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 25-48 of 460 grants
Pet Care Innovation Prize
🇺🇸Purina · United States
Awards up to $50,000 in cash and a Purina bootcamp to early-stage pet-care startups' Grand Prize winner.
SPIE Startup Challenge
SPIE · United States
Pays photonics startups up to $10,000 for pitching live at SPIE Photonics West.
SPIE Startup Challenge
SPIE · United States
Pays up to $10,000 to photonics startups pitching at Photonics West 2027.
America’s Startup
🇺🇸America250 · United States
Awards $25,000-$50,000 in non-dilutive grants to U.S. undergraduate student founders.
Storage Design Strategies to Ease Production (STEP) Prize
🇺🇸DOE OE · United States
Pays up to $500,000 across two phases to energy-storage designs with early manufacturability.
Buildner's Unbuilt Award 2026
Buildner Competitions · Global / Multinational
Awards €100,000 total to architects and designers for unbuilt building concepts.
UNBUILT 2026 Award
Buildner Competitions · Global / Multinational
Awards a €100,000 prize fund for the best unbuilt architecture, interior and landscape designs.
4YFN Awards
GSMA · United Kingdom
Awards up to €20,000 cash and global stage exposure to the top digital startup at Barcelona's 4YFN.
Global Deep Tech Battle @ SLUSH 2026
swisstech · Switzerland
Awards a 3,000-euro cash prize to the winning deep-tech pitch at SLUSH 2026.
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.
Start Up Energy Transition Award
dena · Germany
Awards €10,000 per category to energy-transition startups founded within the last 10 years.
Start Up Energy Transition Award 2027
dena · Germany
Awards €10,000 to the winning start-up in each of five energy-transition categories.
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.
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.
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.