United States / Funding / By state / District of Columbia
Funding for startups in District of Columbia
District of Columbia runs 5 programmes of its own, and 4 of them take applications right now. The 63 federal programmes further down are open to District of Columbia companies too. We read each one on its official site and note the date we checked.
Run by District of Columbia and local bodies
Commercial Property Acquisition Fund (CPAF)
DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) · District of Columbia
DC businesses buying their own commercial space can get a grant covering up to 25 percent of the price, capped at $500,000.
LEDC Growth Loan
Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) · District of Columbia
Established DC-area small businesses can borrow up to $250,000 to expand, at a fixed rate starting around 6.5 percent.
LEDC SEED Loan
Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) · District of Columbia
Very early DC founders, including pre-launch ones, can get a small loan of up to $5,000 to get started.
LEDC Startup Loan
Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC) · District of Columbia
DC-area startups under two years old can borrow up to $20,000 at a fixed rate as low as 6.5 percent.
Great Streets Retail Grant Program
DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) · District of Columbia
Small retail and service businesses on one of DC's designated Great Streets corridors can apply each year for a storefront renovation grant.
Want to filter these by amount or stage? Open them in the full directory.
Federal programmes open to District of Columbia businesses
Grants 23
- AFWERX SBIR/STTR & Army xTechup to $15M
- Amber Grant for Womenup to $50k
- ARPA-E
- ARPA-H
- Comcast RISEup to $5k
- DHS SBIRup to $1M
- DoD SBIR/STTRup to $2.15M
- DOE SBIR/STTRup to $2.15M
- ED/IES SBIRup to $1M
- EDA Build to Scale (B2S)up to $5M
- EPA SBIRup to $400k
- Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program
- FedEx Small Business Grant Contestup to $50k
- NASA SBIR/STTRup to $1.27M
- NIH SBIR/STTRup to $4.19M
- NOAA SBIRup to $690k
- NSF SBIR/STTR — America's Seed Fund powered by NSFup to $1.25M
- Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) — Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiencyup to $25M
- SBA Growth Accelerator Fund Competition (GAFC)up to $200k
- SBIR/STTR (America's Seed Fund)up to $2.15M
- US DOT SBIRup to $200k
- USDA NIFA SBIR
- Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG)up to $200k
Loans & guarantees 15
- CAPLines (SBA 7(a) Lines of Credit)up to $5M
- CDFI Fund — Certified Community Development Financial Institution Network
- DOE Loan Programs Office (Office of Energy Dominance Financing)
- Export Working Capital Program (EWCP)up to $5M
- International Trade Loan Program (ITL)up to $5M
- Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loan (MREIDL)up to $2M
- SBA 504 Loan Program (CDC/504)up to $5.5M
- SBA 7(a) Loan Programup to $5M
- SBA Community Advantage Loansup to $1M
- SBA Disaster Loans (Physical Damage & Economic Injury)up to $2M
- SBA Microloan Programup to $50k
- SBA-504 and 7(a) Combined Loan Cap ($10M)up to $10M
- EXIM Working Capital Guarantee Programup to $10M
- SBA Surety Bond Guarantee Programup to $14M
- State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI)
Tax benefits 8
- Federal R&D Tax Credit (Section 41)
- New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC)
- QSBS Section 1202 Exclusionup to $15M
- Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ)
- R&D Payroll Tax Offset (Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit)up to $500k
- Section 174A Domestic R&D Expensing Restoration
- State R&D Tax Credits (multi-state landscape)
- Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC)up to $2.4k
Equity 7
- 500 Global Flagship Acceleratorup to $150k
- Antler US Residency
- gener8tor Investment Acceleratorup to $100k
- HAXup to $250k
- Neo Accelerator
- Techstars Standard Investment Termsup to $220k
- Y Combinator Standard Dealup to $500k
Support & credits 10
- AWS Activateup to $200k
- Google for Startups Cloud Programup to $350k
- Microsoft for Startupsup to $150k
- MassChallenge Accelerator Programs (Traction & Challenge)
- MBDA Business Center Network
- NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)
- NVIDIA Inception
- Plug and Play Accelerator Programs
- SBA 8(a) Business Development Program
- Women-Owned Small Business (WOSB) Federal Contract Program
The other District of Columbia deadline funders will ask about
Most programmes above ask for financials and a company in good standing. In District of Columbia that means the Biennial Report — First report due April 1 of the calendar year following formation or registration. Subsequent reports are due April 1 every second calendar year after that.
This page exists because District of Columbia has at least 2 verified programmes of its own. See every state, or tell us about a District of Columbia programme we are missing via the contact page.
Funders read the books before the pitch
Every programme on this page asks for financials in a particular shape. We keep District of Columbia books in that shape year-round, so applying is an export rather than a rebuild.