United States / Funding / By state / Texas
Funding for startups in Texas
Texas runs 18 programmes of its own, and 12 of them take applications right now. The 63 federal programmes further down are open to Texas companies too. We read each one on its official site and note the date we checked.
Run by Texas and local bodies
Austin Technology Incubator (ATI)
IC² Institute, The University of Texas at Austin · Texas
UT Austin's deep-tech incubator connects startups to mentors, corporate partners, and investors rather than providing cash directly.
Central Texas Angel Network (CTAN)
Central Texas Angel Network · Texas
Austin-based angel network running six funding cycles a year for startups with a working product and early customer validation.
DivInc Accelerator Programs
DivInc · Texas
An Austin and Houston nonprofit accelerator for underrepresented founders; its pages give no per-company cash award.
Harris County Opportunity Fund
Harris County Department of Economic Equity and Opportunity, administered by PeopleFund · Texas
Low-interest micro and growth loans of $5,000 to $250,000 for small businesses located in Harris County, administered by PeopleFund.
LiftFund Small Business Loans
LiftFund · Texas
A San Antonio-based nonprofit CDFI lending up to $250,000 to Texas small businesses that may not qualify for a traditional bank loan.
OwlSpark Accelerator
Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Rice University · Texas
A summer accelerator for Rice-affiliated founders covering both tech startups and small businesses, offering mentorship rather than a fixed cash award.
Research and Development Activities Credit (Franchise Tax, Subchapter T)
Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts · Texas
A Texas franchise tax credit worth 8.722% of qualified research expenses performed in Texas, in effect since January 2026.
Small Business Assistance Program (SBAP)
City of Dallas Office of Economic Development · Texas
Reimbursable capital-improvement grants up to $400,000 for Dallas small businesses with 20 or fewer employees expanding or relocating within the city.
Small Business Buy-Down Program
CDFI Friendly Fort Worth, in partnership with LiftFund and the City of Fort Worth · Texas
Interest-free loans up to $100,000 for small businesses located in or relocating to Fort Worth, funded through CDFI Friendly Fort Worth and LiftFund.
Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF)
Office of the Governor, State of Texas · Texas
Texas's discretionary 'deal-closing' cash grant fund for large job-creating and capital-investment projects choosing Texas over an out-of-state site; not an early-stage startup grant.
Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF)
Texas Economic Development & Tourism Office (Office of the Governor) — Texas CHIPS Office · Texas
State grants and matching funds for semiconductor research, design, and manufacturing projects by Texas businesses of any size.
Texas Small Business Credit Initiative (TSBCI)
Office of the Governor, Economic Development & Tourism (EDT), Economic Development Finance Division · Texas
Loan guarantees and portfolio insurance that help Texas small businesses with up to 499 employees get financing through participating lenders.
LiftOff Houston! Business Plan Competition
City of Houston Office of Business Opportunity (OBO) · Texas
A Houston business plan competition awarding $10,000 to the winner in each of three categories: Innovation, Service and Product.
Rice Business Plan Competition
Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Rice University · Texas
An annual student startup competition at Rice awarding over $1 million in cash and investment, with every team guaranteed at least $950.
Aggie PITCH
McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship, Texas A&M University · Texas
A Texas A&M student pitch competition with cash prizes up to $6,000, currently paused with no new round announced.
Space Exploration and Aeronautics Research Fund (SEARF)
Texas Space Commission · Texas
State grants of $175,000 to $10 million for space, aeronautics, and aviation projects run by Texas companies and nonprofits.
CPRIT Seed Award (Product Development Research Program)
Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) · Texas
Up to $3 million in nondilutive funding for early-stage Texas oncology companies developing cancer therapeutics, diagnostics, or tools.
PeopleFund Small Business Loans
PeopleFund · Texas
An Austin-founded nonprofit CDFI making flexible small-business loans across Texas, prioritizing women, minority, and veteran founders.
Want to filter these by amount or stage? Open them in the full directory.
Federal programmes open to Texas 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 Texas deadline funders will ask about
Most programmes above ask for financials and a company in good standing. In Texas that means the Franchise Tax Report (Public Information Report / Ownership Information Report required alongside it) — Fixed date: May 15 (next business day if May 15 falls on a weekend or holiday).
This page exists because Texas has at least 2 verified programmes of its own. See every state, or tell us about a Texas 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 Texas books in that shape year-round, so applying is an export rather than a rebuild.