incentives reward money you have already spent. The Section 41 Research and Development Credit can offset up to $500,000 of payroll tax a year for a qualified small business — raised from $250,000 by the Inflation Reduction Act for tax years beginning after December 31, 2022 (IRS, Instructions for Form 6765, read August 28, 2026); Section 179 expensing writes off up to $2,500,000 of equipment in the year it is placed in service for tax years beginning in 2025, phasing out above $4,000,000 of purchases (IRS Instructions for Form 4562, read August 28, 2026); the New Markets Tax Credit and the Qualified Opportunity Zone incentive route investor capital into designated census tracts. Guides: federal R&D credit, NMTC, Opportunity Zones.
USDA Rural Development business programs
USDA Rural Development runs 11 programs in this catalog for businesses in areas USDA classifies as rural — a definition that reaches far more of the country than most owners assume, and one worth checking on USDA’s own eligibility map before ruling yourself out. The set mixes grants (Rural Business Development Grant, Value-Added Producer Grant, REAP) with loan guarantees up to $25,000,000 (Business & Industry). Guide: USDA Rural Development grants.
USDA conservation, stewardship and disaster payments
These 11 USDA programs pay farms and ranches for practices and losses rather than for projects. Conservation Stewardship Program payments run $4,000–$40,000+ a year; EQIP pays per adopted practice; Farm Service Agency direct loans reach $400,000 (operating) and $600,000 (ownership); the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance Program covers 50–65% of a normal yield. Sector hub: farming and agriculture grants.
USDA producer, processing and rural-infrastructure grants
These 9 USDA programs fund building something: meat and dairy processing capacity, wood-products plants, rural broadband and telemedicine, and beginning-farmer training. Awards range from $7,500 (SARE Farmer/Rancher Grant, minimum) to $2,000,000 (Forest Service Wood Products Infrastructure Assistance). Most require a cash match, which is the single most common reason a rural applicant withdraws. Sector hub: farming and agriculture grants.
USDA market development, export and certification programs
These 8 USDA programs help an existing product reach a bigger market. The Organic Certification Cost Share Program reimburses up to $750 per certification, the Higher Blends Infrastructure Incentive Program covers 50% of fuel-infrastructure costs up to $5,000,000, and the Foreign Agricultural Service Emerging Markets Program spreads roughly $8,000,000 across about 40 awards a year. Related: restaurant and food business funding.
Department of Energy research, demonstration and grid programs
The Department of Energy runs the largest awards in this catalog: 10 research and demonstration programs, including Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships ($5,000,000 to $500,000,000 per project) and the Industrial Demonstrations Program ($30,000,000 to $500,000,000). These are consortium-scale awards, not small-business grants — a small firm usually joins one as a subrecipient. Sector hub: cleantech and energy funding.
Department of Energy manufacturing, efficiency and loan programs
These 9 Department of Energy programs are the ones a small manufacturer can realistically use directly. The ITAC Implementation Grant pays up to $300,000 toward energy improvements a free assessment identified; Better Plants and Onsite Energy Technical Assistance Partnerships cost nothing; the Loan Programs Office writes debt in the $100,000,000–$1,000,000,000+ range for capital projects. Sector hub: manufacturing funding.
EDA regional and economic-development awards
The U.S. Economic Development Administration awards these 7 programs to regions and intermediaries — cities, states, universities, EDA-designated districts and consortia — not to individual businesses. Awards run from $300,000 (Build to Scale Venture Challenge) to $75,000,000 (Tech Hubs implementation). Businesses benefit downstream, through the revolving loan funds and accelerators these awards capitalise. Guide: EDA grants.
Commerce Department: NIST, MBDA and trade services
These 10 Department of Commerce programs sell subsidised expertise more often than they write cheques. the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership network runs “more than 450 MEP service locations” across all 50 states and Puerto Rico at a subsidised consulting rate (nist.gov/mep, read August 28, 2026); MBDA Business Centers are free; the Commercial Service Gold Key Service arranges vetted overseas meetings for $950. Guide: NIST MEP.
Federal research funding outside SBIR
These 12 programs fund research without going through the SBIR set-aside: NSF Convergence Accelerator and NSF Engines (up to $160,000,000 over ten years), ARPA-H health-technology solicitations, CDC/NIOSH cooperative agreements, Naval Research Laboratory broad agency announcements and the DoD Mentor-Protégé Program. Broad agency announcements stay open for months, which makes them unusually forgiving to a first-time applicant.
Interior, NOAA and natural-resource programs
These 12 programs fund work tied to fisheries, water, wildlife and land. NOAA’s Saltonstall-Kennedy Fisheries Grant Program runs $25,000–$500,000, the Fish and Wildlife Service Partners program funds projects from $1 to $750,000, and the Bureau of Reclamation desalination research programme runs $100,000–$800,000. Eligibility usually turns on the resource being worked on, not on business size.
Transportation, environment and infrastructure programs
These 7 programs come from the Department of Transportation, EPA and the Maritime Administration. EPA Brownfields Cleanup Grants reach $500,000 ($650,000 with a waiver), DOT BUILD grants reach $25,000,000, and the FY2026 Small Shipyard Grant Program requires a 25% match. Most are awarded to public bodies; a business normally participates as a partner or contractor.
Treasury CDFI Fund and export-credit programs
These 6 programs sit behind other lenders rather than in front of borrowers. The CDFI Fund awards Financial Assistance up to $2,000,000 and Technical Assistance up to $250,000 to certified community development financial institutions, which then lend to small businesses; EXIM Bank insures up to 95% of an unpaid export invoice. If a CDFI has ever quoted you a rate, a Treasury award is part of why it could.
Other federal agencies
These 7 programs come from agencies that fund small business only occasionally: the Department of Labor apprenticeship expansion grants (up to $5,000,000), FEMA BRIC resilience awards, HUD housing-policy research, the National Endowment for the Arts Grants for Arts Projects ($10,000–$100,000), the National Institute of Justice forensic-science solicitation, and GSA Multiple Award Schedule onboarding, which grants no money but opens federal contract vehicles.
State programs 310
State agencies run 310 of the 736 tracked programs — the largest single tier — spread across all 50 states. The mix is 157 grants, 86 tax credits, 47 loans, 18 assistance programs and 2 forgivable loans. Published ceilings run from $500 to $150,000,000, with a median of $150,000 across the 201 state programs that publish one. State tax credits are the quiet half of this tier: 86 of them, almost all claimed on a state return rather than applied for.
State programs are also where the applicant pool is smallest, because geography rules most people out before anything else is assessed. Each block below is one state, or a small group of states with fewer than five tracked programs each, and links to that state’s own hub page. For how state funding compares with federal, see federal vs state small business grants.
The program that funds the state programs: SSBCI
The State Small Business Credit Initiative is the reason many of the state programs below exist. The American Rescue Plan Act, signed March 11, 2021, provided $10 billion to fund SSBCI, and Treasury allocated it to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, five territories and tribal governments, which then designed their own loan-guarantee, collateral-support, loan-participation and venture programs with it (home.treasury.gov, read August 28, 2026). If a state capital program appeared after 2022, SSBCI is usually the money behind it — which also means those programs are tied to a federal funding cycle rather than to a permanent state appropriation.
Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and South Carolina
These 14 programs come from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and South Carolina — states with fewer than five tracked programs each, grouped here so the section stays readable (Alabama 3, Arkansas 3, Louisiana 4, South Carolina 4). Published ceilings run from $8,000 to $500,000. 4 are grant-type; the rest are 6 tax credits, 1 loan and 3 assistance programs. Each state hub carries its own detail: Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, South Carolina.
Alaska, Hawaii and Nevada
These 12 programs come from Alaska, Hawaii and Nevada — states with fewer than five tracked programs each, grouped here so the section stays readable (Alaska 4, Hawaii 4, Nevada 4). Published ceilings run from $15,000 to $5M. 5 are grant-type; the rest are 2 tax credits and 5 loans. Each state hub carries its own detail: Alaska, Hawaii, Nevada.
Arizona state programs
There are 5 Arizona programs in the catalog as of August 28, 2026. Published ceilings run from $75,000 to $500,000. 3 are grant-type; the rest are 2 tax credits. The largest published ceiling belongs to Arizona Job Training Program ($500,000). See Arizona small business grants for the current status of each.
California state programs
California: 12 tracked state programs. 6 are grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits, 2 loans and 1 assistance program. Published ceilings run from $10,000 to $54M. The largest published ceiling belongs to California Film & TV Tax Credit Program 4.0 ($54M). Full detail, deadline by deadline, on the California hub.
Colorado state programs
GrantCompass tracks 11 Colorado state-level programs. Published ceilings run from $500 to $250,000. 8 are grant-type; the rest are 2 tax credits and 1 loan. The largest published ceiling belongs to Colorado Advanced Industries Accelerator (AIA) Grant Program ($250,000). Deadlines, status and eligibility for each: Colorado small business grants.
Connecticut state programs
Connecticut runs 12 of the 310 state-level programs in this catalog. 8 are grant-type; the rest are 2 tax credits, 1 loan and 1 assistance program. Published ceilings run from $15,000 to $500,000. The largest published ceiling belongs to Connecticut Angel Investor Tax Credit ($500,000). The full Connecticut breakdown, with amounts and open dates, is on the Connecticut funding hub.
Delaware, Maine and New Hampshire
These 8 programs come from Delaware, Maine and New Hampshire — states with fewer than five tracked programs each, grouped here so the section stays readable (Delaware 3, Maine 4, New Hampshire 1). Published ceilings run from $10,000 to $1M. 5 are grant-type; the rest are 2 tax credits and 1 assistance program. Each state hub carries its own detail: Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire.
Florida state programs
Florida: 5 tracked state programs. 1 is grant-type; the rest are 2 tax credits, 1 loan and 1 assistance program. Published ceilings run from $15,000 to $500,000. The largest published ceiling belongs to Florida Job Growth Grant Fund ($500,000). Full detail, deadline by deadline, on the Florida hub.
Georgia state programs
GrantCompass tracks 6 Georgia state-level programs. One published ceiling, $275,000. None is a grant-type program: the set is 5 tax credits and 1 assistance program. The largest published ceiling belongs to Georgia Rural Zone Tax Credits ($275,000). Deadlines, status and eligibility for each: Georgia small business grants.
Idaho, Utah and Wyoming
These 10 programs come from Idaho, Utah and Wyoming — states with fewer than five tracked programs each, grouped here so the section stays readable (Idaho 3, Utah 4, Wyoming 3). Published ceilings run from $5,000 to $5M. 6 are grant-type; the rest are 4 tax credits. Each state hub carries its own detail: Idaho, Utah, Wyoming.
Illinois state programs
There are 10 Illinois programs in the catalog as of August 28, 2026. Published ceilings run from $1,000 to $2M. 4 are grant-type; the rest are 4 tax credits, 1 loan and 1 forgivable loan. The largest published ceiling belongs to Illinois Advantage Illinois Participation Loan Program (PLP) ($2M). See Illinois small business grants for the current status of each.
Indiana state programs
Indiana: 6 tracked state programs. 2 are grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits and 1 loan. Published ceilings run from $50,000 to $1.5M. The largest published ceiling belongs to Indiana Venture Capital Investment (VCI) Tax Credit ($1.5M). Full detail, deadline by deadline, on the Indiana hub.
Iowa state programs
GrantCompass tracks 6 Iowa state-level programs. Published ceilings run from $10,000 to $1M. 3 are grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits. The largest published ceiling belongs to Iowa Energy Center Grant Program ($1M). Deadlines, status and eligibility for each: Iowa small business grants.
Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota
These 9 programs come from Kansas, North Dakota and South Dakota — states with fewer than five tracked programs each, grouped here so the section stays readable (Kansas 3, North Dakota 3, South Dakota 3). Published ceilings run from $25,000 to $3M. 3 are grant-type; the rest are 2 tax credits, 2 loans, 1 assistance program and 1 forgivable loan. Each state hub carries its own detail: Kansas, North Dakota, South Dakota.
Kentucky state programs
There are 7 Kentucky programs in the catalog as of August 28, 2026. Published ceilings run from $5,000 to $150,000. 3 are grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits and 1 loan. The largest published ceiling belongs to Kentucky SBIR-STTR Matching Funds Program ($150,000). See Kentucky small business grants for the current status of each.
Maryland state programs
Maryland: 9 tracked state programs. 6 are grant-type; the rest are 2 tax credits and 1 assistance program. Published ceilings run from $25,000 to $750,000. The largest published ceiling belongs to Maryland Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credit (BIITC) ($750,000). Full detail, deadline by deadline, on the Maryland hub.
Massachusetts state programs
GrantCompass tracks 9 Massachusetts state-level programs. Published ceilings run from $8,640 to $4M. 6 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit, 1 loan and 1 assistance program. The largest published ceiling belongs to MassDevelopment Emerging Technology Fund (ETF) ($4M). Deadlines, status and eligibility for each: Massachusetts small business grants.
Michigan state programs
Michigan runs 7 of the 310 state-level programs in this catalog. 5 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit and 1 loan. Published ceilings run from $25,000 to $2M. The largest published ceiling belongs to Michigan Supplier Conversion Grant Program ($2M). The full Michigan breakdown, with amounts and open dates, is on the Michigan funding hub.
Minnesota state programs
There are 10 Minnesota programs in the catalog as of August 28, 2026. Published ceilings run from $4,000 to $1M. 7 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit, 1 loan and 1 assistance program. The largest published ceiling belongs to Minnesota Job Creation Fund ($1M). See Minnesota small business grants for the current status of each.
Mississippi state programs
Mississippi: 5 tracked state programs. 1 is grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits and 1 loan. One published ceiling, $250,000. The largest published ceiling belongs to Mississippi Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Loan Program ($250,000). Full detail, deadline by deadline, on the Mississippi hub.
Missouri state programs
GrantCompass tracks 5 Missouri state-level programs. Published ceilings run from $100,000 to $10M. 2 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit, 1 loan and 1 assistance program. The largest published ceiling belongs to Missouri MOBUCK$ Linked Deposit Program — Small Business ($10M). Deadlines, status and eligibility for each: Missouri small business grants.
Montana state programs
Montana runs 6 of the 310 state-level programs in this catalog. 5 are grant-type; the rest is 1 loan. Published ceilings run from $10,000 to $500,000. The largest published ceiling belongs to Montana SMART Business Revolving Loan Fund ($500,000). The full Montana breakdown, with amounts and open dates, is on the Montana funding hub.
Nebraska state programs
There are 5 Nebraska programs in the catalog as of August 28, 2026. Published ceilings run from $20,000 to $500,000. 1 is grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits and 1 loan. The largest published ceiling belongs to Nebraska Dollar and Energy Saving Loans (DESL) ($500,000). See Nebraska small business grants for the current status of each.
New Jersey state programs
New Jersey: 6 tracked state programs. 2 are grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits and 1 loan. Published ceilings run from $50,000 to $150M. The largest published ceiling belongs to Next New Jersey Manufacturing Program Tax Credit ($150M). Full detail, deadline by deadline, on the New Jersey hub.
New Mexico state programs
GrantCompass tracks 8 New Mexico state-level programs. Published ceilings run from $50,000 to $2.5M. 3 are grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits and 2 loans. The largest published ceiling belongs to New Mexico Child Care Facility Loan Fund ($2.5M). Deadlines, status and eligibility for each: New Mexico small business grants.
New York state programs
New York runs 13 of the 310 state-level programs in this catalog. 9 are grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits and 1 loan. Published ceilings run from $10,000 to $10M. The largest published ceiling belongs to New York Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) ($10M). The full New York breakdown, with amounts and open dates, is on the New York funding hub.
North Carolina state programs
There are 8 North Carolina programs in the catalog as of August 28, 2026. Published ceilings run from $75,000 to $15M. 4 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit, 2 loans and 1 assistance program. The largest published ceiling belongs to North Carolina Film and Entertainment Grant ($15M). See North Carolina small business grants for the current status of each.
Ohio state programs
Ohio: 7 tracked state programs. 2 are grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits and 2 loans. Published ceilings run from $30,000 to $1.5M. The largest published ceiling belongs to Ohio Minority Business Direct Loan Program ($1.5M). Full detail, deadline by deadline, on the Ohio hub.
Oklahoma state programs
GrantCompass tracks 6 Oklahoma state-level programs. Published ceilings run from $24,000 to $500,000. All 6 are grant-type. The largest published ceiling belongs to OCAST Industry Innovation Program ($500,000). Deadlines, status and eligibility for each: Oklahoma small business grants.
Oregon state programs
Oregon runs 6 of the 310 state-level programs in this catalog. 2 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit and 3 loans. Published ceilings run from $7,500 to $2M. The largest published ceiling belongs to Oregon Business Development Fund (OBDF) ($2M). The full Oregon breakdown, with amounts and open dates, is on the Oregon funding hub.
Pennsylvania state programs
There are 6 Pennsylvania programs in the catalog as of August 28, 2026. Published ceilings run from $12,000 to $2M. 4 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit and 1 loan. The largest published ceiling belongs to Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) Loan Program ($2M). See Pennsylvania small business grants for the current status of each.
Rhode Island state programs
Rhode Island: 5 tracked state programs. 1 is grant-type; the rest are 2 tax credits and 2 loans. Published ceilings run from $75,000 to $750,000. The largest published ceiling belongs to Rhode Island Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP) ($750,000). Full detail, deadline by deadline, on the Rhode Island hub.
Tennessee state programs
GrantCompass tracks 6 Tennessee state-level programs. Published ceilings run from $300,000 to $5M. 5 are grant-type; the rest is 1 tax credit. The largest published ceiling belongs to Tennessee FastTrack Economic Development Fund ($5M). Deadlines, status and eligibility for each: Tennessee small business grants.
Texas state programs
Texas runs 12 of the 310 state-level programs in this catalog. 7 are grant-type; the rest are 3 tax credits and 2 loans. Published ceilings run from $5,000 to $20M. The largest published ceiling belongs to Texas Small Business Credit Initiative (TSBCI) ($20M). The full Texas breakdown, with amounts and open dates, is on the Texas funding hub.
Vermont state programs
There are 5 Vermont programs in the catalog as of August 28, 2026. Published ceilings run from $50,000 to $1M. 3 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit and 1 loan. The largest published ceiling belongs to VEDA Vermont Small Business Loan Program ($1M). See Vermont small business grants for the current status of each.
Virginia state programs
Virginia: 10 tracked state programs. 5 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit, 3 loans and 1 assistance program. Published ceilings run from $5,000 to $1.4M. The largest published ceiling belongs to Virginia Enterprise Zone Job Creation Grant (JCG) ($1.4M). Full detail, deadline by deadline, on the Virginia hub.
Washington state programs
GrantCompass tracks 7 Washington state-level programs. Published ceilings run from $10,000 to $1M. 3 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit, 2 loans and 1 assistance program. The largest published ceiling belongs to Washington Revenue-Based Financing Fund ($1M). Deadlines, status and eligibility for each: Washington small business grants.
West Virginia state programs
West Virginia runs 6 of the 310 state-level programs in this catalog. 4 are grant-type; the rest are 1 tax credit and 1 loan. Published ceilings run from $15,000 to $7.5M. The largest published ceiling belongs to West Virginia First Small Business Growth Program ($7.5M). The full West Virginia breakdown, with amounts and open dates, is on the West Virginia funding hub.
Wisconsin state programs
There are 9 Wisconsin programs in the catalog as of August 28, 2026. Published ceilings run from $100,000 to $3M. 3 are grant-type; the rest are 4 tax credits, 1 loan and 1 assistance program. The largest published ceiling belongs to Wisconsin Business Development Tax Credit (BDC) ($3M). See Wisconsin small business grants for the current status of each.
Private & foundation 184
Corporate sponsors, foundations and community lenders account for 184 of the 736 tracked programs: 147 corporate or private and 37 foundation. The mix is 102 grants, 34 loans, 28 assistance or accelerator programs and 20 competition awards. Published ceilings run from $500 to $30,000,000, with a median of $25,000 — six times smaller than the federal median, and the reason this tier is where most first grants are actually won.
Private money behaves differently from public money in one way that matters: eligibility is whatever the sponsor decides, and a sponsor can change or end a program without notice. Corporate grant programs are marketing budgets, so cycles open and close with campaigns. The groups below are ordered by award size within each theme, because for private programs award size predicts application effort more reliably than the funder’s name does.
Corporate grant programs, $10,000 and under
These 19 corporate programs award $10,000 or less, which is the band where a small business actually has a chance: applications are short, and the sponsor is buying marketing rather than running a policy programme. Award frequency varies from weekly to annual. Amounts this size cover equipment, a rebrand or one hire’s first months — not an expansion. Sibling page: small business microgrants under $10,000.
Corporate grant programs above $10,000
These 6 corporate programs award more than $10,000 — among them the American Express Backing Small Businesses Grant ($5,000–$25,000), the Venmo Small Business Grant ($20,000 to ten winners), the Intuit/Mailchimp Small Business Hero Grant ($20,000), Patagonia Environmental Grants and the Lenovo Evolve Small program ($25,000 cash plus roughly $10,000 in technology). Larger corporate awards usually add a video, a public vote or a judged final round.
Grants for women founders, $5,000 and under
These 16 programs award $5,000 or less to women-owned businesses, and they are the most winnable entries in the whole catalog because the application is typically a form and a short written answer. The catalog carries 57 programs tagged women-owned in total. Ranked shortlist: best small business grants for women; hub: women-owned business grants.
Grants for women founders, $5,001–$10,000
These 5 programs award between $5,001 and $10,000 to women founders. This band is where sponsors start asking for financial statements and a growth plan rather than a paragraph, and where monthly-cycle programs give way to annual ones. Hub: women-owned business grants.
Grants for women founders, $10,001–$50,000
These 12 programs award $10,001–$50,000 to women-owned businesses. At this size the sponsor almost always wants revenue history, and several run as cohorts rather than one-off grants — you get money plus a programme you are expected to attend. Hub: women-owned business grants.
Programs for women founders above $50,000, and equity-linked offers
These 7 entries are the largest women-founder programs tracked, and several are not grants at all: Backstage Capital’s accelerator invests $100,000 for 5% equity, and Founders First Capital Partners writes $25,000–$250,000 in revenue-based financing you repay from sales. The Sephora Beauty Grant ($100,000) and the Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program are the non-dilutive ones. Read the instrument before applying.
Grants and programs for minority-owned businesses
These 15 programs are open to Black, Latino, Native American, AAPI and other minority-owned businesses; the catalog carries 43 programs tagged minority-owned in total. Sponsors range from national corporations to community foundations, and many pair a cash award with a cohort or mentorship. Ranked shortlist: best grants for minority-owned businesses; hubs: minority-owned, Black-owned.
Grants and programs for veteran-owned businesses
These 6 programs serve veteran and military-family founders. The StreetShares Foundation Veteran Small Business Award runs $4,000–$15,000; the Farmer Veteran Fellowship Fund awards $1,000–$5,000; the Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans and the PenFed Veteran Entrepreneur Program pay no cash but cover training, travel and housing. Ranked shortlist: best grants for veteran-owned businesses; hub: veteran-owned business grants.
Foundation and member-institution grants
These 8 programs come from private foundations and member institutions rather than companies. The Awesome Foundation awards $1,000 every month with a form that takes minutes; Federal Home Loan Bank member programs (FHLBank Indianapolis, FHLBank New York) run up to $20,000 through member banks; Creative Capital and the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund back creative practices up to $50,000 and $100,000. Foundation grants are the least advertised money in the catalog.
Food, beverage, restaurant and farm-business programs
These 10 private programs fund food and drink businesses specifically — restaurants, producers, breweries, farm enterprises and food-access ventures. Sector funding is the clearest example of the catalog’s long tail: a national list will miss almost all of it, because these sponsors advertise inside their own industry. Sector hubs: restaurant grants, farming and agriculture.
Business contests and pitch competitions, $50,000 and under
These 9 entries are judged competitions, not applications: a panel or a public vote picks winners against published official rules, and there is no eligibility formula that guarantees a look. Prizes here top out at $50,000. Contest money is taxable income in the year you receive it, and many sponsors issue a Form 1099 — budget for that before you count the prize.
Business contests and prizes above $50,000
These 11 competitions award more than $50,000, and the effort curve rises with the prize: multi-round judging, a live pitch, due diligence and often a cohort commitment. Because winners are selected on judgment rather than criteria, a strong business can lose repeatedly for reasons no scorecard would show. Treat large contests as marketing with an upside, not as a funding plan.
Contest-format grant and accelerator programs
These 10 programs are structured as competitions but pay out as grants or programme places: the Black Ambition Prize (up to $1,000,000 in total prizes), the AT&T Small Business Contest ($50,000 to one winner), NC IDEA SEED ($50,000), eBay Up & Running ($10,000 plus an equipment kit) and the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Pitch Room. Kauffman’s 1 Million Cups pays nothing and is still one of the most useful rooms a founder can stand in.
National small-business lenders and CDFIs
These 8 lenders operate nationwide and underwrite businesses banks decline. Accion Opportunity Fund writes $5,000–$250,000 term loans and underwrites on cash flow rather than credit score alone. Community development financial institutions are lenders, not grantmakers — the money is repayable — but their rates and coaching are the realistic alternative when no grant fits. Compare: grants vs loans vs tax credits.
Community lenders and CDFIs — Northeast and Mid-Atlantic
These 5 community development financial institutions lend in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic: Pursuit ($10,000–$500,000 across NY, NJ and CT), Coastal Enterprises Inc. ($5,000–$5,000,000 across Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont), Accompany Capital ($1,000–$350,000 for immigrant and refugee entrepreneurs in New York), LEDC ($500–$250,000 in the DC–Maryland–Virginia area) and TruFund. A CDFI is a lender, not a grantmaker: the money is repayable, and its advantage is underwriting, not price.
Community lenders and CDFIs — Southeast and multi-state
These 9 community lenders cover Southeast and multi-state footprints, among them DreamSpring ($1,000–$350,000), HOPE Enterprise Corporation (up to $250,000), Communities Unlimited ($1,000–$200,000, rural) and Grameen America (women-only microloans of $2,000–$15,000). Geography binds: a CDFI certified for one service area cannot lend outside it.
Regional lenders and CDFIs — central and western states
These 12 community lenders cover central and western footprints. Geography is the binding rule: a CDFI certified for one service area cannot lend outside it, however good the business. If none here covers your county, the Treasury CDFI Fund’s certified-institution list is the place to look next.
Utility energy-efficiency rebates for businesses
These 11 utility programs are the most overlooked money in the catalog: ComEd, Con Edison, PG&E, Southern California Edison, Duke Energy, Xcel Energy, DTE, FPL, Mass Save, Connecticut’s Small Business Energy Advantage and Energy Trust of Oregon all pay businesses to install efficient equipment. Most pay a prescriptive per-unit rebate applied on the invoice, and several cover 50–100% of an installed cost. Eligibility is your utility account number, not your business plan, which makes these the lowest-effort money on this page.
Accelerators and equity-linked programs
These 5 entries give access rather than a cheque, and the terms differ sharply: gener8tor invests $100,000 for equity, Wells Fargo’s Innovation Incubator provides up to $250,000 of funded validation work at a national laboratory, StartOut Growth Lab is free and takes no equity, and 2Gether-International awards up to $10,000 alongside its accelerator. Read the term sheet before the marketing page — “accelerator” describes a format, not an instrument.
Municipal programs 44
Cities, counties and business improvement districts run 44 of the 736 tracked programs: 42 grants, 1 loan and 1 forgivable loan. All 44 publish a ceiling, running from $3,000 to $500,000 with a median of $25,000 — the smallest median of any tier. Most are reimbursement programs for a physical improvement: you complete a façade, storefront or tenant fit-out, submit paid invoices, and the city repays an agreed share after inspection.
Municipal programs have the best odds and the worst discoverability in US small business funding. They are advertised on one department page, rarely indexed by national directories, and often restricted to addresses inside a drawn district. The three blocks below are grouped by region; 44 is the count GrantCompass tracks, not the number that exists, because thousands of US municipalities run something and no complete national list exists.
City and county programs — Northeast and Mid-Atlantic
These 12 municipal programs are run by cities and redevelopment authorities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, including ReStore Boston (up to $200,000), DC Great Streets (up to $90,000 in FY26), NYC Small Business Opportunity Fund, Philadelphia’s Storefront Improvement Program and Pittsburgh URA’s facade grant. Most reimburse a completed exterior project after inspection, so you pay first and are repaid later. All 44 municipal programs in the catalog publish a ceiling; they run from $3,000 to $500,000, with a median of $25,000.
City and county programs — Southeast
These 6 Southeast city and county programs are small and tightly drawn: Invest Atlanta’s Small Business Improvement Grant reaches $50,000, while Miami-Dade’s Mom and Pop program awards $3,000–$5,000 and Tampa’s Entrepreneur Support Hub Microgrant $1,500–$3,000. City money is the least discoverable tier in US small business funding: listings live on a single department page and no national aggregator reliably indexes them.
City and county programs — central states
These 14 municipal programs cover central-state cities and counties, from Detroit Motor City Match (up to $100,000) down to neighbourhood façade grants of a few thousand dollars. This is the tier with the fewest applicants per dollar, because so few owners know a programme exists two streets away — and the one where a phone call to the city’s economic-development office beats any search engine.
City and county programs — western states
These 12 municipal programs are western-state city and county awards, heavily weighted toward storefront and façade improvement. Nearly all are tied to a specific address inside a defined district, so eligibility is decided by a map before anything else is assessed. Check the district boundary before writing anything.
Frequently asked questions
These are the questions people ask before they start looking, and the answers are drawn from the same August 28, 2026 catalog snapshot as the rest of this page. Two of them — how many programs exist, and whether grants are free money — account for most of the confusion in this category, because public listings routinely mix grants, loans, tax credits and prize competitions together under a single label without saying which is which. Where a question has a dedicated page, it is linked rather than answered twice; where it does not, it is answered in full here, with the source and the date it was checked.
How many small business grants are there in the US?
GrantCompass tracks 660+ active funding programs for US small businesses — grants, tax credits, and loans — across federal agencies, all 50 states, and private funders. Roughly 40% are open to businesses nationwide; the rest are state- or city-specific. Use the state directory above to see programs where you operate.
The precise figures on August 28, 2026: 736 tracked programs, of which 410 are grants proper, 322 are open nationwide and 404 were accepting applications that day. No complete national count exists for the whole country, because thousands of US municipalities run programs no aggregator indexes — so treat 736 as a well-verified floor, not a census.
Are small business grants free money?
True grants do not have to be repaid — they are non-dilutive funding. This directory also includes tax credits (which reduce what you owe) and loans (which must be repaid, usually on better-than-bank terms). Every entry is labeled by type. See grants vs loans vs tax credits for how to choose.
“Free” is still the wrong word, though, for two reasons: a grant carries reporting duties and spending conditions after the award, and the median program in this catalog is estimated at 12 hours of application work. Grant money is unpaid work traded for unrepayable capital — a good trade at $50,000, a poor one at $1,000 if the form takes a day.
How do I find which grants I actually qualify for?
Use the free eligibility check on the GrantCompass homepage: answer about 6 questions (state, industry, business structure, ownership) and it shows every matching program from this catalog, ranked by fit. It takes under a minute and requires no signup to see your matches.
Filtering first matters more than it sounds, because eligibility in this category is binary and unforgiving: 310 of the 736 programs require operations in one specific state, and set-aside programs require a certification you either hold or do not. Reading about a program you cannot enter costs the same time as reading about one you can. If you would rather learn the rules first, see small business grant eligibility.
What is the biggest grant a small business can get?
Federal R&D programs are the largest: SBIR Phase II awards up to $2,153,927, and NSF Phase I alone is up to $305,000. Most private and corporate grants run $1,000–$50,000. See the biggest small business grants ranking for the full list.
Bigger programs exist in the catalog — the Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships reaches $500,000,000 per project — but those are consortium-scale awards a small firm joins as a subrecipient rather than wins outright. Across all 545 programs that publish a ceiling, the median is $150,000 and the 90th percentile is $5,000,000.
How can I tell a real grant listing from a scam?
Check three things: who the funder is, whether the money is for a business or a person, and whether anyone is asking you to pay. Grants.gov states that “most of the funding opportunities on Grants.gov are for organizations, not individuals” and that “although there are many funding opportunities on Grants.gov, few are available to individuals, and none provide personal financial assistance” (grants.gov/learn-grants/grant-eligibility, read August 28, 2026). Any offer of a personal federal grant is therefore false on its face.
The second tell is a fee. No legitimate US grant programme charges an application fee, and no federal agency will contact you first about money you did not apply for. Every entry in this catalog links to the funder’s own page — if a listing anywhere cannot show you an official source, treat the programme as unverified.
How often is this directory updated?
The catalog is reviewed continuously; this page lists 660+ programs as of July 2026. Each program page shows current award amounts, eligibility rules, and deadlines, and links to the official application source.
This page’s figures and program list were last recomputed from the full catalog on August 28, 2026, when it held 736 programs. Closed and discontinued programs stay listed with their status shown rather than being deleted, because a dead programme that still ranks in search results wastes more of an owner’s time than an honest “discontinued” label ever will. 35 of the 736 currently carry a closed, discontinued, expired or winding-down status.
How this page is researched, and who maintains it
GrantCompass is an independent funding-discovery tool for US small businesses, built and maintained by Khalid Hamadeh. It is not affiliated with any government agency, and it takes no fee or commission from any programme listed on this page. Every program in the catalog is recorded from the funder’s own published source — an agency page, a Federal Register or Notice of Funding Opportunity, an IRS form or instruction, or a sponsor’s official rules — and every program page links back to that source so you can check it yourself.
The counts, medians and percentiles on this page were computed from the full catalog on August 28, 2026, not estimated or carried over from an earlier version. External claims are dated and attributed inline to the document they came from, including sba.gov, grants.gov, irs.gov, sbir.gov, nist.gov, home.treasury.gov and 31 U.S.C. §§6303–6304, each read on August 28, 2026. Where a figure is not published by the funder — approval rates, most notably — this site says so rather than estimating one.
Funding programs change without notice: ceilings move, intakes close, and programs are discontinued mid-cycle. If you find an entry that is out of date or wrong, email hello@grantcompass.co and it will be re-checked against the official source and corrected. More about the project and its method: about GrantCompass.