Stacy's Rise Project
Stacy's Pita Chips (PepsiCo / Frito-Lay) with Hello Alice
$25,000
Researched for this program: 5 rejection traps · 5 required documentsWhat decides this award ↓
CPG-focused grant for women food founders
The Stacy's Rise Project has awarded $25,000 grants to women-founded consumer packaged goods (CPG) businesses with annual sales between $25,000 and $1 million. Run by Stacy's Pita Chips (a PepsiCo brand) in partnership with Hello Alice, the program also provided executive mentorship from Frito-Lay and PepsiCo leadership and a custom-built marketing campaign. Over $1 million was awarded to 60+ women-founded businesses from 2017 through the 2024 cohort (2023 application cycle). The program is dormant — no cycle has run since, and no relaunch has been announced.
- Funding type
- Grant
- Level
- Private
- Amount range
- $25,000 – $25,000
- Realistic amount
- $25,000 — flat award. 10 US winners per cycle, which makes this one of the more generous demographic grants at a fixed a…
- Deadline
- Dormant — last cycle closed October 2023 for the 2024 cohort; no cycle has run since and nothing has been announced. Check helloalice.com/grants/stacys-rise/ for a relaunch before assuming this is open.
- Status
- dormant
- States
- Nationwide
- Payment model
- lump sum
Who qualifies
- For-profit US-based business
- Sells a consumer packaged good (CPG) — food, beverage, or physical consumer product
- At least 50% women-founded or currently 50% women-owned
- Annual sales (annualized revenue) between $25,000 and $1,000,000
- Willing to participate in the virtual Mentorship Program
- Business must be operating (revenue-generating) — not pre-revenue
Hard requirements
- Must be incorporated
- Demographic eligibility: women-owned
- Women ownership required
- Minimum $25,000 annual revenue
What it covers
Eligible expenses
- Any legitimate business expense — grant is unrestricted
- Production equipment and manufacturing capacity
- Marketing, packaging redesign, and brand development
- Working capital and inventory
- Distribution and retail placement costs
- Team expansion
Ineligible expenses
- Personal expenses unrelated to the business
How to apply
-
1
Monitor Hello Alice for cycle reopening
The program application is managed via Hello Alice (helloalice.com/grants/stacys-rise/). Sign up for Hello Alice notifications or check the page periodically — historical cycles open in August–September with October deadlines.
~0.1 hrs
-
2
Complete the Hello Alice grant application
When a cycle opens, complete the application on Hello Alice's platform. The application asks about your business, revenue, CPG product, and growth plans. Previous cycles required revenue documentation.
~3 hrs
-
3
Finalist selection and virtual mentorship
Finalists are selected from the applicant pool and invited to participate in a virtual Mentorship Program phase. This is a program requirement — participation is not optional for finalists.
~5 hrs
-
4
Winner announcement and custom marketing campaign
10 US winners are announced (and 5 Canadian winners in cycles with a Canada component). Each receives a $25,000 grant, PepsiCo/Frito-Lay executive mentorship, and a custom-built marketing campaign including media coverage through FoundedByHer.org.
~0 hrs
This grant is CPG-specific — 'consumer packaged good' means a physical product sold direct-to-consumer or through retail. Service businesses and non-product businesses don't qualify regardless of revenue. The $25K–$1M revenue band is firm; too small OR too large disqualifies. The marketing campaign (custom media, FoundedByHer.org feature) is often worth as much as the cash to early-stage CPG brands.
Deadline & timing
The program ran annually from 2017 through the 2024 cohort (October 2023 application deadline) in partnership with Hello Alice. It is now dormant — no 2025 or 2026 cycle has been announced, and no relaunch date is public. Historical deadlines fell in September–October; monitor Hello Alice's grant page if you want to catch a future reopening.
Not accepting applications right now — get one email when it reopens
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