non-dilutive-funding
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Boulder SBDC’s useful advice comes with a $0 bill
A candy shop and a biotechnology company have more in common than they might think. Boulder County’s publicly supported business advisers help owners tackle the work their products cannot do for them.
New Energy Nexus helps clean energy escape the lab
A battery needs proof. A solar lantern needs a route to market. New Energy Nexus builds the missing connections between a good idea and somebody who can use it.
New Ventures BC asks the C$200 question: who will buy it?
A startup competition with homework, a volunteer network with rules, and a prize that comes after months of scrutiny. New Ventures BC helps founders turn a clever idea into a business someone might actually buy from.
Mohammed Bin Rashid Innovation Fund helps founders grow without giving up a share
A free accelerator and government-backed credit guarantees tackle two different startup problems. The interesting part is knowing which door to knock on.
Braavo Capital turns the payout wait into a growth budget
An app can sell brilliantly and still run short of cash. Braavo Capital advances the money caught in the payout calendar, giving founders a way to fund growth without selling another slice of their company.
Spotter found a billion dollars in the reruns
An old YouTube video can pay for a new studio. Spotter built a business on that proposition, then learned that funding creators and selling them software are very different bets.
The Scientists Who Learned to Speak Washington
A small Washington firm found a lucrative gap between the laboratory and the legislature. Its job is to make good science legible to the people who fund it.
The Startup Fund That Had to Rewrite Its Pitch Overnight
Ukraine built a public fund to write the first check for young tech companies. War stopped the familiar pitch-day machine - then forced it to become something broader, faster and far more international.
Build in Tulsa Bets That Startup Capital Should Pay the Babysitter, Too
The Tulsa nonprofit treats the founder's life as part of the cap table - pairing accelerators and investor access with childcare, health care, workspace and cash that takes no equity.
Outpost Ventures Checkmate Wants to Win the Contract After the Contract
A first Pentagon award can keep a startup busy. Outpost Ventures Checkmate helps founders pursue what comes next: a government customer, a bigger contract and a business that can survive between the two.
Happy Valley VC: Before the First Check, Find Your People
At Penn State, Happy Valley VC brings students into startup work through founder projects, investor conversations and pitch prizes. Its origin offers a practical lesson: building the room can matter as much as raising the money.
ANDHealth will back your health startup. You keep the equity.
The Australian nonprofit helps digital health founders turn promising technology into something customers can buy and investors can back. Its bargain: specialist advice, milestone-based funding and some uncomfortable questions.
Visible Hands Is Rewriting Who Gets to Be Early
The Boston pre-seed firm does more than write small checks. It builds a scouting system, support network and regional fellowship machine around founders the venture market routinely reaches too late.
The Venture Fund Teaching Deep Tech to Speak Government
AIN Ventures backs science-heavy startups that can sell to both industry and government. Its edge is less about waving a defense-tech flag than translating between two markets that rarely move at the same speed.
Pioneer
Pioneer is a San Francisco-based startup that helps climate tech companies find and win non-dilutive government funding - grants, contracts, loans, and tax incentives. It pairs large language models with an expert incentives team to match a company's sector and capital needs against thousands of federal, state, and local funding opportunities, then automates much of the application drafting and deadline management. Founded in 2022 by MIT-trained AI engineer Dimitar 'Mitko' Simeonov and Kyle Treige, Pioneer raised a $2.9M seed round led by Blue Bear Capital and says its software has helped innovators win over $186M in grants.
Clearco
Clearco is a Toronto-based fintech that gives ecommerce and direct-to-consumer brands fast, non-dilutive growth capital - founders raise money without giving up equity or signing personal guarantees. Using AI to read revenue, marketing spend and sales data, Clearco offers cash advances, invoice funding and rolling capacity repaid as a share of revenue. Founded in 2015 as Clearbanc by Michele Romanow and Andrew D'Souza, the company has deployed more than $3 billion to over 10,000 brands and, after a 2023 recapitalization, relaunched a rebuilt funding platform under CEO Andrew Curtis.