Web3 grant programs, 2026
26 third-party grant programs from our tracker (last verified 2026-09-27), each with its own page: amounts, focus, equity terms, how to apply and similar programs. Grouped by type.
Worth knowing before you apply
- Arbitrum Foundation — Active now: Audit Program ($10M ARB), ArbiFuel gas sponsorship, Gaming Ventures, Alchemy-Arbitrum (up to $500K infra credits); general Foundation/DAO grant programs listed as inactive.
- Sui Foundation — Sui says it no longer runs open grants: RFPs, research awards and direct investment instead.
- Giveth — Zero-fee donations plus periodic matching rounds (e.g. Stellar Community Growth, Sep 21–Oct 4, 2026).
- Prezenti (Celo) — Current round open until 29 Dec 2026; paid in USDm.
- Polkadot OpenGov Treasury — Replaces the discontinued Web3 Foundation Grants Program; proposals submitted on-chain (e.g. via Subsquare).
Ecosystem foundation (13)
- Ethereum Foundation ESPVaries · equity: No · stage: AnyPublic goods, infra, research, cryptography/ZK
- Arbitrum FoundationVaries by program · equity: No · stage: AnyApps & infra on Arbitrum One / Nova / Orbit
- Starknet FoundationUp to $25K in STRK (Seed); $25K–$1M STRK (Growth) · equity: No · stage: AnyStarknet apps, tooling, infra
- Solana FoundationVaries · equity: No · stage: AnyOpen-source infra, tooling, public goods on Solana
- Interchain Foundation (Cosmos)Varies · equity: No · stage: AnyInterchain stack development
- Sui Foundation$25K academic research award; RFPs; direct investment · equity: No (research award) · stage: AnySui ecosystem builders
- Aptos FoundationVaries (plus up to $25K audit credits, up to $100K/yr cloud credits) · equity: No · stage: Live product with early tractionAptos ecosystem: apps, developer tools, payments infrastructure
- Filecoin FoundationVaries; Next Step Grants $5K–$10K · equity: No · stage: AnyDecentralized storage, Filecoin ecosystem, FVM
- Tezos FoundationVaries · equity: No · stage: AnyTezos ecosystem
- Aleo Network FoundationUp to $100K · equity: No · stage: AnyPrivacy-first / zero-knowledge apps and tooling on Aleo
- The Graph FoundationVaries · equity: No · stage: AnyProtocol R&D, indexer/subgraph tooling, data services, community
- Stacks FoundationVaries · equity: No · stage: AnyBitcoin L2 (Stacks): builders, community, AI experimentation
- Avalanche Builder HubVaries (research grants up to $50K) · equity: No · stage: AnyAvalanche apps and infra; academic research
Public goods (retro) (1)
- Optimism Retro FundingVaries (retroactive) · equity: No · stage: LiveImpact already delivered on the Superchain
Community fund (6)
- Stellar Community FundUp to $150K in XLM (Build); Instawards for small work · equity: No · stage: AnyStellar / Soroban ecosystem, community-voted
- Superteam EarnUp to $10K per grant (USDG/USDC); micro-grants up to $500 · equity: No · stage: Idea / prototypeSolana ecosystem; regional Solana Foundation grants, agentic/AI grants
- Prezenti (Celo)$25K+ (Anchor Pool ~$25K–$50K by stage; Frontier Pool $25K+) · equity: No · stage: Live with usageCelo apps with traction; AI & agent-economy infrastructure (Frontier Pool)
- Project Catalyst (Cardano)Varies per proposal (Fund15 budget: 18.5M ADA + 250K USDM) · equity: No · stage: AnyCardano ecosystem: open-source tech, developer tooling, ecosystem growth
- Zcash Community GrantsVaries (major grants; ~100K ZEC available through Nov 2028) · equity: No · stage: AnyZcash ecosystem: privacy tech, wallets, infrastructure
- Polkadot OpenGov TreasuryVaries (on-chain proposal, paid in DOT) · equity: No · stage: AnyPolkadot ecosystem: development, tooling, community, bounties
Protocol / DAO (3)
- Uniswap FoundationVaries · equity: No · stage: AnyUniswap protocol growth & research
- Aave Grants DAOVaries · equity: No · stage: AnyAave ecosystem builders
- Lido LEGOUp to $1K / $10K / $100K by tier · equity: No · stage: AnyLido / stETH ecosystem: integrations, tooling, research
Public goods (quadratic) (3)
- GitcoinCommunity-matched · equity: No · stage: AnyOpen-source & public goods, quadratic funding rounds
- GivethVaries (QF matching pools, e.g. $50K) · equity: No · stage: AnyPublic goods and for-good projects; ecosystem-sponsored QF rounds
- OctantVaries per epoch (community-allocated ETH) · equity: No · stage: LiveEthereum public goods (infra, security, research, tooling)
How to apply to any of them
Apply to ZK Prime in parallel
Same document, no exclusivity. $5K–$75K non-dilutive grants for on-chain AI agents, DeFAI and ZK infrastructure at idea or prototype stage; reply within 5 business days.
Apply for a grant ▸Frequently asked questions
Which web3 grant programs take no equity?
25 of the 26 third-party programs in our tracker list equity as “No”; for Sui Foundation the entry reads “No (research award)” (its routes also include: $25K academic research award; RFPs; direct investment). ZK Prime Capital grants are non-dilutive as well.
Which programs fund idea-stage teams?
Our tracker lists Superteam Earn at idea / prototype stage, and 21 programs with no stage requirement: Ethereum Foundation ESP, Arbitrum Foundation, Starknet Foundation, Solana Foundation, Interchain Foundation (Cosmos), Sui Foundation, Filecoin Foundation, Stellar Community Fund, Tezos Foundation, Uniswap Foundation, Aave Grants DAO, Gitcoin, Giveth, Aleo Network Foundation, Project Catalyst (Cardano), Lido LEGO, The Graph Foundation, Zcash Community Grants, Stacks Foundation, Avalanche Builder Hub, Polkadot OpenGov Treasury. Check eligibility on each official page. ZK Prime Capital funds idea and prototype stage: $5K–$75K, no equity, reply within 5 business days.
Which programs require a live product?
Our tracker lists these as live-stage programs: Optimism Retro Funding (Live); Aptos Foundation (Live product with early traction); Octant (Live); Prezenti (Celo) (Live with usage).
Source: ZK Prime web3 grant tracker, last verified 2026-09-27. Ticket sizes and programs change, so verify on each official page. Corrections: open a PR.