Funding you can get without an LLC
You do not need a registered company to start claiming money. These grants, startup credits and prizes accept individuals, solo founders and early builders with no LLC or entity. Bursary reads your situation, ranks the ones open to you, and drafts each application. It also flags the few programs that need you to incorporate before funds are disbursed, so there are no surprises.
Check what you qualify for →Start here · fastest to claim
No company needed, rolling deadlines, low effort — the quickest wins on this list.
83 programs · updated 2026-07-12
Build with Gemini XPRIZE
$500,000 top ($2M pool)
Must be a NEW project started after May 19. The moonshot.
No company needed
Y Combinator
$500K + ~$3.5M credit stack
Takes solo founders. Auto-unlocks the entire portfolio credit stack.
No company needed
Kaya AI India Hackathon 2026
$350,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by Kaya — IoT, Machine Learning/AI, Enterprise. 1,435 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
ARC Prize 2026 — ARC-AGI-2
$700K pool / $275K grand prize
Solo or team, fully remote via Kaggle notebook; hit 85% on the private ARC-AGI-2 eval within compute limits, open-source within 7 days.
No company needed
Thiel Fellowship
$250,000 over two years
Truly non-dilutive (no equity), but you must be 22 or younger and skip or leave school; about 20-30 spots a year. Award raised to $250K (verified 2026).
No company needed
Entrepreneur First (EF)
Up to $250K + $5M follow-on + $600K credits
Invests in individuals before they have a co-founder or even an idea: equity-free grant during ideation, up to $250K once a company forms, up to $5M follow-on, plus $600K+ in Azure/OpenAI/Anthropic/GitHub credits. Cohorts in London, Bangalore, and San Francisco.
No company needed
Stripe Atlas (perks bundle)
~$220K partner perks
$500 to incorporate a DE C-corp -> unlocks Anthropic $500, AWS $5K, Azure $5K, etc.
No company needed$500 to start
Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub
Up to $150,000 Azure credits + AI model access
Self-serve "Get started" application, no investor or partner referral needed. Up to $150K in Azure credits unlocked in stages, plus access to Azure OpenAI and other AI models and dev tools (verified 2026-06-26). Build a software product and have not exhausted the benefit before; no external funding required and you can start pre-incorporation, though higher tiers verify your startup.
No company needed
Techstars Accelerator
$120K ($20K for ~6% + $100K note)
Three-month mentorship-driven program across 20+ cities; standard deal is $20K for ~6% common plus a $100K convertible note. Accepts very early teams pre-incorporation; rolling deadlines per program.
No company needed
Deepgram Startup Program
Up to $100,000 voice-AI credits (12 months)
Voice/speech-to-text credits (transcription, summarization, sentiment) for NEW Deepgram customers only: company-domain email + live website, under $10M raised (pre-Series A), actively building or launching within 6 months. Credits valid 12 months; review ~1 week, deposited 24-48h after acceptance. $100K is the ceiling tier, actual award is set on acceptance.
No company neededNeeds website
Sundance Institute Documentary Fund
$25,000 to $100,000
Feature-length only (52+ min), budget under $1.2M; 2026 cycle closed, next open call early 2027.
No company needed
National Geographic Society Grants
Level I up to $20,000; Level II up to $100,000
Individuals 18+ apply directly; funds science, conservation, storytelling, education or tech; themed calls carry their own deadlines.
No company needed
O'Shaughnessy Fellowship
up to $100,000
Equity-free, open worldwide to individuals 13+ with no entity required; annual cycle (2026 round closed Apr 30) so apply when the next opens, expect ~40+ hrs/week.
No company needed
Antler Residency
~$100K initial + up to $30M follow-on
Backs individual founders from day zero (pre-team / pre-idea OK) on founder potential, not stage; requires full-time focus (no full-time job alongside). Under 0.2% of applicants accepted; equity terms set at the residency.
No company needed
AI Genesis 2026 (lablab.ai)
$60,000+ prize pool
Online build Oct 26 to Nov 2 then optional invite-only onsite in Dubai; solo or team, free to enter.
No company needed
Retool for Startups
100% off Team/Business for 1 year (~$60K) + partner deals
New customers under $10M raised, founded under 10 years ago; upgrade to a paid plan before applying (discount back-applied).
No company needed
Emergent Ventures
$1,000 - $50,000
Mercatus/Tyler Cowen grants + fellowships for ambitious "zero to one" ideas, ages 13+. For-profit OK, a quick path to revenue is a plus. Short written rolling app; dedicated tracks for India, Africa, the Caribbean, and Ukraine.
No company needed
Creative Capital Award
up to $50,000
Unrestricted project grants for individual artists (visual/performing arts, film, literature); US-based artists only, annual open-call cycle.
No company needed
Slack Agent Builder Challenge
$42,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by Salesforce — Beginner Friendly, Enterprise, Low/No Code. 4,243 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
Reddit’s Games with a Hook Hackathon
$40,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by reddit — Beginner Friendly, Gaming, Web. 2,764 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography
$30,000
Photographers worldwide 18+ (non-students) for documentary work; $50 entry fee (waivers for underrepresented photographers); no AI-generated imagery.
No company needed
Baseten AI Startup Program
Up to $27,500 inference + API credits
AI-native startups founded under 5 years ago; must be a brand-new Baseten customer.
No company needed
OpenAI Codex Open-Source Fund
up to $25,000
No entity. You need an active public open-source repo to qualify.
No company neededNeeds repo
Gold House Futures (Gold Art Prize)
Up to $25,000
Applicants must identify as Asian and/or Pacific Islander; cash lives in the Gold Art Prize track, not base membership.
No company needed
ARC Prize 2026 — ARC-AGI-3 Milestone
$25K / $10K / $2.5K
Interactive reasoning benchmark, solo/remote via Kaggle; Sep 30 snapshot awards the live leaderboard top 3. No entity.
No company needed
VentureWell E-Team Program
up to $25,000
Students only: requires a team of 2+ currently enrolled at a US institution plus a faculty advisor, for science/engineering inventions with commercial intent; no fee.
No company needed
Amplitude Startup Scholarship
1 year free Growth plan (~$24K)
No entity required; under $10M funding and under 20 employees; about 96% approval in 2 business days.
No company needed
GitLab for Startups
Free Ultimate (up to 20 seats) for 1 year (~$24K)
Externally-funded only (self-funded excluded); seed under $5M or Series A/B under $20M, must show funding proof.
No company needed
Startup World Cup — Philadelphia
$20,000 equity-free
Equity-free pitch cash. Deck + onsite pitch Sep 18 in Philly.
No company needed
Warrior Rising Business Shower
up to $20,000
Veterans only: must be a US military veteran or immediate family and complete the free Warrior University program to pitch for the non-dilutive grant; rolling.
No company needed
Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant
~$11,000 (15,000 CAD)
Emerging representational artists only (painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing); 4 review cycles a year, no fee.
No company needed
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready
$10,000
No revenue gate. Finish 2 free courses to unlock the application.
No company needed
Amber Grant (WomensNet)
$10,000
Women-owned only (50%+); US/Canada; pre-revenue and idea-stage OK; $15 application fee; three $10K monthly + year-end $50K.
No company needed
IFundWomen Universal Grant
Varies ($10,000+ typical)
Women-founders only; one 10-minute application matches you to rotating partner grants; free.
No company needed
Hello Alice Small Business Grants
$5,000 to $25,000 (varies)
Rotating hub of partner grants (open ones change weekly); free account required; some need prior-year revenue.
No company needed
NeuroGolf 2026 (IJCAI-ECAI)
$10,000 + $8,000 top student team
Solo/remote on Kaggle; smallest neural nets that solve ARC-AGI transforms, submit in ONNX; $10K to whoever holds 1st longest.
No company needed
Algolia Startup Program
$10,000 in credits for 12 months
New customers only, under 7 years old and under $15M raised; no entity required but a live product site helps.
No company neededNeeds website
Render Startup Program
$10,000 in credits for 1 year
Base tier (under $1M funding) is self-serve; the $25K+ tiers need an accelerator/VC referral.
No company neededNeeds website
Vercel for Startups
Free Vercel Pro + up to $10,000 platform credits
Free Vercel Pro plus platform credits for 12+ months for early-stage startups. Most founders get in through an accelerator or VC partner code, but direct applications are considered; credit size scales with your tier and partner.
No company needed
Fund for Investigative Journalism Grant
up to $10,000
For freelance/staff investigative journalists; no fee, but full proposals need a US-outlet letter of commitment (seed grants up to $2,500 skip that requirement).
No company needed
Find the ones you qualify for
Tell Bursary who you are in one sentence. An AI matches you and drafts each application free.
Find my money →Frequently asked questions
Who qualifies for no llc needed?
You do not need a registered company to start claiming money. These grants, startup credits and prizes accept individuals, solo founders and early builders with no LLC or entity. Bursary reads your situation, ranks the ones open to you, and drafts each application. It also flags the few programs that need you to incorporate before funds are disbursed, so there are no surprises.
Can I really get a grant without forming an LLC?
Yes. Many grants, credits and prizes accept individuals and sole proprietors with no registered entity. Bursary flags the few that require you to incorporate before funds are paid out, so there are no surprises.
How much funding is available?
Programs on this list go up to $500,000. Bursary ranks them by what you actually qualify for.
How many programs are on this list?
83 verified programs, re-checked continuously.
Is it free to apply?
Most are free to apply. Bursary reads the fine print and flags any program that charges a fee before you start.
Do I need a registered company?
Not for all of them. Bursary matches programs to your situation and tells you which require a registered entity and which accept individuals.