Startup grants, loans and support agencies worldwide for founders in 2026

What is listed here and how should you use this directory?

This category lists public and non-profit organisations that fund or support startups through instruments other than a conventional venture capital round: grants, subsidised loans, loan guarantees, tax incentives, state-backed seed investment, incubation and technopark space. It spans national innovation agencies such as Innovate UK, TÜBİTAK and NEDO, development banks such as KfW, Bpifrance, SIDBI, BDC and the British Business Bank, supranational programmes such as the EIC Accelerator and the European Investment Fund, grant schemes such as SBIR in the United States and ZIM in Germany, tax schemes such as SEIS, EIS and the Australian R&D Tax Incentive, and ecosystem bodies such as Station F, Hub71, HKSTP and the Turkish technoparks.

The list is organised by country because eligibility is almost always national. Each entry shows the instrument type, who can apply, the typical application route and the official programme page, which is the only reliable source for current deadlines and amounts. Use the instrument column to decide what you are actually looking for: a grant that does not have to be repaid, a loan that does, a guarantee that makes a bank loan possible, a tax relief that reduces the cost of capital you raise elsewhere, or a programme that offers space, mentoring and introductions.

Public funding sits alongside, not instead of, private capital. the Kurums Venture Capital hub explains how grants interact with venture rounds and cap tables, and the guide to VC firms accepting open applications in 2026 covers the private investors that run inbound processes, many of which co-invest with the agencies listed here.

What types of public support exist and how do they compare?

Public support comes in a small number of recurring forms, and the same forms appear in almost every country with a developed innovation policy. The differences lie in which body administers them, how competitive they are, how much reporting they require and how they interact with the equity you raise later. A grant is non-dilutive but usually tied to a defined project and paid against costs or milestones. A subsidised loan or guarantee is cheaper than bank debt but must be repaid or secured. A state-backed seed investment dilutes you like any investor, but on terms designed to attract private co-investment. Tax incentives do not put money in directly; they lower the cost of investment or of research spending.

The table compares the main instrument types as they appear in the directory.

How do you apply for public funding and combine it with private capital?

Every programme on this page has a published application route, and reading it in full before you start is the single highest-return action a founder can take. Grant programmes typically run competitive calls with fixed deadlines, defined cost categories and an evaluation against published criteria, and an application that ignores the criteria is scored accordingly. Loan and guarantee programmes work through banks or the development bank's own credit process. Seed funds and co-investment programmes often require a private lead investor to be in place before they will commit, so the sequence is usually private term sheet first, public match second. Tax incentives are claimed through the tax system, sometimes with an advance-assurance step.

Sequence the applications so that each strengthens the next. A research grant that funds early development makes a seed round easier to raise; a seed round with a credible lead unlocks a matched public investment; a technopark residency may reduce tax and bring the agency relationships that make the grant application smoother. Most agencies publish which of their programmes can be combined and in what order, and the ones that cannot be combined with state aid from another source say so.

Public funding is also the most common bridge to the private investors who accept inbound applications. The Kurums guide to open-application VC firms in Europe and the UK lists the private funds that co-invest with the European agencies here, and the companion guide for Asia and the Middle East does the same for the Gulf, Indian and Southeast Asian programmes.

What do agencies ask for and what conditions do they typically attach?

Agencies ask for more paperwork than private investors and are more consistent about it. Expect company registration and ownership documents, financial statements, a project plan with a budget broken into the agency's cost categories, evidence that the team can deliver the plan, and declarations about other public funding received. The table summarises typical requests and conditions by instrument type.

Conditions are where founders are caught out. Grants carry obligations on how money is spent, when it is reported and what happens to intellectual property; loans carry repayment schedules and sometimes personal guarantees; seed programmes may restrict relocation of the company or require that certain activities stay in the country; tax schemes impose tests that a later round or acquisition can breach. None of these are reasons to avoid public funding, but every one should be in the register you keep and in the disclosure you make to later investors.

What mistakes should you avoid, and what does the sponsored block mean?

The recurring mistakes are applying to programmes you are not eligible for, which costs weeks and sometimes a cooling-off period; treating the award as cash before the conditions are met; combining programmes that the rules say cannot be combined; and failing to disclose public-funding obligations to later investors, who will find them in diligence anyway. The official pages are the only authoritative source for current rules.

On the directory itself: a fund, accelerator or agency can claim a sponsored position at the top of this page for a daily bid. Sponsored listings are advertising, are disclosed as such and are ordered purely by bid. They have no influence on which organisations the editors include in the free list, on how any entry is described or on any guidance published elsewhere on kurums.com. Every non-sponsored entry is listed free because the editors judged it relevant to founders seeking public or non-profit support.

Frequently asked questions