Small Business Grants Open Now — October 2026

By Khalid Hamadeh, founder of GrantCompass · Updated October 13, 2026

155grant programs open right now

14closing within 60 days

123rolling — no deadline at all

$30Kmedian maximum award

Updated October 13, 2026 — every amount, deadline, and status below was computed against the live GrantCompass catalog this update. Monthly refresh ≥20% content change, permanent URL.

Applying for a grant this month? We draft applications for eight of them, free preview ↓

Find grants open in your state and industry

Filter the 100 highest-priority open programs by state, industry, and funding type — sorted by closing date, soonest first. This covers the top 100 of the 155 open programs by urgency and award size; every one of the full 155 is in your free GrantCompass report.

State Industry Program type

Showing 100 of 100 pinned programs

Program	Amount	Deadline	Level

+55 more open programs beyond this pinned 100 — every one is in your free GrantCompass match report, ranked by fit.

Program	Amount	Deadline	Level
Kenneth B. and Stephen L. Tadlock Veteran Small Business Grant	$1,000	Oct 15, 2026	Private
Coach K Legacy Grant	$1,000 (monthly)	Oct 17, 2026	Private
SBIR Phase I — DARPA	Up to $250K (Phase I)	Oct 21, 2026	Federal
STTR Phase I — Department of Defense	Up to $250K (Phase I)	Oct 21, 2026	Federal
NOAA Hurricane Response Marine Debris Removal Fund	Up to $11M total program (no per-award cap publ…	Oct 21, 2026	Federal
Hey Helen Grant	$10,000 (monthly)	Oct 31, 2026	Private
Galaxy Grant for Women and Minority Business Owners	$2,500	Oct 31, 2026	Private
SBIR Phase I — NSF (America's Seed Fund)	Up to $305K (Phase I)	Nov 4, 2026	Federal
STTR Phase I — NSF	Up to $305,000	Nov 4, 2026	Federal
Entreprenista Evolve Grant	$5,000 (quarterly)	Nov 11, 2026	Private
Montana Tribal Tourism Small Business Grant	Up to $10,000	Nov 30, 2026	State
Shophand $5k Small Business Boost Grant	$2,500 cash + $2,500 Shophand services	Nov 30, 2026	Private
Idaho Workforce Development Council — Employer Training Grant	Up to $500,000	Dec 4, 2026	State
Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Initiative Business Enhancement Grant	$10,000–$50,000	Dec 10, 2026	State
NRL Long Range Broad Agency Announcement for Basic and Applied Research	Varies by scope	Dec 30, 2026	Federal
Secretsos Small Business Grant	$2,500 (quarterly)	Dec 31, 2026	Private
Business Freedom Grant	$1,000	Dec 31, 2026	Private
USDA Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP)	Up to $750 per certification scope	Dec 31, 2026	Federal
North Dakota Agricultural Products Utilization Commission (APUC) Grant	Varies by category (recent max ~$115K)	Jan 1, 2027	State
SBIR Phase II — NIH (PHS Omnibus)	Up to $2.15M (Phase II)	Jan 5, 2027	Federal
STTR Phase II — NIH (PHS Omnibus)	Up to $2.15M (STTR Phase II)	Jan 5, 2027	Federal
SBIR Phase I — NIH (PHS Omnibus)	Up to $323,090	Jan 5, 2027	Federal
STTR Phase I — NIH (PHS Omnibus)	Up to $323,090 (STTR Phase I)	Jan 5, 2027	Federal
Her Agenda Breakthrough Grant	$5,000	Jan 19, 2027	Private
NOAA National Bycatch Reduction Engineering Program (BREP) — FY 2026/27	$50,000–$400,000	Jan 22, 2027	Federal
CDC/NIOSH Commercial Fishing Occupational Safety Research Cooperative Agreement	$150K–$975K	Jan 26, 2027	Federal
Tampa Entrepreneur Support Hub Microgrant	$1,500–$3,000	Feb 15, 2027	Local
Colorado Green Business Network (CGBN) Efficiency Grant	Up to $1,500-$4,500 depending on Colorado Envir…	May 1, 2027	State
Colorado Green Business Network (CGBN) Pre-Approved Equipment Grant	Up to $500 per business per grant cycle	May 1, 2027	State
Oklahoma STEP Fund — State Trade Expansion Program	Up to $24,000/year	Sep 29, 2027	State
Washington STEP Export Voucher Program	Up to $10,000/year	Sep 29, 2027	State
DOE Office of Science — FY2026 Continuation of Solicitation for the Financial Assistance Program	$50K–$5,000,000/year	Sep 30, 2027	Federal
ARPA-H Innovative Solution Openings (ISOs) — Health Technology OT Agreements	Varies — typically $1M–$50M	Rolling	Federal
DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Funding Opportunity Announcements	$500K–$20M+ per award	Rolling	Federal
North Carolina Film and Entertainment Grant	25% of qualifying NC spend	Rolling	State
EDA Public Works & Economic Adjustment Assistance (PWEDA)	$100K–$10,000,000+	Rolling	Federal
NIST CHIPS R&D Office — Broad Agency Announcement (CRDO BAA)	$10M minimum, no ceiling	Rolling	Federal
OSD ManTech Advanced Manufacturing Technology Program	$150,000–$8,800,000	Rolling	Federal
One North Carolina Fund	Varies — typically $100K–$5M	Rolling	State
Tennessee FastTrack Economic Development Fund	Negotiated; $250K–$5M typical	Rolling	State
Wyoming Business Ready Community Grant & Loan Program	Up to $5,000,000	Rolling	State
LPS Qubit Collaboratory (LQC)	Up to $800K/yr	Rolling	Federal
SBIR Phase II — Department of Defense	Up to $2M (Phase II)	Rolling	Federal
EDA Economic Adjustment Assistance — Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) Program	$800K–$1.4M (to RLF operator)	Rolling	Federal
Minnesota Job Creation Fund	Up to $1,000,000 (performance-based rebate)	Rolling	State
NYSERDA FlexTech — Flexible Technical Assistance Program (Energy Studies)	50-75% cost-share, up to $1M	Rolling	State
SBIR Phase II — NSF (America's Seed Fund)	Up to $1M (Phase II)	Rolling	Federal
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program	$1–$750,000 per project	Rolling	Federal
Arizona Job Training Program	Up to 75% of training costs	Rolling	State
Ben Franklin Technology Partners — Seed Investment Program	$50,000–$500,000	Rolling	State
Oregon Business Expansion Program (Business Oregon Expansion Fund)	Negotiated; income-tax-based	Rolling	State
Texas Enterprise Fund	Negotiated; $500K–$50M+	Rolling	State
Texas Skills Development Fund	Up to $500,000	Rolling	State
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Coastal Program	$1–$500,000 per project	Rolling	Federal
City of Dallas Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP)	Up to $400,000	Rolling	Local
DOE ITAC Implementation Grant — Small Manufacturer Energy Efficiency	Up to $300,000	Rolling	Federal
Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation — Impact Funding	Up to $300K over 3 yrs	Rolling	Private
Chicago INVEST South/West Small Business Grant	Up to $250,000	Rolling	Local
Chicago Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF)	Up to $250,000	Rolling	Local
SBIR Phase I — U.S. Air Force / AFWERX	Up to $250K (Phase I)	Rolling	Federal
Minnesota Job Skills Partnership (MJSP)	Up to 50% of training costs	Rolling	State
Minnesota Job Training Incentive Program (JTIP)	$5,000–$9,000 per new job	Rolling	State
Wyoming SBIR/STTR Match Grant	Up to $100K (Ph I) / $200K (Ph II)	Rolling	State
Chicago Small Business Improvement Fund (SBIF)	Up to $150,000	Rolling	Local
Colorado Existing Industry Customized Training Program	Up to $1,500/employee; $150K max	Rolling	State
Connecticut Innovations Pre-Seed Investment Program	Up to $150K pre-seed	Rolling	State
Nebraska Innovation Fund Prototype Grant	Up to $150,000	Rolling	State
Connecticut Innovations Proof-of-Concept Fund	$50K–$100K convertible note	Rolling	State
Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund Voucher Program (MVP)	$6,250–$100,000	Rolling	State
WorkInvestNH (New Hampshire Job Training Fund)	$750–$100,000 (50% match)	Rolling	State
Arizona Advanced Manufacturing Facilities (AMF) Grant	Up to $75,000 (1:1 match)	Rolling	State
Illinois Innovation Voucher Program	Up to $75,000	Rolling	State
Indiana FAST Program — SBIR/STTR Matching Grant	Up to $75,000 per Phase II award	Rolling	State
West Sacramento Small Business Assistance Program	$5,000–$75,000 (component-dependent)	Rolling	Local
Wyoming Workforce Development Training Fund — Business Training Grants	Up to $4,000/trainee/year	Rolling	State
Amber Grant for Women	Three $10,000 grants monthly + three $50,000 ye…	Rolling	Private
Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund — Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) Program	$2,500–$50,000/yr (50% match)	Rolling	State
Elevate Vermont — SBIR/STTR Matching Grant	Up to $50,000	Rolling	State
Indiana Skills Enhancement Fund (SEF)	Up to $50,000/biennium	Rolling	State
Maine Technology Institute (MTI) Business Innovation Seed Grant	$5,000–$50,000	Rolling	State
NJEDA Main Street Acquisition Support Grant	Up to $50,000 (one grant per business EIN)	Rolling	State
Philadelphia COVID-19 Small Business Relief Grant / Commerce Department Small Business Grant	Up to $50,000	Rolling	Local
SCRA Technology Startup and Acceleration Grants	$25K–$50K non-dilutive	Rolling	State
WEDnetPA — Pennsylvania Workforce and Economic Development Network	Up to $2,000/worker; $50K company cap	Rolling	State
California Underserved and Small Producer Program (CUSP)	Up to $20K each (drought + extreme weather)	Rolling	State
Auburn Downtown Façade Improvement Grant Program	Up to $30,500 (Category II graduated match); Ca…	Rolling	Local
Montana SBIR/STTR Matching Funds Program	Up to $30,000/phase	Rolling	State
Patagonia Environmental Grants	$5K–$30K	Rolling	Private
Philadelphia Storefront Improvement Program (SIP)	Up to $20,000 ($30,000 corner properties)	Rolling	Local
Barberton Façade Improvement Grant Program	Up to $25,000 per property/business per year (8…	Rolling	Local
Colorado Rural Jump-Start Grant and Tax Credit Program	Up to $15,000 ($25K Just Transition)	Rolling	State
Global NY Fund Grant Program	Up to $25,000 (companies)	Rolling	State
IFundWomen Universal Grant Application	$10,000–$25,000 (varies by sponsor)	Rolling	Private
Kentucky Bluegrass State Skills Corporation (BSSC) — Skills Training Investment Credit & Grant	Up to $25,000/company/yr	Rolling	State
Maryland TEDCO Rural Business Innovation Initiative (RBII)	$25,000	Rolling	State
Michigan Industry 4.0 Technology Implementation Grant	Up to $25,000 (50% match)	Rolling	State
NYC Small Business Services — Small Business Opportunity Fund	Up to $25,000	Rolling	Local
Oklahoma Quality Jobs Program	5% of new OK payroll, 10 years	Rolling	State
Phoenix Business Grant Program — Office of Economic Development	Up to $25,000	Rolling	Local
San Antonio Economic Development Foundation — Small Business Grant	Up to $25,000	Rolling	Local

Plus 55 more open programs not listed here — see your full personalized match list at grantcompass.co/match.

SourcesUSDA Farm Service Agency — Organic Certification Cost Share Program (OCCSP)·North Carolina Film Office — North Carolina Film Incentives·Washington State Department of Commerce — STEP Export Voucher Program·Wyoming Business Council — Business Ready Community Grant and Loan Program·Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation — Funding Criteria for Early-Stage Social Enterprises·City of Chicago Department of Planning and Development — Neighborhood Opportunity Fund HomeChecked 5 September 2026.

Short answer

155 US small business grant programs are verifiably open today, October 13, 2026. That breaks into two groups: 123 rolling programs that accept applications year-round with no fixed cutoff (the Amber Grant for Women and the HerRise MicroGrant, plus 69 state-level training-and-innovation funds), and 32 programs with a published deadline that hasn't passed yet — of which 14 close within the next 60 days. “Open” here means the program's status is active in our catalog and its deadline is either rolling or dated on or after today; it does not guarantee funds remain available, since some first-come programs close early when their budget runs out.

Apply-Ready

Applying for a grant this month? We'll draft it with you.

For these eight grants, answer a few short questions once and we draft your application from what you tell us: only your facts, with a blank wherever the judges want a detail only you know. You submit it yourself. Five are for women-owned businesses; three are open more widely.

You see a free preview first and pay only if you want the full draft: $9 per grant. You can add the other month-end grants you qualify for at $5 each (never more than $15 extra).

For women-owned businesses

Open more widely

Closing in the next 60 days

These 14 programs have a firm deadline between now and December 12, 2026, sorted soonest first. Apply to the 7 closing this month before anything else on this page.

2 days

Kenneth B. and Stephen L. Tadlock Veteran Small Business Grant

$1,000 · closes Oct 15, 2026 · Private

4 days

Coach K Legacy Grant

$1,000 (monthly) · closes Oct 17, 2026 · Private

8 days

SBIR Phase I — DARPA

Up to $250K (Phase I) · closes Oct 21, 2026 · Federal

8 days

STTR Phase I — Department of Defense

Up to $250K (Phase I) · closes Oct 21, 2026 · Federal

8 days

NOAA Hurricane Response Marine Debris Removal Fund

Up to $11M total program (no per-award cap published) · closes Oct 21, 2026 · Federal (FL/GA/NC/SC/GU)

18 days

Hey Helen Grant

$10,000 (monthly) · closes Oct 31, 2026 · Private

18 days

Galaxy Grant for Women and Minority Business Owners

$2,500 · closes Oct 31, 2026 · Private

22 days

SBIR Phase I — NSF (America's Seed Fund)

Up to $305K (Phase I) · closes Nov 4, 2026 · Federal

22 days

STTR Phase I — NSF

Up to $305,000 · closes Nov 4, 2026 · Federal

29 days

Entreprenista Evolve Grant

$5,000 (quarterly) · closes Nov 11, 2026 · Private

48 days

Montana Tribal Tourism Small Business Grant

Up to $10,000 · closes Nov 30, 2026 · State (MT)

48 days

Shophand $5k Small Business Boost Grant

$2,500 cash + $2,500 Shophand services · closes Nov 30, 2026 · Private

52 days

Idaho Workforce Development Council — Employer Training Grant

Up to $500,000 · closes Dec 4, 2026 · State (ID)

58 days

Vermont Working Lands Enterprise Initiative Business Enhancement Grant

$10,000–$50,000 · closes Dec 10, 2026 · State (VT)

How we built this. Days-until-close is measured from October 13, 2026. A program counts as “closing soon” only if it has a specific published deadlineDate in our catalog within the next 60 days — cyclical programs with a described-but-undated future round (e.g. “opens again in fall”) are excluded from this list until a specific date is published, even though they may reopen sooner.

How “open now” is defined, and what it isn't

A program counts as open on this page only if its GrantCompass catalog status is active and one of two things is true: it accepts applications on a rolling, year-round, or continuous basis (123 programs), or it has a published deadline on or after October 13, 2026 (32 programs). We excluded 62 active grant-type programs whose next intake is described only in general terms (“opens next spring,” “quarterly, dates vary”) without a specific tracked date, and 2 more whose last tracked deadline has passed without a new round being published — they may well reopen, but we won't claim “open now” for a program without a concrete open window. 17 of the 155 open programs publish no numeric award ceiling (formula- or payroll-based awards); they still count toward the totals here and appear in your full match report.

The numbers behind “open now”

Of the 736 US funding programs in the GrantCompass catalog, 410 are structured as grants (as opposed to loans, tax credits, or other program types). 219 of those 410 grant programs are currently active, and 155 of the 219 are verifiably open today by the definition above.

Open-now grants by level of government

155open

Federal 31
State 77
Local / municipal 21
Private / foundation 26

Open-now grants by application window

Rolling / no deadline

123 programs

Closes within 60 days

14 programs

Closes in more than 60 days

18 programs

Methodology. Computed from the GrantCompass catalog of 736 US small business funding programs (410 grant-type) as of October 13, 2026. “Open now” = programStatus active AND (deadline text matches rolling/year-round/continuous OR deadlineDate ≥ 2026-10-13). Median award uses each program's amountMax (or amountMin where no max is published), n=138 of the 155 open programs that publish a numeric ceiling. This page recomputes and republishes monthly; the underlying query is reproducible against the same catalog fields on any given day.

Key takeaways

155 of 736 catalog programs are open today. “No deadline listed” on a search engine doesn't mean nothing is open — it means you need a source that tracks status, not just dates.
Rolling beats deadline-chasing. 123 of the 155 open programs have no fixed cutoff at all — apply on your schedule, not a countdown.
5 programs close within the next two weeks — Kenneth B. and Stephen L. Tadlock Veteran Small Business Grant (Oct 15), Coach K Legacy Grant (Oct 17), SBIR Phase I — DARPA (Oct 21), STTR Phase I — Department of Defense (Oct 21) — if one fits your business, that's today's priority, not this page.
State programs dominate the open list (77 of 155) — check your state's economic development agency even if you've already ruled out federal grants.
This page refreshes monthly. Bookmark grantcompass.co/small-business-grants-open-now rather than a dated search result — the URL stays the same, the data doesn't.

Frequently asked questions

Are any small business grants open right now?

Yes. As of October 13, 2026, 155 of the 410 grant-type programs in the GrantCompass catalog are verifiably open — meaning their status is active and they either accept applications on a rolling, year-round basis (123 programs) or have a published deadline that has not yet passed (32 programs). Examples you can apply to today include the Amber Grant for Women (Three $10,000 grants monthly + three $50,000 year-end, rolling), the Kenneth B. and Stephen L. Tadlock Veteran Small Business Grant ($1,000, closes October 15, 2026), and the Coach K Legacy Grant ($1,000, closes October 17, 2026). This list updates monthly; always confirm the current deadline on the program's own page before applying, since a small number of cyclical programs reopen on dates GrantCompass cannot predict.

What grants close this month?

7 programs on this list close before the end of October 2026: the Kenneth B. and Stephen L. Tadlock Veteran Small Business Grant ($1,000, October 15, 2026); the Coach K Legacy Grant ($1,000, October 17, 2026); the SBIR Phase I — DARPA (up to $250K, October 21, 2026); the STTR Phase I — Department of Defense (up to $250K, October 21, 2026). 5 more close in November 2026. See the “closing in the next 60 days” list above for all 14 programs with a near-term deadline, sorted soonest first.