The Alibaba Cloud AI Catalyst Program supports AI-focused startups and global AI firms with comprehensive resources including up to $120,000 in lifetime cloud credits, 2 billion free Model Studio tokens for access to Alibaba's generative AI platform, 1:1 Office Hours with AI experts covering products, solutions, and infrastructure, POC coupons, and invitations to Alibaba Cloud events worldwide. The program is designed to help AI startups accelerate their growth with technical, educational, and networking resources. Applications are reviewed within 4-5 business days, and successful applicants are notified via email. The program provides access to Alibaba Cloud's GPU infrastructure including H100s in the Singapore region, making it particularly attractive for APAC-focused AI startups. The promotion period runs from April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2026.

Artificial Intelligence Grant – NSF SBIR is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF). The NSF SBIR Artificial Intelligence topic focuses on cutting-edge technologies in deep learning-based AI systems and AI-based hardware. It emphasizes next-generation AI technologies that are safe, reliable, fair, robust, privacy-preserving, and efficient. This includes novel AI hardware, sustainable AI for low-resource environments, and technologies for trustworthy AI.

Sovereign AI Strategic Assets Grants Programme is sponsored by Sovereign AI Fund / Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT). This program funds the creation of shared strategic AI assets that are critical inputs for the growth of UK AI startups and the wider AI ecosystem. The initial focus is on high-value AI datasets and autonomous or automated laboratory infrastructure.

SBIR/STTR Program Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) is sponsored by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). NASA's SBIR/STTR program funds deep tech startups and small businesses for innovative research and development that aligns with NASA's mission needs. This includes areas like robotic actuation hardware for space environments, motion planning for lunar operations, and autonomous robotic software. The program supports high-impact, high-risk technologies that push innovation forward, including those related to AI.

NIDHI SSS Seed Support Program 2026 (GUSEC) is sponsored by GUSEC (Gujarat University Startup and Entrepreneurship Council). This program provides milestone-based support for Indian deep-tech startups (including AI, SpaceTech, IoT) to move from prototype to market. It is relevant for AI startups in India focusing on financial markets or supply chain intelligence.

Sovereign AI Strategic Assets Grants Programme is sponsored by UK Government (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology - DSIT). This program funds the creation of shared strategic AI assets that are critical inputs for the growth of UK AI startups and the wider AI ecosystem. It focuses on high-value AI datasets and autonomous or automated laboratory infrastructure. The program operates two funding tracks: a non-commercial track for projects with broad, open access (up to 100% funding) and a commercial track for projects with commercial benefit (up to 50% funding, possibly 70% in specific cases).

Sovereign AI Strategic Assets Grants Programme is sponsored by Sovereign AI Fund (UK Government). This program funds the creation of shared strategic AI assets critical for the growth of UK AI startups and the wider AI ecosystem. The initial focus is on high-value AI datasets and autonomous or automated laboratory infrastructure.

Sovereign AI Strategic Assets Grants Programme is sponsored by GOV.UK. This program funds the creation of shared strategic AI assets that are critical inputs for the growth of UK AI startups and the wider AI ecosystem. The initial round focuses on high-value AI datasets and autonomous or automated laboratory infrastructure. The grants are designed to ensure assets are built, accessible to firms, and strengthen the UK's position in strategically important parts of the AI value chain.

Cooperation of Artificial Intelligence Factories and Factories Antennas is sponsored by European Commission — Horizon Europe. Expected Outcome: Upon completion of the Action, the European HPC and AI ecosystems will be strengthened through an effective network of AI Factories supporting the adoption and use of HPC in the development of trustworthy artificial intelligence (AI) by startups and SMEs, but also by the private and public sector in general, taking into account the specific needs of the local and national ecosystems. The coordinated network will facilitate synergies and assets reutilisation, support, training, staff exchange, knowledge transfer between, AIF+As, as well as prevent duplication of efforts. The Action will ensure the network of AIF+As will be embedded in an enhanced European AI/ HPC ecosystem with strong links to other European HPC, AI, and data initiatives (see above). Moreover, the Action will result in: Contribution to the realisation of the EuroHPC overall and specific objectives. A common governance baseline across AIF+As to ensure the full interoperability and the collective compliance or the network of AIF+As. Seamless user experience across AIF+As, with users receiving a consistent offer of core services. Effective coordination and exchange of best practices and information among the network of AIF+As. Establishment of a network of AIF Data Labs in 7-8 strategic domains, including a common framework for data access and data management. Easy access across AIF+As to up-to-date, rich, high-quality open web data compliant with EU regulations and values. Curated access to services and facilities offered by AIF+As. Maximised visibility and outreach of AIF+As, in particular to AI startups, SMEs and industry. Improved coordination and increased availability of training activities across AIF+As and within the European HPC ecosystem. Contribution to the attraction of HPC/AI talent and development of a distributed pool of experts in Europe. The JU considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of up to EUR 12.5 million and a duration of 3 years would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately, with the following indicative EU budget distribution per subtopic: General coordination and networking: EUR 2.5 million Networking of AIF Data Labs: EUR 7.5 million Provision of EU open web data: EUR 2.5 million Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting another duration or other amounts. Only one proposal, covering all three subtopics in the scope, will be selected. Scope: A. General coordination and networking Proposals should aim at coordinating and promoting networking and collaboration of the AIF+As. They are expected to establish a communication platform, facilitate dialogue, enable asset sharing, promote the objectives of the AIF+As, and organize outreach events and workshops on topics of interest to the AIF+As and their communities. The Action will support and enhance the alignment of AIF+As through targeted activities, building common standards of service to provide a harmonised experience to users. The activities should leverage on synergies and complementarity of the AIF+As. It is expected to identify solutions and tools available from the AIF+As network to support and assist AIF+As in addressing requests and needs of their constituencies. The Action should: Assist the development of the AIF+As and coordinate their collaboration, ensuring a seamless user experience across all facilities. Coordinate the joint activities and exchange of best practices across the AIF+As, including the sharing of assets and knowledge to prevent duplication of efforts and speed up developments, and support projects spanning across two or more AIF+As or federating/distributed learning and inference when applicable. Attract new European user communities and support the engagement of startups, industry, and SMEs in AIF+As activities, while maximizing visibility and outreach to these groups. Promote joint training offerings and the exchange of training materials and courses. Support t Programme areas: Digital, Industry and Space, Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness, Horizon Europe (HORIZON) Keywords: Artificial intelligence, High performance computing

The Army Applications Laboratory (AAL) DevX Autonomy program (W911NF-26-S-0040) is a continuously reviewed open call solicitation seeking innovative autonomous and unmanned systems (AUS) solutions for the U.S. Army. The program accepts submissions on a monthly basis with cutoffs on the last day of each month through August 31, 2026. Focus areas include autonomous platforms (ground, aerial, maritime), payloads, mission-enabling software and hardware, lethal and non-lethal capabilities, sustainment solutions, and subcomponents for unmanned systems. A distinctive feature is that submissions deemed award-ready can proceed directly to contracting without further competition. The submission format is streamlined: a 6-minute video pitch and structured form rather than traditional lengthy proposals. This program is particularly valuable for AI startups and robotics companies developing autonomous navigation, swarm intelligence, computer vision, or AI decision-making systems for unmanned platforms.

The ITU AI for Good Innovation Factory is the leading United Nations-based startup pitching and acceleration platform helping AI startups grow and scale their solutions to address global challenges aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The program features monthly regional pitching sessions highlighting startups across regions and sectors leading to the AI for Good Innovation Factory Grand Finale at the AI for Good Global Summit in Geneva Switzerland in July 2026. Four winners are selected for their innovative and scalable AI-powered solutions with the top startup receiving a $20,000 grand cash prize. The program provides global pitching opportunities funding connections to investors expert mentorship exclusive networking with UN agencies and industry leaders and media exposure. Regional events are held worldwide including in Turkey Africa and other regions to identify top startups. This competition is open to ventures leveraging AI machine learning and advanced algorithms to address real-world issues in areas such as healthcare climate sustainability education agriculture disaster response and digital inclusion. This is distinct from the Google.org AI for Social Good awards which provide larger grants to established organizations and from the Technovation AI Ventures Accelerator which focuses specifically on young women.

The Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAII) is a Government of Canada program delivering $200 million in AI funding through the country's regional development agencies. Under Budget 2024, PrairiesCan alone received $33.8 million over five years. The program supports two main streams: AI productization and commercialization for SMEs in the start-up and scale-up phases, and adoption of AI across priority sectors including agriculture, clean technology, healthcare, and manufacturing. RAII helps Canadian businesses enhance productivity, growth, and competitiveness by supporting AI integration into business operations and implementation of AI strategies. Applications are accepted on a continuous rolling basis through each regional agency until December 31, 2028, or until funding is fully committed. All funded projects must be completed by March 31, 2029. The initiative is delivered nationally through six regional development agencies: PrairiesCan (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba), PacifiCan (British Columbia), Canada Economic Development for Quebec Regions (CED), Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA), and Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency (CanNor).

EIT Community AI Skill Sync is a program from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) that supports AI-based upskilling and competitiveness across Europe. Developed by EIT Health in collaboration with seven EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), the SkillSync platform provides personalized course recommendations, skill gap identification, and training opportunities for universities, startups, SMEs, and policymakers. The platform offers access to over 80,000 courses, 3,000+ skills (600+ AI-related), and data on 50,000+ AI startups. Eligible participants include universities and research institutions in EU member states. The program is designed to strengthen AI skills development and support Europe's innovation ecosystem.

EIT Community AI Challenge: Driving AI Implementation is a program from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) that connects cities, corporations, and public institutions facing AI-related challenges with innovative European startups ready to solve them. The Europe-wide initiative focuses on areas including data spaces for cities, health and manufacturing, synthetic data, generative AI applications, and process optimization. Startups submitting winning solutions receive a cash prize of €5,000 to continue development or support proof-of-concept work, plus access to the AI Founders Club. Challenge owners gain access to Europe's top AI startups and solutions tailored to their specific needs. The program is open to organizations across the public and private sector in EU member states.

Menlo Anthology Fund is sponsored by Menlo Ventures and Anthropic. A $100 million fund created by Menlo Ventures and Anthropic to invest in AI pioneers shaping the future. The fund supports next-generation AI startups by combining Menlo's company-building experience with Anthropic's AI technology and research expertise. It focuses on AI infrastructure and frontier/novel applications of AI across various sectors. Startups gain access to Anthropic's AI models, credits, and a collaborative community.

The Alibaba Cloud AI Catalyst Program provides APAC-focused AI startups with up to $120,000 in lifetime cloud credits for GPU compute, AI model training, inference, and general cloud infrastructure. As the largest cloud provider in the Asia-Pacific region, Alibaba Cloud offers access to GPU instances and a comprehensive AI development platform including model serving, data processing, and deployment tools. The program is designed for startups building AI-native products across Southeast Asia, Greater China, India, Japan, Korea, Australia, and other APAC markets. Credits can be applied to compute instances, storage, networking, AI/ML services, and database products. Beyond credits, participants gain access to Alibaba Cloud's startup ecosystem, technical mentorship, and potential go-to-market support across APAC markets. This program fills a geographic gap left by Western cloud providers' startup programs, offering localized support and infrastructure optimized for APAC workloads and compliance requirements.

Scaleway's Startup Program provides European startups with cloud infrastructure credits across three tiers: Founders (up to €1,000), Go-to-Market (€9,000 total), and Growth (up to €36,000 total). The program provides access to Scaleway's European sovereign cloud infrastructure including NVIDIA H100 GPU clusters (1,016 H100 Tensor Core GPUs) for AI/ML workloads. As a European cloud service provider headquartered in France, Scaleway ensures data sovereignty and GDPR compliance, making it attractive for European AI companies requiring sovereign infrastructure. Scaleway has partnered with NVIDIA to offer a dedicated track for NVIDIA Inception members, bringing accelerated computing options to European startups to quickly deploy AI applications and scale operations. The program includes technical guidance, community benefits, and the ability to access high-performance GPU compute without leaving the European data ecosystem. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. This is a key program for European AI startups that need sovereign cloud compute with NVIDIA GPU access.

SOLIDUS AI TECH Compute Grant Program is sponsored by Solidus AI Tech. This grant program empowers AI-driven companies in the Web2 and Web3 spaces by providing access to essential compute resources. It aims to fuel growth for those building next-gen AI applications, exploring decentralized AI solutions, or scaling existing operations.

The SCALE AI Acceleration Program provides funding of up to CAD $50,000 (approximately $36,500 USD) to AI startups and SMEs building AI-powered supply chain solutions. Scale AI is Canada's AI Supercluster, a $230 million public-private partnership that accelerates the adoption and commercialization of AI in supply chain management across key Canadian industries including manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and professional services. The Acceleration program supports early-stage companies in developing and validating AI solutions for supply chain optimization, logistics, inventory management, demand forecasting, and related applications. The program operates on a rolling basis.

Meta's Llama Startup Program reimburses early-stage U.S. startups for costs of using Llama models through hosted APIs via cloud inference providers. Members receive up to $6,000 USD per month for up to six months, along with hands-on technical support from Llama experts, resources for getting started with Llama, and access to the Llama developer community. The program is designed to help startups build products on Meta's open-source Llama family of large language models across sectors including technology, financial services, healthcare and life sciences, telecommunications, and retail/eCommerce.

Avalanche AI Innovation Grants is sponsored by Avalanche Foundation (in collaboration with GenAI Fund and NVIDIA). This initiative offers funding, technical support, and ecosystem access to cutting-edge AI startups building for or integrating with blockchain technology, specifically on the Avalanche ecosystem. The program seeks to help AI startups scale into the blockchain ecosystem.

The Google Cloud for Startups AI Program provides up to $350,000 in cloud credits for AI startups using or planning to use Vertex AI or Gemini. Year 1 credits cover 100% of eligible Google Cloud usage up to $250,000, including Scale Tier program credits plus an additional $150,000 for startups enrolled in the AI Tier. Year 2 provides credits covering 20% of eligible usage up to an additional $100,000. The program also includes $12,000 in Google Cloud Enhanced Support credits for one year and an additional $10,000 for partner LLM models through Model Garden. Startups gain access to the best of Google's open AI ecosystem including Vertex AI and Gemini.

Google for Startups Cloud Program (AI Tier) is sponsored by Google Cloud. This program is designed to accelerate AI Startups by providing significant Google Cloud credits, resources, dedicated support, and access to Google's open AI ecosystem. It includes credits for Google Cloud usage, enhanced support, Google Workspace Business Plus, and Google Maps services. It also offers access to AI experts, exclusive webinars, and insights into Google Cloud's AI roadmap. The program specifically targets startups using or planning to use Vertex AI or Gemini as a foundation of their primary product or solution.

PacifiCan, the Government of Canada's economic development agency for British Columbia, offers the Regional Artificial Intelligence Initiative (RAII) to support projects that use AI to improve human health, environmental health, and economic resilience across various sectors. Businesses can receive up to CAD $3 million (approximately USD $2.2 million) per project, while not-for-profit organizations can receive up to CAD $5 million (approximately USD $3.65 million) per project. The program supports AI commercialization, AI adoption in key sectors, advancement of BC's AI ecosystem, and projects that generate revenue and create high-quality jobs. Applications are accepted on a continuous basis.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is sponsored by National Science Foundation (NSF) SBIR. This program focuses on cutting-edge technologies in deep learning-based AI systems and AI-based hardware. It emphasizes next-generation AI technologies that are safe, reliable, fair, robust, privacy-preserving, and efficient. It also includes hardware technologies for sustainable AI and intelligent systems on a chip. Proposals focused on new high-risk technical innovation with significant potential commercial and societal impact are welcome.

America's Seed Fund (SBIR/STTR) - Artificial Intelligence (AI) is sponsored by U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). This program supports startups and small businesses in translating AI research into products and services, including AI systems and AI-based hardware. It emphasizes next-generation AI technologies that are safe, reliable, fair, robust, privacy-preserving, and efficient in computational resources, energy, and training data size. It also includes cutting-edge hardware technologies for sustainable AI.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) funding is a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program that supports cutting-edge AI technology development by U.S. small businesses. The program focuses on deep learning-based AI systems and AI-based hardware, including innovations in computer vision, natural language processing, machine translation, and speech recognition. Special emphasis is placed on next-generation AI technologies that are safe, reliable, fair, robust against adversaries, privacy-preserving, and computationally efficient. Eligible applicants are U.S.-based small businesses with fewer than 500 employees. Award amounts and deadlines follow the standard NSF SBIR program schedule; applicants should check the NSF SBIR website for current submission windows.

AI Innovation Package / GenAI4EU Initiative is sponsored by European Commission. The AI innovation package aims to bolster the development and adoption of trustworthy Artificial Intelligence across the EU, supporting AI start-ups and SMEs by facilitating access to supercomputing resources, providing financial aid, and creating a supportive ecosystem for inno…

NJ AI Hub Fund is sponsored by New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA). This fund supports startups connected to the NJ AI Hub Strategic Innovation Center, which aims to advance the ethical use of AI and support new technological developments throughout the state. It provides access to capital, mentorship, and business support. This is a state-level initiative directly supporting AI startups.

America's Seed Fund – NSF SBIR (Artificial Intelligence) Phase I is a grant from the National Science Foundation that funds for-profit U.S. small businesses developing novel artificial intelligence technologies with strong commercial potential and societal impact. Since 1977, America's Seed Fund (powered by NSF) has supported approximately 400 companies per year to bring deep technologies from research to market. Phase I awards are typically up to $275,000 and support early-stage R&D to demonstrate technical feasibility. Eligible applicants are U.S. for-profit small businesses with fewer than 500 employees and majority U.S. ownership, developing innovative AI technologies in any sub-topic area. The program welcomes first-time entrepreneurs from all 50 states and U.S. territories.