Hello startup people! Here’s the latest drop on Grants, Pitch Competitions, Awards, and Summits.
SBIR and STTR funding is back - Here’s what startup founders need to know.
~Diane
💪 The Biggies
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Newly Added:
🎤 Pitch Competitions
Cleveland Chain Reaction Pitch Competition – $40,000
Ohio | May 30 | Apply Here
Standard Bank Kasi SME Pitch Competition – Pitch to investors
South Africa; Impact-focused | May 22 | Apply Here
Convergence Pitch Competition – $50,000
US; AgTech | Jun 1 | Apply Here
Venture North Bay Pitch – Pitch to investors
Ontario | Jun 1 | Apply Here
Supernova All-Starts Startup Pitch Competition – €50,000 total pool
Africa; Asia; Middle East | Jun 1 | Apply Here
2026 Agri-Food Startup Contest – KRW 125 Million total pool
Korea; AgTech; Food & Bev | Jun 3 | Apply Here
CamTechWeek Pitch Competition – Expo space
UK; AI; MedTech; Climate Tech | Jun 8 | Apply Here
Global Call for Startups Pitch Competition – Pitch at event
AgTech; Supply Chain; Sustainable food | Jun 15 | Apply Here
Wave of Opportunity Pitch Competition – $125,000 total pool
Bermuda | July 17 | Apply Here
Alibaba CoCreate Pitch 2026 – $1,000,000 total pool
AI; CPG; Product-based | July 25 (US deadline) | Apply Here
💰 Grants
Farming Innovation Investor Partnerships Competition – Up to £5 Million
UK; AgTech | Jun 17 | Apply Here
Growing Tomorrow Grant – $100,000 total pool
Ohio; AgTech | July 31 | Apply Here
💼 Events
Global Capital Network Investor Conference - Newport Beach – Meet investors
All startups | Jun 25 | Apply Here
act Tech Summit - Dallas – Live Demos; Deal Flow
PropTech; Mortage Tech | Aug 12-13 | Apply Here
🔨 Challenges
National Bio Entrepreneurship Competition 2026 – Up to INR 20 Cr
India; BioTech; Life sciences | May 31 | Apply Here
AI+ OpenData Challenge – KRW 100 Million
Korea; AI; Government data | Jun 5 | Apply Here
Samsung Mobile Advances – Partner with Samsung
Mobile; AI; XR; Wearables; Connectivity | Jun 30 | Apply Here
James Dyson Award – £70,000 total pool
Design Engineers; Recent grads | July 15 | Apply Here
Building the Future Workforce Challenge by Caterpillar – $1,000,000
Manufacturing; Future of Work; Upskilling | July 30 | Apply Here
🏆 Awards
Pepperdine Most Fundable Companies – Recognition
Early-stage startups | May 15 | Apply Here
Women in Business Awards 2026 – Recognition
Timor-Leste; Women-led | July 8 | Apply Here
2026 Mobileheroes Global Award – $30,000
Taiwan; ICT; AI Networks; Edge Infrastructure | July 10 | Apply Here
US Chamber CO-100 – Recognition + Speak at events
US; All businesses | July 23 | Apply Here
Closing Soon! Last Chance!
🤩 These lists get to be pretty long! View the full list - including all 20+ Last Chance Opportunities - by signing up here.
The Pitch by Deel – $1,000,000 investment
All startups | May 13 (US location) | Apply Here
Grow-NY – $1,000,000
New York; Food & Bev; AgTech | May 15 | Apply Here
2026 Housing Affordability Breakthrough Challenge – $2,000,000
Residential Construction; FinTech; PropTech | May 15 | Apply Here
Beyond the Deal Room curates grants, pitch competitions, awards, and tech summits for 13,000+ founders, VC’s and startup organizations. Over $100M global opportunities, mostly non-dilutive, are available across all verticals each year.
For Startup Organizations: Bring this list to your newsletter and community groups for FREE. Reply to this email for details.
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.
📣 Who am I? Your biggest cheerleader. Startup operator, accelerator leader, and advisor to early-stage founders. Named a Top 100 Women Tech Leader (2024). I help founders tap into non-dilutive funding—grants, competitions, and beyond—to build traction between VC rounds. Connect with me on LinkedIn.
