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EdTech Grants in North America (2027): US, Canada and Mexico Funding for Education Startups, From ED/IES SBIR and NSF to NRC IRAP, SR&ED, Mitacs and TecPrize

EdTech Grants in North America: US, Canada and Mexico Programmes for Education Startups in 2027

Where your company is registered decides which EdTech grants you can win. A US startup can apply for federal SBIR money from the Department of Education and the National Science Foundation; a Canadian startup cannot, but it has NRC IRAP, the SR&ED tax credit and Mitacs; a Mexican startup has almost no public grants for education technology and relies on prizes. This guide sorts North American EdTech funding by country, and we checked every programme on its official page in November 2026: who can apply, how much you get, what strings are attached and the current status. Passed deadlines are written as passed. The 2025 version of this article listed 20 items, but most were grants for schools, libraries or nonprofits, Australian or general small-business programmes, or names we could not find; they are listed at the end with the reason. For a programme-by-programme guide that also covers Europe and global funds, read our EdTech startup grants guide.

Quick answer: In the United States, the two federal doors are ED/IES SBIR ($250,000 for a nine-month Phase I, then $1 million), whose FY 2027 calls are expected in late 2026 or early 2027, and the NSF SBIR/STTR Learning and Cognition Technologies topic (up to $305,000 in Phase I, zero equity; next deadline after November: 4 March 2027). In Canada, talk to an NRC IRAP advisor, claim SR&ED every year and hire research interns through Mitacs. In Mexico, we found no federal grant for EdTech startups; watch the next TecPrize of Tec de Monterrey and enter worldwide prizes such as the Tools Competition and MIT Solve, which founders from all three countries can use.

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EdTech Grants in North America Compared

Programme	Country	Amount	Who can apply	Status (November 2026)
ED/IES SBIR (US Department of Education)	US	Phase I $250,000 (9 months); Phase II or Direct to Phase II $1,000,000 (2 years)	US for-profit small businesses	FY 2026 calls closed; FY 2027 calls expected late 2026 or early 2027
NSF SBIR/STTR, Learning and Cognition Technologies	US	Phase I up to $305,000; Phase II up to $1,250,000	US small businesses, fewer than 500 employees, at least 50% US-owned	Deadlines 4 November 2026, 4 March 2027, 7 July 2027 (invitation needed)
Kentucky SBIR/STTR Matching Funds	US (Kentucky)	Up to $100,000 (Phase I) or $150,000 (Phase II)	SBIR/STTR winners in Kentucky or moving there	Competitive, reimbursable
Tools Competition	Worldwide	Prizes of $50,000, $150,000 or $300,000	Companies, nonprofits, researchers; Postsecondary track US only	2027 cycle Phase I closed 13 October 2026
MIT Solve 2027 Global Learning Challenge	Worldwide	$10,000 Solver Award per team, plus prizes	Solutions at prototype stage or later	Submission deadline set for 6 November 2026, 12:00 p.m. EST
NRC IRAP	Canada	Agreed with your industrial technology advisor	Incorporated for-profit firms, up to 500 employees	Any time
SR&ED investment tax credit	Canada	35% refundable on up to $6 million of R&D for most CCPCs	Companies doing R&D in Canada	Claimed with your tax return
Mitacs Accelerate	Canada	$15,000 award per internship; you pay from $7,500	Companies hiring graduate researchers	Apply with a university partner
CanExport SMEs	Canada	$10,000 to $50,000, up to 50% of costs	Firms with 3 to 500 staff and $300,000 to $100 million revenue	2026-27 intake closed; next intake not announced
TecPrize (Tec de Monterrey)	Mexico	US$10,000 equity-free grant for each of 3 winners	Startups and organisations, per the call's terms	2026 call closed 30 September 2026; final January 2027

Sources: each programme's official website, solicitation, rules or applicant guide, checked 1 and 2 November 2026. Canadian amounts are in Canadian dollars. Rules change between rounds, so read the current call before you apply.

United States: Federal EdTech Grants

1. ED/IES SBIR: the Department of Education's own EdTech grant

The Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the US Department of Education, runs the only federal SBIR programme built entirely around education technology. Under its FY 2026 solicitations, Phase IA paid $250,000 for nine months to build a new, first-of-its-kind education technology product, and Phase IB paid the same to add a new component to an existing research-based product. Direct to Phase II paid $1 million for two years to turn an evidence-based innovation created by researchers at a university or nonprofit education research organisation into a commercial product; you do not need an earlier Phase I award for it. Status: according to the ED/IES SBIR solicitation page (last updated 30 October 2026), the FY 2026 calls are closed, and the FY 2027 solicitations are expected to open in late 2026 or early 2027, with proposals due about 60 days after release. FY 2026 Phase IA and IB winners can apply for a $1 million Phase II in FY 2027. Programme staff answer questions only before a solicitation is released, so contact them now if you plan to apply.

2. NSF SBIR/STTR: the Learning and Cognition Technologies topic

The National Science Foundation funds research-based startups through its SBIR and STTR programmes and takes zero equity. Its Learning and Cognition Technologies topic has five subtopics: advanced learning technologies, workforce development and upskilling, advanced analytics for learning and cognition, multimodal learning, and other learning and cognition technologies. It is for turning peer-reviewed learning research into products, and it does not fund clinical studies. Under the NSF 26-510 solicitation, Phase I pays up to $305,000 for 6 to 18 months and Phase II up to $1,250,000, typically over 24 months. Your company must be US-based, have fewer than 500 employees and be at least 50% owned by US citizens or permanent residents, and all funded work must happen in the US. You start with a short Project Pitch, and only invited teams can send a full proposal. The full-proposal deadlines are set for 4 November 2026, 4 March 2027 and 7 July 2027, at 5 p.m. your local time.

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3. State money on top of SBIR: the Kentucky example

Few US states run grants for EdTech companies; the state "digital learning" grants you see in lists usually go to public schools and districts. What states do offer is matching money once you win a federal SBIR or STTR award, including one from ED/IES or NSF. Kentucky's SBIR/STTR Matching Funds programme matches up to $100,000 for a Phase I project and up to $150,000 for Phase II, for for-profit companies located in Kentucky or willing to move there; it is competitive and reimbursable and takes no equity. Ask your own state's economic development agency whether it has a similar programme. Our guide to deep tech grants in North America covers other SBIR agencies and state matching funds.

4. Money your school customers receive (but you cannot apply for)

Some of the biggest US "education technology" funds pay schools, not startups. The E-Rate programme, run by the Universal Service Administrative Company, gives K-12 schools and libraries discounts on internet access, telecommunications services and related equipment. State digital learning grants work the same way: the district applies and buys products. If your product fits what these funds pay for, help your school customers with their applications, but do not count on them as your startup's own grant.

Worldwide Prizes Open to US, Canadian and Mexican Founders

5. Tools Competition: prizes of $50,000 to $300,000

The Tools Competition is a yearly prize for education technology, sponsored by Renaissance Philanthropy and run by The Learning Agency. According to its 2027 official rules, companies of any size, nonprofits, researchers and teachers can enter. Catalyst prizes are $50,000, Growth prizes $150,000 and Transform prizes (for platforms with 10,000 or more users) $300,000; the datasets track pays $100,000. The Postsecondary Learning and Work track is only for US entrants serving US learners; the teaching, assessment and datasets tracks are open worldwide, so Canadian and Mexican startups can enter them. Status: Phase I abstracts for this cycle closed on 13 October 2026. Invitations to Phase II were scheduled for 24 November 2026, Phase II proposals are due on 21 January 2027 and winners are to be notified in early May 2027. If you missed it, prepare for the next cycle.

6. MIT Solve 2027 Global Learning Challenge: a $10,000 grant and access to prizes

MIT Solve runs open challenges for social impact startups and nonprofits, and its 2027 Global Learning Challenge asks how to close global education gaps while improving outcomes for every learner. Every selected Solver team receives a $10,000 Solver Award, and Solve says teams receive an average of $40,000 each from a prize pool of more than $1 million. Some prizes are for US teams, such as the Citizens Workforce Innovation Prize ($100,000 for at least one US-based team). Solutions must be at prototype stage or later; ideas at concept stage are not reviewed in this challenge. Status: applications opened on 22 September 2026, and the submission deadline was set for 6 November 2026 at 12:00 p.m. EST. Finalists are notified in February and pitch online before the judges pick the Solver class.

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Canada: EdTech Grants and Credits

7. NRC IRAP: R&D funding and an advisor

The National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) is the main source of R&D money for small Canadian tech companies, including EdTech companies that develop new technology, such as adaptive learning or speech engines. According to NRC, your business must be incorporated, for-profit, operating in Canada and have up to 500 full-time equivalent employees; sole proprietorships, partnerships and cooperatives are not supported. There is no call with a deadline: you contact IRAP, and if your project fits, an industrial technology advisor works out the funding with you. Meeting the basic criteria does not guarantee funding.

8. SR&ED: a refundable tax credit for R&D

The Scientific Research and Experimental Development programme is not a grant but works like one for startups without profits. According to the Canada Revenue Agency's SR&ED investment tax credit page, most Canadian-controlled private corporations earn a 35% credit on qualified R&D spending up to an expenditure limit of $6 million (for tax years beginning after 15 December 2024), and 15% above it. The 35% credit on current expenditures is fully refundable, so you get cash back even with no tax to pay. The limit shrinks when the previous year's taxable capital passes $15 million and disappears at $75 million. Only the experimental part of an EdTech product counts, for example a new learning algorithm, not routine app development or content writing.

9. Mitacs Accelerate: research interns paid half by the programme

Mitacs Accelerate pairs your company with graduate students or postdoctoral fellows from a Canadian university for four- or six-month research projects. In the standard model the company contributes from $7,500 per internship and the project receives a $15,000 award, of which the intern gets at least $10,000; projects can scale up to five years. For-profit partners must pay with private money, not other government aid, and startups owned by the intern and based at an approved Canadian incubator can also be partners. For an EdTech company this is a cheap way to run learning research with an education faculty.

10. CanExport SMEs: up to $50,000 to sell abroad

Once your Canadian EdTech product sells at home, CanExport SMEs can pay half of your costs to enter new markets, such as trade fairs, market research or adapting materials. According to the 2026-27 applicant's guide, applicants must be for-profit companies established in Canada with 3 to 500 full-time employees and $300,000 to $100 million in annual revenue; you can ask for $10,000 to $50,000, up to 50% of eligible costs, and pay your half in cash. Status: the programme page says all applications for the 2026-27 intake have been processed, and information about future intakes will be posted there.

11. Provincial programmes

Provincial innovation agencies, such as the Ontario Centre of Innovation, Innovate BC, Alberta Innovates and Investissement Québec, fund technology companies too, but they rarely run calls just for education, and their programmes change often. Check your province's agency before you plan around a grant, and ask your IRAP advisor which provincial money can be combined with IRAP.

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Mexico: Prizes Instead of Grants

12. TecPrize: equity-free grants from Tec de Monterrey

TecPrize is an open innovation challenge of the Institute for the Future of Education (IFE) at Tecnológico de Monterrey, the private university in Monterrey. The 2026 challenge, "Building a Future-Ready Workforce", asks how organisations can build a more adaptable, resilient workforce for an AI-driven future of work. Each of the three winning solutions receives a US$10,000 equity-free grant. The ten finalists get a flight and admission for one founder to the IFE Conference 2027, a booth at the IFE EdTech Summit, an impact measurement bootcamp, mentoring, and one finalist is recommended to the USC Education Technology Accelerator. Status: the 2026 call ran from 19 August to 30 September 2026 and is closed; finalists are announced in November 2026, and the final takes place on 26 to 28 January 2027 at the IFE Conference in Monterrey. Eligibility is set in each call's terms and conditions, so read them when the next challenge opens.

Federal grants: on Mexican government pages we found no federal grant programme for EdTech startups in November 2026; the calls of SECIHTI, the federal science and technology secretariat, that we saw were aimed at researchers and public education institutions. Mexican EdTech founders therefore combine TecPrize with the worldwide tracks of the Tools Competition and MIT Solve, with accelerators and with investors. Our list of Mexico City startups to watch shows who is building there, and our guide to EdTech startup ecosystems in South America covers the public programmes of Brazil, Chile, Colombia and their neighbours.

What About the Big US Foundations?

Old lists of EdTech grants send founders to the Gates, Ford and Kresge foundations. Their own pages show that a startup cannot simply apply:

Gates Foundation: its grant opportunities page says it awards the majority of its grants to US 501(c)(3) and other tax-exempt organisations identified by its staff; open requests for proposals, including Grand Challenges, are posted on its portals.
Ford Foundation: its grants page says it does not accept unsolicited grant proposals.
Kresge Foundation: its grants and social investments page says it makes its grants to nonprofits and most often invites applicants.

For a startup, the realistic route to foundation money is indirect: work with a nonprofit or university that a foundation already funds, or win a foundation-backed prize such as the Tools Competition or a MIT Solve prize.

EdTech Grant Dates for Your Calendar

These are the fixed dates from the programmes above. NRC IRAP, SR&ED and Mitacs have no deadlines, and CanExport SMEs and TecPrize had not announced their next calls.

Programmes Removed From the Old List

The 2025 version of this article listed 20 grants. Here is why the others are no longer on the list:

NSW Going Global Export Program: an Australian programme that helps Australian EdTech firms export to the US, not a North American grant.
Illinois Tech Incubator Enhancement Grant and Small Business Capital and Infrastructure Grant: capital grants for incubators and for small businesses in general, with 2025 deadlines that have passed.
New York Learning Technology Grant, E-Rate and state digital learning grants: money for school districts, schools and libraries, not for companies; E-Rate is explained above as school-side money.
Gates, Ford and Kresge foundations: moved to the foundations section above; none takes open applications from startups.
UNICEF "Blue Unicorn": no official UNICEF page; the UNICEF Venture Fund is covered in our EdTech startup grants guide.
Lenovo Evolve Small and "Various Education Grants": a general small-business grant cited from a LegalZoom article, and a magazine article rather than a programme.
SBIR and STTR (general) and "NSF Educational Innovation Grants": merged into the ED/IES SBIR and NSF sections; we found no NSF programme under the old name.
EdTech Partners Grant Initiative: its domain no longer resolves, and we found no official page for it.
NEH, IMLS, AERA and TechSoup: grants or discounts for nonprofits, universities, libraries, museums or individual researchers. NEH's 2025 notice for Digital Humanities Advancement Grants lists for-profit entities as not eligible.
Digital Equity Act grants: they went to states, tribes and nonprofits, and according to the American Library Association, NTIA terminated most of the awards in May 2025.

Which EdTech Grant Should You Apply For?

US startup with a new learning product: prepare for the ED/IES SBIR FY 2027 Phase IA call and send an NSF Project Pitch now, aiming for 4 March 2027. Never ask both agencies to fund the same work.
US startup built on university or nonprofit research: ED/IES SBIR Direct to Phase II ($1 million) when the FY 2027 call opens.
US SBIR winner: ask your state about matching funds, as in Kentucky.
Canadian startup: call NRC IRAP, claim SR&ED every year, run learning research with Mitacs interns, and use CanExport SMEs when you sell abroad.
Mexican startup: the next TecPrize, plus the worldwide tracks of the Tools Competition and MIT Solve.
Any country, product with users: the next Tools Competition cycle (Growth or Transform level).
Women-founded EdTech startup: add the women-only programmes in our guide to grants for female entrepreneurs.

How EdTech Founders Combine Grants With Other Funding

Grants pay for research and development, take months to arrive and rarely cover sales, so EdTech founders combine them with customers, prizes and investors. For faster, smaller money, see our guide to startup competitions in North America and the worldwide list of grants for early-stage startups. When you are ready to raise, compare EdTech VC firms and angel investors in North America; if you plan to expand to Europe, read about EdTech accelerators in Europe. To meet school buyers and investors, pick from our list of EdTech startup events, and if you are still choosing where to build, read our guide to startup cities in North America. Our sister site grant-grants.com keeps a broader list of EdTech and education innovation grants and explains non-dilutive funding.

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FAQ About EdTech Grants in North America

Which EdTech grants are open in North America right now?

In early November 2026: NSF SBIR/STTR (full-proposal deadline 4 November 2026, then 4 March 2027, invitation needed), the MIT Solve 2027 Global Learning Challenge (deadline set for 6 November 2026) and, in Canada, NRC IRAP, SR&ED and Mitacs, which have no deadlines. The ED/IES SBIR FY 2027 calls are expected in late 2026 or early 2027.

How much does the US Department of Education give EdTech startups?

Through ED/IES SBIR, $250,000 for a nine-month Phase I and $1 million for a two-year Phase II or Direct to Phase II project, based on the FY 2026 solicitations.

Can a Canadian or Mexican EdTech startup get SBIR money?

Not as a Canadian or Mexican company. NSF requires a US-based small business with fewer than 500 employees, at least 50% owned by US citizens or permanent residents, with all funded work in the US. ED/IES SBIR is also for US small businesses.

What is the best EdTech grant in Canada?

There is no EdTech-only federal grant. Most Canadian EdTech startups combine NRC IRAP funding, the refundable 35% SR&ED tax credit and Mitacs research interns, and use CanExport SMEs to enter new markets.

Are there EdTech grants in Mexico?

We found no federal grant programme for EdTech startups on Mexican government pages in November 2026. Tec de Monterrey's TecPrize gives each of three winners a US$10,000 equity-free grant, and the Tools Competition and MIT Solve accept Mexican founders.

Do I have to give up equity for these grants?

No. SBIR, NSF, state matching funds, IRAP, SR&ED, Mitacs, CanExport SMEs, TecPrize grants and Tools Competition prizes take no equity. Mitacs and CanExport SMEs need your own cash contribution.

Can my startup apply for E-Rate or state digital learning grants?

No. E-Rate gives discounts to K-12 schools and libraries, and state digital learning grants go to schools and districts. They can pay for your product, but the school applies.

Do the Gates or Ford foundations fund EdTech startups?

Rarely directly. Gates awards most of its grants to US 501(c)(3) and other tax-exempt organisations identified by its staff, and Ford does not accept unsolicited proposals. Partner with a nonprofit or enter a foundation-backed prize instead.

Where can I find EdTech grants in Europe?

In our EdTech startup grants guide, which covers the EIC Accelerator, Erasmus+ and other non-US programmes.

Where can I get a backlink by writing about my EdTech startup?

You can publish a guest post in one of the Fe/male Switch startup blogs, which rank in Google and in AI tools. Get a quality backlink.

About the Author

Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.

Violetta Bonenkamp

2026-11-02 01:52 Top 20