D‑Prize grants open

D-Prize has opened its 2026 global competition, offering startup grants of up to $20,000 for founders launching new organizations that distribute proven anti-poverty solutions. (d-prize.org) The nonprofit says the money is meant to fund a three-month pilot, not a full company buildout. Applicants have to submit through D-Prize’s competition process, and the group says it runs global prizes twice a year. (d-prize.org) D-Prize is looking for “new organizations only,” with most awardees described as first-time entrepreneurs who have not yet launched or raised outside funding. The group says it typically does not support teams with more than 18 months of full-time operations or more than $30,000 already raised. (d-prize.org) The model is narrower than a general startup grant. D-Prize backs teams that can get an existing, evidence-based product or service to people who still lack access, instead of funding founders to invent a new intervention from scratch. (d-prize.org) That means applicants are judged heavily on distribution: how they will reach people, how many beneficiaries they can serve, and whether the plan can grow beyond a small pilot. D-Prize says teams should focus on testing the delivery model because the intervention itself has already been vetted. (d-prize.org) This year’s challenge list includes maternal health, reading glasses, childcare, phone-based tutoring, road safety, government transparency, poverty graduation, post-harvest support and several tracks tied to DMPA-SC, a self-injectable contraceptive. Most of those challenge pages were posted in March and April 2026. (d-prize.org) One example on the site’s maternal health page centers on misoprostol, a drug D-Prize says can prevent or treat postpartum hemorrhage and costs about $3, but still does not reach many patients. The pitch to founders is to solve that access gap with a business or nonprofit model. (d-prize.org) D-Prize says its past portfolio has mobilized $87 million, and that 11 million people have gained access to life-enhancing products and services through seeded organizations. The group also says 23% of organizations after the pilot phase have scaled to serve 100,000 people within five years or are on track to do so. (d-prize.org) For applicants, the immediate next step is the same across the site: pick one intervention, download the application packet, and build a pilot plan around a proven solution rather than a new invention. (d-prize.org )