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Microsoft Airband Initiative is a grant from Microsoft that funds high-potential, early-stage startups and organizations creating innovative technologies, services, and business models to overcome barriers to affordable internet access. The initiative supports innovation in sectors such as agriculture, education, healthcare, and small business, particularly in rural and underserved communities.
Grantees receive cash investments, access to technology, business development support, mentoring, and networking opportunities. Eligible applicants include nonprofit organizations and startups working to expand broadband access. Award amounts vary by project.
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Call for Microsoft Airband Grant Fund applications to overcome barriers to affordable internet access - Microsoft On the Issues Internet connectivity is an increasingly critical part of accessing a better education, jobs and health care, and in participating in the 21 st century economy.
Yet, with more than half of the world’s population lacking internet connectivity, often in rural and other underserved communities, there is still a long road ahead of us. That’s why we’re pleased to announce that today Microsoft has opened its third annual call for applications to the Microsoft Airband Grant Fund.
The grant fund seeks to spark innovation to overcome barriers to affordable internet access, through supporting high-potential, early-stage startups creating innovative new technologies, services and business models. Grantees receive cash investments, access to technology, business development support, mentoring and great networking opportunities.
This year we’re taking a keen interest in solutions enabling key verticals such as agriculture, education, healthcare and small business. The grant fund is an integral part of Microsoft’s Airband initiative, which aims to extend broadband access across the United States and, ultimately, connectivity around the globe.
To that end, we are collaborating with internet access and off-grid energy access providers, as well as other private and public-sector entities, on practical, high-impact and scalable approaches to help close the digital divide. The grant fund complements, and feeds into these efforts, as we know that innovation happens at every level – from the largest corporations to an early stage startup with an idea.
Over the past two years we have awarded grants to 22 companies located in 18 countries, and we are proud of the incredible work we’ve seen from previous fund winners: Virginia Broadband (VABB) is a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) that delivers affordable high-speed internet using fixed wireless technology in both the unlicensed and licensed frequency ranges, to both unserved and underserved rural communities within central and eastern Virginia.
Last year’s grant helped VABB install utility poles in rural areas in Virginia equipped with Microspot wireless internet deployments, aimed at bridging America’s digital divide and homework gap.
TEAM PicoSoft in Nepal is using TV white spaces spectrum (i.e., unused broadcast frequencies) to provide affordable, high-speed internet access services in rural areas, where distances and difficult geography makes it exceedingly challenging to deliver broadband through traditional means. TV white space technology is uniquely suited to navigate difficult terrain and travel long distances to deliver connectivity.
In addition to connecting consumers and small businesses, TEAM PicoSoft has used TV white space technology in disaster recovery efforts and is working with the Nepali government to bring internet access to rural primary and secondary schools.
Electric Vine is the first and only smart-grid operator in Indonesia to integrate local payment and messaging gateway Electric Vine aims to bring sustainable energy access to households throughout Southeast Asia that don’t yet have electricity, which is fundamental to bringing internet access and income generation opportunities to these communities.
Through our Microsoft Airband Grant Fund, we hope to nurture, grow and scale more local entrepreneurs with promising, locally relevant solutions that deliver outsized socioeconomic impact to underserved populations. Applicants must be commercial organizations with at least two full-time employees, have a prototype of a working solution and have preferably paying customers.
These solutions ideally combine new cloud services and applications, low-cost forms of internet connectivity, and new payment mechanisms designed for consumers and smaller businesses in underserved markets. Applications may be submitted through midnight Jan. 31, 2018 U.S. Pacific Standard Time.
Tags: Affordable Access Initiative , Airband Grant Fund , Airband initiative , broadband access , connectivity , digital access , digital divide , digital skills
According to the current listing, eligibility includes: Nonprofit organizations working to expand broadband access in rural areas and low-income communities. Specific eligibility criteria would be on the official program page. Confirm the full requirements in the official notice before applying.
Microsoft Airband Initiative is funded by Microsoft. Verify program details on the funder's official page before applying.
This listing is flagged as international in scope. Check the official notice for country-specific restrictions before applying.
Start from the official opportunity page linked in this listing — it carries the sponsor's submission instructions.
Community-First Grants is sponsored by Microsoft. These grants support projects across four focus areas: Civic Life, Education & Workforce Development, Housing, Human Services & Basic Needs, and Sustainability & Transportation. Projects must address a clearly defined community need, align with the organization's mission, demonstrate measurable outcomes, and benefit underserved or economically disadvantaged populations.
Microsoft AI for Accessibility is a grant program that supports developers, nonprofits, researchers, and startups building artificial intelligence tools that empower people with disabilities and advance disability inclusion. Grants range from $25,000 to $250,000 and may include Azure compute credits, technical support, and access to Microsoft AI experts, with award sizes depending on project scope and available funds. The program targets AI solutions across employment, daily life, and communication that expand accessibility and independence for people with disabilities.
The Merck Stimulating Innovative Research Grant Program 2026 includes a dedicated grant topic for artificial intelligence in cell culture media and process development, offering up to EUR 150,000 per year for up to 3 years. The program accelerates innovation through collaborative research, early engagement with industry experts, and translation of novel ideas into practical solutions. In 2026, priority areas also include in-vitro models for neuroinflammatory diseases (EUR 250,000/year for 2 years) and innovative approaches to contaminated materials remediation (EUR 150,000/year for 2 years). The two-stage application process begins with non-confidential submissions, followed by deep-dive workshops where finalists collaborate with Merck scientists and managers to jointly optimize proposals. The AI-specific grant focuses on applying machine learning and AI to optimize cell culture media formulation, bioprocess parameter optimization, and manufacturing quality control.
The Sony Research Award Program is Sony's principal channel for funding external academic research, and the Focused Research Award is its collaborative track: up to 150,000 dollars for focused joint research between a university or research institute and Sony. The 2026 research areas are unusually broad for a corporate program and cover most of the modern AI stack alongside Sony's hardware interests - AI and large language models, computer vision, machine learning, robotics, human-computer interaction, affective computing, speech and language technologies, audio technologies, RF sensing, wireless communications, cybersecurity, sports technology, digital humans, generative AI, content creation and neural rendering, plus device-level areas including MicroLED and optical metasurfaces. For AI and robotics groups this makes it one of the wider corporate calls available, though the breadth is deceptive: Sony funds work that connects to its own research agenda, and proposals are strongest when there is an identifiable Sony research counterpart for the collaboration. Eligibility is tightly drawn around the principal investigator rather than the institution. The PI must be a full-time faculty member or researcher at a recognized institution - Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor or equivalent researcher - and must be able to supervise PhD students. Co-PIs are permitted but must be from the same institution and meet the same requirements, which rules out the cross-institutional consortia common in public funding. The 2026 deadline is 15 September 2026 at 11:59pm Pacific, with a separate India-specific time given as 16 September 2026. Submission guidelines are on the Sony Research Award Program site.
The Meta Research PhD Fellowship supports doctoral students conducting research in areas central to Meta's technical agenda, with several of its annual award tracks dedicated to artificial intelligence and machine learning. Current AI-relevant tracks include AI System Hardware/Software Co-Design (high-performance AI algorithms spanning model compression, numerical optimization, benchmarking, and distributed inference and training), Applied Statistics (bias and variance estimation and correction in models and datasets, uncertainty quantification), AR/VR Human Understanding (efficient ML techniques that run on AR/VR devices), and Programming Languages (program synthesis, probabilistic and differentiable programming). Recipients receive two years of paid tuition and fees, a $42,000 annual stipend covering living expenses and conference travel, and a paid visit to Meta headquarters for the annual Fellowship Summit; the award carries no intellectual property claim on the student's research. The 2027 cycle opened August 3, 2026 with applications closing September 20, 2026, reference letters due in October 2026, and winners notified in January 2027.