Prize competitions
Explore prize competitions and innovation challenges. This directory lists cash prizes, challenge programs and awards for solving a defined problem, from government agencies, foundations, corporates and challenge platforms, with the deadline, prize purse and entry rules on every listing.
Showing 1-24 of 458 grants
BIG Idea Competition
🇺🇸BIG Idea SD · United States
Pays high school students in South Dakota, North Dakota and Minnesota cash prizes and scholarships for their best business idea.
Research Ireland – Defence Innovation Challenge
🇮🇪Research Ireland · Ireland
Funds Irish research teams up to €220,000, with a €1 million prize for the top defence solution.
Create a Distinctive Sonic Identity for the University of East London
🇬🇧UEL · United Kingdom
Pays £1,000 to a UEL-affiliated solver who designs the university's new sonic brand identity.
ARC Prize 2026
ARC Prize · United States
Awards $2M in prizes across three tracks for open-source AI research advancing progress toward AGI.
MICROHOME 2026
Buildner Competitions · Global / Multinational
Pays up to €30,000 to architects and creatives designing a compact 25 sqm micro-home.
MIT Solve Global Challenges
🇺🇸MIT · United States
Supports teams tackling global challenges by selecting and backing scalable ideas through MIT Solve challenge pathways.
Best Early-Stage Startup
WHX Tech · United Arab Emirates
Awards USD 10,000 equity-free cash, plus a startup pod and mentorship, to the top early-stage healthcare startup pitching at WHX Tech's Xcelerate competition.
Best Scale-Up
WHX Tech · United Arab Emirates
Awards USD 5,000 equity-free cash, plus a startup pod and mentorship, to the top scale-up healthcare startup pitching at WHX Tech's Xcelerate competition.
Xcelerate Champion of Innovation
WHX Tech · United Arab Emirates
Pays an equity-free cash prize to the top healthcare startup pitching live at WHX Tech's Xcelerate competition in Dubai.
Childhood, Adolescent and Young Adult (AYA) Cancer Data Innovation Challenge — Track 1
🇺🇸NCI · United States
Pays entities up to $566,665 across three milestones to add shovel-ready cancer data or tools to NCI's CCDI ecosystem.
Farm Robotics Challenge
UCANR Innovate · United States
Pays student robotics teams over $100,000 combined to build AI farming solutions.
Duquesne New Venture Challenge
🇺🇸Duquesne · United States
Awards up to $30,000 to early-stage ventures across a three-stage pitch competition.
Verizon Smart Campus Competition
🇺🇸Verizon · United States
Pays Northeastern student teams up to $3,000 each for 5G network innovation ideas.
Desjardins Startup Prize — Early-Stage Prize
🇨🇦UTE · Canada
Awards University of Toronto-affiliated early-stage founders up to $15,000 CAD for a three-minute pitch, as part of an annual competition with over $100,000 in total prizes.
Desjardins Startup Prize — Later-Stage Prize
🇨🇦UTE · Canada
Awards University of Toronto-affiliated later-stage founders up to $40,000 CAD for a three-minute pitch, as part of an annual competition with over $100,000 in total prizes.
2026 NIA Mentorship Prize Competition
🇺🇸NIA · United States
Pays $100,000 to each of up to six faculty mentors recognized for outstanding aging-research mentorship.
Vancouver Tall Challenge
Buildner Competitions · Global / Multinational
Awards $15,000 CAD to designers reimagining tall buildings for downtown Vancouver.
EIC Rising Innovators
🇪🇺EIT · European Union
Awards women founders or co-founders under 35 up to €50,000, with €30,000 and €20,000 for the second and third highest-ranked entries, for pioneering deep-tech or STEM breakthroughs across the EU and Horizon Europe associated countries.
European Prize for Women Innovators
🇪🇺EIT · European Union
Awards women founders and co-founders across three prize categories, from EUR 20,000 up to EUR 100,000, for leading breakthrough European innovations.
South Summit Brazil Startup Competition
South Summit · Spain
Offers pitch time, mentoring and investor exposure to five category-winning startups.
One-Step, Rapid, Low-Cost Definitive Drug Testing at the Point of Need Challenge
🇺🇸NIDA · United States
Pays up to $600,000 in prizes to teams building rapid, low-cost drug-testing device prototypes.
Build the Autodesk University 2027 Product
🇺🇸Autodesk & Partners · United States
Awards $4,000+ in cash and hardware for the best wearable built with Autodesk Fusion and Arduino UNO Q.
Tiny House 2026
Volume Zero · India
Awards $2,500 for the best Tiny House design in an open international competition.
Oligonucleotide Toxicity (OligoTox) Open Data Challenge
🇺🇸NCATS · United States
Pays cash prizes for public datasets that help predict oligonucleotide drug toxicity in human cells.