Funding Opportunities

Full-time, degree-seeking Harvard students and select alumni and affiliates are eligible to participate in this annual global venture competition. Ventures compete to win a share of $515,000 in non-dilutive funding from the Bertarelli Foundation.

The student application for the 2025 President's Innovation Challenge is open through December 5.

The Social Impact Fellowship Fund provides grants to social impact ventures led by Harvard students.

In addition to funding to propel their ventures, recipients gain valuable feedback from judges and join a growing network of past SIFF winners who are forging paths in social entrepreneurship.

The fund was established in 2019 through the generosity of Alexander Navab. It was Mr. Navab’s hope that support from this fund would help recipients accelerate and advance their venture creation in social impact sectors.

Available Funding

The Social Impact Fellowship Fund awards $200,000 in grants annually, over the course of three Pitch Days (fall, spring, and summer with $60-75K distributed per semester).

Multiple teams can be funded each round. Grants average between $5,000-20,000 though it can vary.

Eligibility

Open to Harvard student-led ventures that meet all the following criteria without exception:

• The venture has an active founder or co-founder who is a matriculated, degree-seeking Harvard undergraduate or graduate Harvard student, Harvard postdoctoral fellow or clinical fellow.
• The venture has not pitched in a previous round.

Traction, one of...

• A good number of active users (e.g. 300+ individuals, or 2+ organizations)
• Written partnerships
• External funding (investment or donations from arms-length funders) OR intellectual property

Proven Impact

• Data that what you are doing works (e.g. user retention, user satisfaction, or your impact metrics, and supplemented by testimonials)
• Can articulate a path to scale

Application + Selection Process

1. Applications are currently closed. When the next cycle opens, review our SIFF Applicant Resources to help you prepare a competitive application.
2. Complete the online application, which includes submitting a pitch deck. You must demonstrate traction (you need one of the following: active users, written partnerships, external funding, OR intellectual property) as well as to show impact, and be able to articulate a path to scale. You don’t have to be perfect on your pitch — the i-lab team can work with you on that!
3. The Social Impact Fellowship Fund Committee reviews and evaluates all applications.
4. Five to seven ventures (each round) are invited to pitch virtually to the SIFF judges, comprised of senior impact entrepreneurs, funders, and operators.
5. After the virtual pitch day, the SIFF judges determine the number of grants and grant amounts and notify winners.
6. Harvard Innovation Labs staff works with winners to disburse the funds as an unrestricted grant, either to the individual or to the venture entity (the later is often preferred by teams).

The Fine Print

By submitting an application, you consent to the release of information contained in your application to the Social Impact Fellowship Fund. Do not include confidential information in your application.

Ventures that are not selected to pitch may reapply for future rounds, especially if they have achieved significant traction since the time of application.

Spark Grants are non-dilutive grants, provided by the Allston Venture Fund and distributed by the Harvard Innovation Labs, to help Harvard student i-lab members validate demand and build a strong foundation for venture growth.

Available Funding

In the first round, eligible students will be awarded up to $750 to test demand. In a future semester, students may apply for up to $2,000 in additional funding.

Eligibility

Spark Grants are available to current Harvard student i-lab members in the Test or Propel stages that fulfill all the following criteria without exception:

• Ventures must be members of the current Student i-lab term.
• Ventures must be in either the Test or Propel stages, though Spark Grants are geared toward Test-stage ventures.
• Ventures must have participated in at least one prior membership term within the last 12 months.
• Ventures must have a plan to use the money for demand validation and disclose if they have previously received Spark Grant funding in their application.
• Ventures with a for-profit or a nonprofit business model are welcome to apply.
  

Application + Selection Process

1. Complete the online application. If this is your first time applying, describe how you will use the grant to test demand for your product or service.
2. In subsequent applications, applications will be asked to describe the experiment(s) they ran and what they learned for a chance to win additional funding.
   
3. Funds are distributed by Harvard Innovation Labs staff based on demonstrated need, impact of funds, and overall demand.

The Fine Print

Ventures do not need to be incorporated to accept the non-dilutive grants; however, please note there may be tax and visa implications.

Key Dates

We’re adjusting the timeline for the Spark Grant this year to better serve both new and returning students. The next round of funding will now take place in the spring, allowing all new and renewal students an opportunity to apply. We appreciate your understanding and look forward to supporting your innovative projects in the spring.

The Allston Venture Fund is an investment collaborative that provides pre-seed funding to high-potential, high-impact ventures led by Harvard students.

Available Funding

The fund invests approximately $700,000 per year over three investment periods: Fall, Spring, and Summer. Investments take the form of a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) and range in value from $10,000 to $100,000. More than one team may be funded each round

Eligibility

Open to Harvard student-led ventures that meet all the following criteria without exception:

• The venture has an active founder or co-founder who is a matriculated, degree-seeking Harvard student.
• The venture has achieved material traction.
• The venture is incorporated as a C corporation.
• The venture is actively raising capital.

Application + Selection Process

The Allston Venture Fund Investment Committee is independent from Harvard and is solely responsible for the selection of applicants to present to the committee and for all investment decisions. The committee is comprised of partners from each of the founding firms: Bain Capital (Amit Bhatti), General Catalyst (Larry Bohn), GETTYLAB (Aniq Kassam), Highland Capital (Paul Maeder), Polaris Partners (Terry McGuire), and Underscore VC (Lily Lyman). No Harvard employee, faculty member, or student serves on the committee.

1. Complete the online application. This includes a required pitch deck.
2. The Investment Committee reviews and evaluates all applications.
3. Five to seven ventures (each round) are invited to pitch virtually to the Investment Committee. Invited ventures will be notified via email by Harvard Innovation Labs staff, and must meet with staff advisors to prepare their pitch and deck.
   
4. After the virtual pitch day, the Investment Committee determines the number of investments and investment amounts and notifies winners within one to two weeks.

The Fine Print

Harvard does not endorse, and is not responsible for, any investment, activity, product, or service of the Allston Venture Fund or its investors. By submitting an application, you consent to the release of information contained in your application to The Allston Venture Fund. Do not include confidential information in your application.

Key Dates

The next AVF deadline will be announced soon.