Beyond the Deal Room
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Deep Tech €300K--NIQ Pitch Slam $750K--FinTech Meetup $50K

Deep Tech €300K--NIQ Pitch Slam $750K--FinTech Meetup $50K

The newest startup grants, pitch competitions, awards, and tech summits for you

Diane Bailey
February 16, 2026

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

New Offering - Custom Weekly Emails!

Want me to send you a custom weekly email? I’ll curate these opportunities just for you, plus give you a full list of all open opps AND you’ll get the new stuff before anyone else. Get started here.

~Diane

💪 The Biggies

Advanced Innovation Challenges- Pilot | €300K

Support high-risk, demand-driven deep tech innovation with transformative potential especially in areas where there is lack of commercial uptake.

NIQ Founders Pitch Slam | $750K

The NIQ Founders Pitch Slam will bring together the most innovative emerging CPG brands, challenging an elite set of founders to pitch their companies to industry insiders and business leaders.

Fintech Meetup Startup Pitch | $50K

Showcase your fintech startup to thousands of decision-makers. The Fintech Meetup Startup Pitch Competition offers early-stage Fintech startups the chance to win one of two $50,000 SAFE notes.

Newly Added:

🎤 Pitch Competitions

FinTech Meetup Startup Pitch Competition – $50,000 investment
FinTech | Feb 20 | Apply Here

Cooley Capital Call Digital Healthcare Innovation – Pitch VC’s at DHIS
Digital Health; Data; Healthcare | Feb 27 | Apply Here

Women in Cleantech & Sustainability Pitch Competition – Prize pool
Women-led; Cleantech; Sustainability | Feb 27 | Apply Here

RubyConf Pitch Competition – $15,000
Runs on Ruby | Feb 28 | Apply Here

Rural Tourism Pitch Competition – $20,000
Nevada; Tourism | Mar 7 | Apply Here

LegalTech LaunchPad Pitch Competition – Pitch live at LegalTechTalk 2026
LegalTech; RegTech | Mar 16 | Apply Here

NIQ Founders Pitch Slam – $750,000 prize package
CPG; Consumer Brand; Pet; Food & Bev | Mar 31 (my guess) | Apply Here

💰 Grants

$25,000 Female Founder Fund by SkinnyDipped – $25,000
Women-led; Food & Bev; CPG | Feb 25 | Apply Here

EIC Advanced Innovation Challenges - Pilot – €300,000
EU; Deep Tech; AI Robotics | Feb 26 | Apply Here

💼 Events

HIMSS26 - Las Vegas – 25,000+ attendees
Digital Health; HealthTech | Mar 9-12 | Apply Here

SusHi Tech - Tokyo – 60,000+ attendees
Sustainable cities; Robotics; Entertainment | Apr 27-29 | Apply Here

LUXE PACK - New York – 5,300+ attendees
CPG; Packaging; Food & Bev | May 6-7 | Apply Here

EU-Startups Summit - Malta – 2,500+ attendees
All startups | May 7-8 | Apply Here

Red Hat Summit - Atlanta – System admins + C-Suite
Enterprise IT | May 11-14 | Apply Here

SaaStr AI Annual 2026 - San Francisco – 10,000+ attendees
SaaS; AI; B2B | May 12-14 | Apply Here

🔨 Challenges

VivaTech Orange Startup Challenge – Tickets to VivaTech + promotion
GenAI; Cybersecurity; Quantum | Mar 9 | Apply Here

TechCrunch - Call for speakers – Speak at Audience Choice program
All startups | Mar 31 (my guess) | Apply Here

🏆 Awards

2026 GeekWire Awards – Recognition
Pacific Northwest; All startups | Feb 25 | Apply Here

AI for Good Impact Awards – Tickets to AI for Good Global Summit + Recognition
AI; Social Impact; Sustainability; Smart cities | Mar 15 | Apply Here

Rising Digital Award – €30,000
Europe; Less than 24 months in business | Mar 31 | Apply Here

TIME Best Inventions – Promo in TIME Magazine
Many industries | May 15 | Apply Here

Closing Soon! Last Chance!

🎤 Pitch Competitions

Snowflake Startup Challenge – Up to $1,000,000 investment + ring NYSE Bell
Snowflake AI; Applications | Feb 18 | Apply Here

OPEN MINDS Investment Pitch Day – $40,000 prize package
HealthTech; MedTech; Social Impact; Consumer Tech | Feb 20 | Apply Here

FinTech Meetup Startup Pitch Competition – $50,000 investment
FinTech | Feb 20 | Apply Here

💼 Events

Quantum Days 2026 - Victoria – 3,500+ attendees
Deep Tech; Quantum | Feb 17 | Apply Here

ETHDenver - Denver – Immersive experiences; Camp BUIDL
Ethereum; Blockchain; Crypto; Defi | Feb 17-21 | Apply Here

ViVE Event 2026 - Los Angeles – 9,000+ attendees
HealthTech; Digital Health; Provider+Payer | Feb 21 | Apply Here

Plastics Recycling Conference - San Diego – 3,000+ attendees
Plastics; Textiles; Recycling | Feb 22 | Apply Here

🔨 Challenges

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

Commercial UAV - Call for Speakers – Speak at Commercial UAV Expo
Drones | Feb 20 | Apply Here

🏆 Awards

AfricaTech Award – Recognition - Pitch at VivaTech
Africa; All startups | Feb 16 | 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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