Avalanche $1M--SaaStock $500K--Catalyst $100K

Hello startup people! Here’s the latest drop on Grants, Pitch Competitions, Awards, and Summits.

Anyone working to make French Fries more French Fry-y? McCain and Big Idea Ventures are teaming up to find the world’s crispiest fry innovation.

Lots of deadlines coming up soon!

~Diane

💪 The Biggies

Newly Added:

🎤 Pitch Competitions

Compute Challengers 2026 – Pitch at Compute Summit 2026
Quantum; Green compute; Energy Infrastructure | Jan 26 | Apply Here

Lightning Round VII Pitch Competition – $100,000 investment
AI; Deep Tech | Jan 29 | Apply Here

Freedom Pitch – $100,000 investment
Human trafficking; Child Safe Tech | Feb 12 | Apply Here

SaaStock USA Pitch Competition – $500,000 investment
AI; B2B; SaaS | Mar 9 | Apply Here

Startup World Cup Nigeria Challenge – Regional Finals for $1,000,000 investment
Nigeria; All startups | Mar 31 | Apply Here

💰 Grants

Catalyst 2026 – $100,000
Social impact; Wireless; Mobile-first | Feb 24 | Apply Here

💼 Events

MVS2026 – San Francisco – Submit for Investor matching
Military Vet and Spouse | Feb 11–12 | Apply Here

Automated and Connected Vehicles Digital Summit 2026 – Online – 20+ experts and presentations
Sustainable mobility; Smart infrastructure | Mar 24–25 | Apply Here

SaaStock USA – Austin – 2,000+ attendees
AI; B2B; SaaS | Apr 15–16 | Apply Here

eMerge Deep Tech Summit – Miami – 20,000+ attendees; 1,000+ investors
AI; Quantum; Deep Tech | Apr 22–24 | Apply Here

🔨 Challenges

Vodafone See Your Business Pitchside – €25,000 in advertising at Six Nations Championship game
Ireland; All businesses | Feb 13 | Apply Here

Avalanche Build Games – $1,000,000 total pool
Crypto; All projects | Feb 13 | Apply Here

IBC Technical Papers – Call for Entries – Present at IBC2026
Media; Entertainment; All Tech | Feb 20 | Apply Here

Vitafoods Europe Startup Challenge – Pitch at Vitafoods Europe
Europe; Food & Bev; Nutraceutical | Feb 20 | Apply Here

Radicle Corn Challenge – $1.75M investment pool
AgTech; Bioplastics; Sustainable fuel | Feb 25 | Apply Here

High North Young Entrepreneur Contest – 40,000 NOK
Arctic-related | Mar 15 | Apply Here

The Golden Crisp Innovation Challenge – Pitch to McCain
French Fries; BioTech; Logistics; Packaging; Smart appliances | Mar 20 | Apply Here

FLOSS/fund Open Source – $100,000
India; Open Source | Mar 31 | Apply Here

Innovate for Impact Challenge – $50,000
AgTech; Sustainability; Food security | Apr 15 | Apply Here

World Food Programme (WFP) Innovation Challenge – $100,000
Crisis response; Supply Chain; Social impact | Apr 30 (rolling apps) | Apply Here

🏆 Awards

Romanian Startup Awards 2026 – Recognition
Romania; All startups | Feb 25 | Apply Here

Knorr-Bremse Circular Technology Award – €150,000
Europe; Green Tech; Recycling | Mar 2 | Apply Here

Hustle Awards 2026 – Recognition; Promo package
UK; All startups | Mar 27 | Apply Here

Closing Soon! Last Chance!

🎤 Pitch Competitions

Compute Challengers 2026 – Pitch at Compute Summit 2026
Quantum; Green compute; Energy Infrastructure | Jan 26 | Apply Here

Lightning Round VII Pitch Competition – $100,000 investment
AI; Deep Tech | Jan 29 | Apply Here

SiGMA Pitch South America – €500,000 in services
Sports Betting; Gaming | Jan 31 (my guess) | Apply Here

Tacoma Rising Pitch Competition – $10,000
Washington; Early-stage | Jan 31 | Apply Here

TechChill Founders Battle – €1,000,000 total pool
Baltics; Nordics; CEE; All startups | Feb 1 | Apply Here

Idea Funding 2026 – $50,000 in services
Arizona; All startups | Feb 1 | Apply Here

💰 Grants

Prosperous Future Grant for Nordics – €65,000
Nordic-Baltic; Green Tech; Sustainability; Social Impact | Jan 30 | Apply Here

Future of Health Grant – 50,000 CHF
Switzerland; HealthTech; Digital Health | Jan 31 | Apply Here

Skip’s $10,000 2026 Kickoff Grants – $10,000
US; All businesses | Jan 31 | Apply Here

Visa Grant Program – $10,000
Canada; Women-led | Feb 1 | Apply Here

💼 Events

Gulfood – Dubai – 8,500+ Exhibitors
Food & Bev; CPG; Consumer Brand | Jan 26–30 | Apply Here

DealFlow Discovery Conference – Atlantic City – Network with investors
High-growth private companies | Jan 27 | Apply Here

InsurTech Conference – Athens – 200+ industry leaders
InsurTech; AI | Jan 28 | Apply Here

Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival – Investor Lounge; 14,000+ attendees
All Tech | Jan 30 | Apply Here

The NGA Show 2026 – Las Vegas – 3,500+ attendees
Grocery; CPG; Food & Bev | Jan 31 | Apply Here

Retail Supply Chain Conference – Orlando – 2,000+ attendees
Supply chain; Retail Tech; e-comm | Jan 31 | Apply Here

🔨 Challenges

Open Horizons Open Call – €55,000
EU; Women-led; Deep Tech | Jan 29 | Apply Here

BioVerse Challenge 2025 by Thermo Fisher – Access to Thermo Fisher Facilities
India; BioTech; MedTech | Jan 30 | Apply Here

Sustainability Open Innovation Challenge 7th Edition – S$3,000,000 for pilot
Singapore; Renewable Energy; Green Industries; Sustainable Materials | Jan 30 | Apply Here

Circular Lab Waste Management Open Call – €2,000 + Run pilot with Ecoembes
Waste solutions; Recycling | Jan 31 | Apply Here

Kerala AgTech Open Call – Explore local partnerships
India; AgTech; Sustainability | Jan 31 (my guess) | Apply Here

NiYA Startup Pitch 2.0 – ₦100m
Nigeria; All tech; Young-ish founders | Jan 31 (my guess) | Apply Here

Design Equality BE OPEN Competition – €5,000 + Trip to UNSDG event
Young entrepreneurs; Gender equality | Jan 31 | Apply Here

Flywheel Investment Conference – $150,000 investment
Washington; All startups | Jan 31 | Apply Here

🏆 Awards

Globee Awards for Artificial Intelligence – Recognition
AI | Jan 28 | Apply Here

One Hour Pitch Deck: Bootstrapped founder-friendly services to get you a big step forward in your journey. Deck upgrades, grant content, or get the same due diligence reports VC’s use when screening your deck. Book a 15-min clarity call at onehourpitchdeck.com to learn more about positioning your startup for funding.

🚪 Beyond the Deal Room curates grants, pitch competitions, awards, and tech summits for 13,000+ founders, VC’s and startup organizations. Over $60M global opportunities, mostly non-dilutive, are available across all verticals each year.

Disclaimer: I receive no compensation for promoting any of these events. While I try to be as accurate as possible when posting requirements such as deadlines, it’s your responsibility to confirm all requirements.

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