Camelback Ventures Fellowship
Camelback Ventures
$25,000 seed grant
$25K + fellowship for social-impact founders
Camelback Ventures awards $25,000 seed grants to early-stage entrepreneurs — including for-profit founders — working on social impact ventures in education, economic mobility, or health equity. The Fellowship includes the $25K grant plus a year-long cohort experience: peer learning, coaching from advisors, and access to the Camelback alumni network. Fellows must commit to approximately 100 hours of program participation. Camelback prioritizes Black, Latinx, and Indigenous entrepreneurs as part of its equity mission, though other founders may apply.
- Funding type
- Grant
- Level
- Foundation
- Amount range
- $25,000 – $25,000
- Realistic amount
- $25,000 flat for all Fellows. Cohort size is typically 15–25 Fellows per class. Program alumni have raised substantial f…
- Deadline
- Annual cohort — FY2026 cycle applications expected to open Q3/Q4 2026. Monitor camelbackventures.org for next cycle announcement. Past cycles have opened in September–November.
- Status
- between-intakes
- States
- Nationwide
- Payment model
- lump sum
Who qualifies
- Venture must address one of Camelback's three focus areas: education equity, economic mobility, or health equity
- Both for-profit and nonprofit ventures are eligible — Camelback funds social entrepreneurs regardless of legal structure
- Founder (the individual Fellow, not the venture) must be at an early stage — ventures should be pre-seed to seed stage with proof of concept but not yet at Series A
- Camelback explicitly prioritizes Black, Latinx, and Indigenous founders as part of its equity-centered mission; other underrepresented founders are also encouraged to apply
- Founder must be able to commit approximately 100 hours to the year-long fellowship program activities (cohort calls, retreats, coaching)
- U.S.-based ventures strongly preferred; venture must serve U.S. communities
What it covers
Eligible expenses
- Grant is unrestricted — any legitimate venture expense
- Salaries and stipends for the founder and team
- Product development and prototyping
- Program delivery and operations
- Community engagement and research
- Technology and tools
Ineligible expenses
- No published list of ineligible expenses — grant is unrestricted for venture purposes
- Personal expenses unrelated to the venture
How to apply
-
1
Confirm focus area alignment
Verify your venture addresses education equity, economic mobility, or health equity — Camelback's three defined impact areas. Review the Fellowship page for any year-specific focus area refinements.
~1 hrs
-
2
Complete the online application
Applications typically include: written short-answer questions about your venture's theory of change, your background as a founder, early evidence of traction or impact, and why you need the fellowship at this stage. Some cycles include a short video (2–3 minutes). The application is not exhaustive — quality and clarity of thinking are more important than length.
~6 hrs
-
3
Participate in interviews (semi-finalists)
Selected semi-finalists are invited to a virtual interview with Camelback staff. The interview focuses on the founder's motivation, venture model, and fit with the fellowship cohort.
~3 hrs
-
4
Complete due diligence (finalists)
Finalists provide supporting documentation about their venture (financial statements if available, legal structure, brief organizational overview). Camelback is founder-first — this step is light-touch for early-stage ventures.
~2 hrs
Camelback funds the founder, not just the venture — applications that convey a compelling personal story and founder-market fit alongside traction outperform polished pitch decks.
Deadline & timing
Camelback runs one cohort per year. Applications typically open in fall (September–November) with fellows announced the following spring. The 2025 cohort application period has closed; the 2026 cohort cycle has not yet been announced as of May 2026. Subscribe to Camelback's mailing list for announcement.
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Last reviewed 2026. GrantCompass is an independent funding-discovery tool and is not affiliated with any government agency. Always confirm details on the official program page.