Minority-Owned Business Grants Open Right Now — 2026

All 43 programs, sorted by what you actually receive

Every program is placed in one of four tiers by the instrument a founder ends up holding, not by how the program markets itself. Tier 1 is a grant: money you keep. Tier 2 is capital — a loan you repay, a state credit enhancement, revenue-based finance, or a tax credit that lands with an investor. Tier 3 gives you a certification or free expert help and no cash at all. Tier 4 is not open right now, whatever a listicle says. Program names link to the GrantCompass record for that program, where the eligibility detail lives.

• Tier 1 — grants, open now: 5 programs on October 1, 2026 (the Buckeye State Credit Union grant closed September 30). Two have a dated deadline; three run on rolling or city-corridor windows.
• Tier 2 — capital, not a grant: 22 programs, all open. 20 are CDFI or state loans, one is revenue-based financing, one is an investor tax credit.
• Tier 3 — certification or free support: 3 programs, all open. Real value, zero cash.
• Tier 4 — not open: 13 programs. Between intakes, closed for the cycle, paused, or ended for good.

Tier 1: the 5 grants a minority-owned business can apply to today

• Secretsos Small Business Grant$2,500 (quarterly) · Underserved owners turned down for bank credit · Open Q4 closes December 31, 2026 · $15 fee 6 intel fields — locked
• Galaxy Grant for Women and Minority Business Owners$2,500 · Women and minority business owners, any stage · Closed Round closed October 31, 2026; next not announced · free to apply 6 intel fields — locked
• Philadelphia COVID-19 Small Business Relief Grant / Commerce Department Small Business GrantUp to $50,000 · Philadelphia corridor and micro-enterprise businesses · Open Rolling — the city opens intake windows periodically 6 intel fields — locked
• Antares REACH Grant Program & Boost CampUp to $20,000 · Underrepresented founders with product/market fit · Open Rolling Boost Camp intakes — the last dated grant cohort closed January 5, 2026 6 intel fields — locked

Closing in the next 90 days

1 program on this page has a firm published deadline between today and January 30, 2027: the Secretsos Small Business Grant, whose Q4 window closes December 31, 2026 ($15 fee; applications do not roll over). The Galaxy Grant’s round closed October 31, 2026, and the next has not been announced. Every other open program here is rolling or window-based, which means there is nothing to race.

When does Sephora reopen? Not counted above because its status is tracked separately: the catalog record for Sephora’s $100,000 Beauty Grant: Sephora's 2027 round is taking applications, and the catalog's posted close is November 6, 2026.

Tier 2: where the money for minority-owned businesses actually is

This is the part of the landscape that listicles flatten, and it is the part that pays. A CDFI — a Community Development Financial Institution — is a Treasury-certified lender whose mandate is to serve borrowers conventional banks decline. They underwrite on cash flow and character rather than on a credit score alone, they do not close, and they are usually easier to win than a national grant competition with tens of thousands of entrants. Accion Opportunity Fund publishes an approval figure of roughly three quarters for applicants who complete its full process; the Black & Brown Founders grant, now between intakes (see below), made four awards in its last cycle.

Three of these instruments deserve their real names before you spend time on them. The Indiana Venture Capital Investment tax credit pays the investor, not the business — a 30% credit for money put into a minority-owned Qualified Indiana Business, which is a reason for someone to fund you rather than money you can apply for. Illinois’s Advantage Illinois and Indiana’s Legend Fund are credit enhancements: the state buys a participation in a bank’s loan so the bank will lend to you on better terms. You still apply to the bank, and you still repay. Founders First is revenue-based financing, repaid as a share of monthly revenue, with $10,000–$15,000 grants attached to its accelerator rather than offered on their own. None of the three is a grant, and all three are routinely listed as one.

Chicago and Illinois programs are covered in Illinois small business grants.

• Illinois Advantage Illinois Participation Loan Program (PLP)Up to $2M participation · Loan — state participation · IL · Illinois small businesses; minority, women, veteran and rural owners are the named priority
• Ohio Minority Business Direct Loan Program$45K-$1.5M · Loan — 1.5% fixed · OH · Ohio-certified MBEs financing equipment or owner-occupied property
• Indiana Venture Capital Investment (VCI) Tax Credit25-30% of investment · Tax credit — paid to the investor · IN · Investors in certified Indiana startups — 30% rate for minority-owned firms
• LiftFund — CDFI Small Business Loans$500–$1,000,000 · Loan — CDFI · 14 states · Underserved owners across 14 southern and southwestern states
• TruFund Financial Services — CDFI Small Business Loans$500–$1,000,000 · Loan — CDFI · NY/NJ/GA/AL/LA/TX · Minority- and women-owned businesses in NY, NJ, GA, AL, LA and TX
• Rhode Island Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP)$2,000–$750,000 · Loan — state · RI · Rhode Island businesses under 200 employees that banks decline
• LISC Entrepreneurs of Color Fund — Small Business LoansUp to $500,000+ · Loan — CDFI network · 11 states · Minority-owned businesses in 10 metro areas
• Pursuit — CDFI Small Business Loans$10,000–$500,000 · Loan — CDFI · 6 states · Immigrant, minority and early-stage owners; ITIN accepted
• Mountain BizWorks — Western NC Small Business Loans$1,000–$500,000 · Loan — CDFI · NC · Entrepreneurs in the 26 westernmost North Carolina counties
• DreamSpring — CDFI Small Business Loans$1,000–$350,000 · Loan — CDFI · 27 states · Women, immigrant, rural and owners of colour across 27 states; ITIN accepted
• Carolina Small Business Development Fund — Small Business LoansUp to $350,000 · Loan — CDFI · NC · North Carolina start-ups and existing businesses, all 100 counties
• Accion Opportunity Fund — Small Business Loans$5,000–$250,000 · Loan — CDFI · National · Underserved owners nationally; no minimum credit score
• Founders First Capital Partners — Revenue-Based Financing + Grant SupportUp to $2M financing + grants · Revenue-based financing · National · 51%+ women-, minority-, veteran- or LMI-owned service businesses
• HOPE (Hope Enterprise Corporation / Hope Credit Union) — Small Business LoansUp to $250,000 · Loan — CDFI credit union · 5 states · Deep South entrepreneurs; dedicated Black- and women-owned tracks
• Mississippi Minority Business Enterprise (MBE) Loan Program$35,001–$250,000 (up to $500,000 with 50% match) · Loan — state · MS · Mississippi minority- and women-owned businesses
• Pacific Community Ventures — Good Jobs Loans$10,000–$200,000 · Loan — CDFI · CA · Businesses creating quality jobs for low-income workers
• Minnesota Emerging Entrepreneur Loan Program (ELP)$5K–$150K · Loan — state · MN · Minority-, women-, veteran-, low-income- or disability-owned Minnesota businesses
• Virginia Small Business Financing Authority (VSBFA) Microloan Program$10K-$50K (SWaM); up to $150K · Loan — state · VA · Virginia small businesses, with a dedicated SWaM track
• Working Solutions — CDFI Small Business Loans$5,000–$100,000 · Loan — CDFI · CA · Bay Area owners; no credit score, no collateral, ITIN accepted
• Ohio Micro-Loan Program$10K-$45K at 0% · Loan — 0% interest · OH · Certified Ohio minority- and women-owned businesses
• Kiva U.S. — 0% Interest Microloans for Small Business$1,000–$15,000 at 0% interest · Loan — 0% interest · National · Underserved owners with no bank access; character-based lending
• Indiana Legend Fund — Small Business Loan Participation ProgramLender-set loans · Loan — state participation · IN · Indiana small businesses borrowing from CDFI and mission lenders

CDFI or MDI: which lender to call first

The two get confused because both appear on lists of "minority business funding". CDFI status describes what a lender is for: a community-development mission, defined target markets, and coaching offered alongside its loans. MDI status describes who owns or runs the bank. Neither decides who may borrow by race.

Worked example: a $2,500 grant against a $25,000 loan. The figures assume a 10% APR over 48 months to show the shape; your lender's rate will differ, so ask for the APR in writing.

The decision rule: borrow when the money buys something that earns more than the monthly payment, such as equipment or inventory that sells within the loan's term. Keep hunting grants, or take a smaller 0% microloan, when the money would only cover a shortfall. The CDFIs in the loans list above are a starting shortlist.

Tier 3: certifications that unlock contracts, not cash

The distinction matters because certification and grant-hunting are different projects with different time horizons. A grant application is an evening; 8(a) certification is a document exercise measured in weeks, after which the payoff arrives as contract flow over nine years. State and city MBE certification, and the federal DBE certification used for transportation contracts, work the same way: they are not on this page as separate rows because they are administered state by state rather than as national programs, but the logic is identical — the certificate is a key, not a cheque. If your revenue could come from selling to a government or a large corporate supplier, certification is the higher-expected-value use of the same hours.

• MBDA Business Center ProgramFree services (no cash grant) · Support program — free services · National · Minority-owned businesses wanting free consulting and contract help
• SBA 8(a) Business Development ProgramSole-source up to $5.5M (mfg: $8.5M) · Certification — contract access · National · Socially and economically disadvantaged owners chasing federal contracts
• Operation HOPE — 1 Million Black Businesses (1MBB)Free program + capital access · Support program — free · National · Black entrepreneurs seeking coaching and capital readiness

MBE, DBE and 8(a) after the 2025 and 2026 rule changes

What the new 8(a) test asks for. Under the rewritten SBA rule (13 CFR 124.103), an individual owner has to show that a government or private entity in the United States discriminated or was biased against a racial, ethnic or cultural group the owner belongs to, and then self-certify that this caused them material harm, defined as lost or reduced access to economic opportunity. Evidence the rule accepts includes government, university and corporate policies, official statements, reports and audits, and court decisions. Budget weeks of documentation, not an evening.

For a grant hunt the effect is indirect: grants rarely require a certificate, but a few loans do, and they follow the certifier's rules. If a program asks for "certified MBE", check which certifier it accepts; NMSDC's standard is still group-based, and state programs set their own.

Tier 4: the 13 that are closed, paused, or gone — and what changed

The legal landscape for race-conscious business grants moved between 2023 and 2025, and founders are still being sent to programs that closed as a result. The Fearless Fund Strivers Grant — a $20,000 award for Black women-owned businesses — was terminated in September 2024 under a settlement with the American Alliance for Equal Rights. The settlement bars the contest from operating; the Fearless Fund itself continues as an investor. That is a matter of record, not a prediction, and it is why the program appears here marked ended rather than quietly dropped. Comcast RISE, which paired a $5,000 cash grant with a marketing and technology package, last ran a cycle in May 2024 and has announced no window since; our catalog records it as winding down. Neither program will be helped by a founder filling in a form.

LGBTQ+ programs confirm eligibility in different ways; see how LGBTQ+ business grants check who qualifies.

A second category wastes more time than the closed ones, because it never closes and never pays you: programs that fund organisations rather than founders. The MBDA Capital Readiness Program awards $400,000 to $1,000,000 to nonprofits and CDFIs so that they can deliver capital-readiness services free of charge. Mastercard Strive USA works the same way — the grant goes to a local partner organisation, which then runs a program you may be eligible for. Both appear on dozens of “minority business grants” lists with an application link a business owner cannot use. They are marked here so you find that out in ten seconds rather than an afternoon.

The six between intakes are ordinary annual or per-cycle programs on a calendar: Sephora’s $100,000 beauty grant historically opens around October and closes about four weeks later; the Black Kitchen Initiative has moved its deadline between September and March across cycles; the Black Girl Ventures pitch program closed its 2026 cohort in May; the Kirabo Grant has closed 2026 with 2027 dates unannounced; Founders First’s supplier grant runs quarterly in principle without a published window; and the Black & Brown Founders Empower Growth Fund closed its August 31, 2026 Bizscoreline cutoff with no next round yet posted. Starring any of them in the database is the low-effort move — the alert arrives when the round reopens, and you do not check.

Race-specific grants after the Fearless Fund ruling: what still works

The ruling binds one circuit, but the federal certification programs moved the same way in 2025 and 2026. The sequence, from the court record and the Federal Register:

1. August 2023The American Alliance for Equal Rights sues the Fearless Fund and its foundation over the Strivers Grant.
2. June 3, 2024The Eleventh Circuit orders a preliminary injunction: the contest is substantially likely to violate § 1981 and unlikely to be protected by the First Amendment.
3. September 2024The parties settle and the Fearless Fund agrees to close the Strivers contest permanently; its other investing continues.
4. October 3, 2025A Department of Transportation interim rule was in force from this date, removing race- and sex-based presumptions from the DBE program.
5. September 10, 2026The SBA's rule removing the 8(a) presumption for individually owned firms takes effect.
6. September 25, 2026DOT's final DBE rule completes the switch to individual determinations.

What replaced the single-race grant is eligibility wording, and the wording tells you what you will be asked to show:

Whether a program above is taking applications changes week to week; the lists higher on this page show which are open. For how each category works in depth, read the evergreen minority-owned business grants guide.

Where to start, by founder background

Fit more than one row, or none? See which grants you qualify for: answer a few questions about your business and the matcher sorts the whole catalog for you.

The numbers behind “minority-owned business grants”

Of the 736 US funding programs GrantCompass tracks, 43 are tagged minority-owned; 30 of those are open as of October 1, 2026 and 5 of the 30 are grants. The shape below is the honest one, and it is not the shape a search result implies.

• 5 of 30. Only 5 open minority-owned programs are grants. The other 25 are real money or real value — but a loan, a credit, or a certificate, and each demands a different afternoon from you.
• 2 dated deadlines in the whole slice. Everything else that is open is rolling or opens on a window nobody publishes in advance. Scarcity here is in dated grants, not in open doors.
• $20,000 is the median published ceiling across the five open grants, all of which state a numeric maximum — two municipal programs ($50,000 and $250,000) sit above it. Two of the five pay $2,500.
• 20 lenders never close. If you need more than $50,000, the honest route for a minority-owned business in 2026 is a CDFI, not a grant competition.
• 2 of the 13 closed rows were never payable to a business at all. MBDA Capital Readiness and Mastercard Strive fund the organisations that help you.

Frequently asked questions