Technology and Digitization
Grant
Open
Featured
Local Impact Mini-grants
The grants are designed to support local community groups and individual leaders running initiatives that work to expand digital financial access from the inside out. If you understand your community's barriers firsthand, this program is built for you.
Organization
Interledger
About this Opportunity
At a glance
- Who it is for
Community organisations, nonprofits, cooperatives, civil society groups, local fintech startups, social enterprises, and individual practitioners with a concrete project plan - What it supports
Meetups, workshops, hackdays, community conversations, research, storytelling, and content
Activities must have focus on open payments and digital financial access - How does it work?
Grants of $500 to $3,000 USD.
Rolling applications from July 6 to November 11, 2026.
Projects must be completed within 6 months from accepting the grant.
What grantees get
- Funding of $500 to $3,000 USD for direct project activities
- Flexible support for community-led learning, events, and local ecosystem building
- Access to Interledger resources and the broader open payments community
- Connection to a global network of practitioners working on digital financial access
What we are looking for
Strong proposals come from people with direct knowledge of the communities they are serving. We want to work with individuals and organisations who can bring local communities together around open payments and digital financial access, create space for learning, discussion, and hands-on experimentation, and share what they find with the broader Interledger community.
Projects serving communities in the Global South, rural areas, or peri-urban regions with limited access to formal financial services are a priority for this funding cycle.
How to apply
Review the eligibility criteria, complete the application form via Submittable, and submit any time between July 6 and November 11, 2026. Our team will follow up within two weeks of submission. Submitting early improves your chances of receiving an award within this cycle.
Before applying, review the Local Impact Mini-Grants Factsheet and check out the grant Resource Folder.
Who Can Apply
The program is open to registered and unregistered organisations as well as individuals. Eligible applicants include community organisations, nonprofits, cooperatives, civil society and advocacy groups, local fintech startups, social enterprises, and individual practitioners with a concrete project plan. Applications are welcome from any geography.
NOTE: The Interledger Foundation must comply with the economic and trade sanctions program administered by the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") of the U.S. Department of the Treasury. These sanctions have been imposed on specific countries, individuals, and entities that appear on OFAC's List of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (the "SDN List").
The Interledger Foundation is prohibited from providing most goods or services to residents of sanctioned countries or their governmental entities or to SDNs without an applicable U.S. government authorization or exemption.
The grants cover work across four areas:
- Open payments and digital financial access
- Open source and open innovation
- Financial inclusion and fintech ecosystems
- Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI/DPG) and related themes
Eligible activities include meetups and community conversations, workshops and demos, hackdays and participatory learning sessions, local ecosystem gatherings, research, storytelling, and awareness campaigns, and content.
Activities can be hosted independently or in collaboration with existing local groups, such as coworking spaces, open-source communities, hacker spaces, universities, incubators, accelerators, or civil society networks. This list is not exhaustive: if your activity creates space for local learning and connection around open payments or digital financial access, it is worth applying.
Grant funds must go toward direct project activities. Eligible uses include:
- Meetups, community conversations, and local ecosystem gatherings
- Workshops, demos, hackdays, and participatory learning sessions
- Research, storytelling, and awareness campaigns
- Content and materials on open payments and digital financial infrastructure
- Facilitator compensation and organizer stipends
- Travel and logistics tied directly to project delivery
General operating expenses, such as compensation for the organisers, and capital expenditures, are not eligible. The intention of the Local Impact Mini-Grants is to primarily provide flexible community activation mini-grants to support local events where communities are already doing such initiatives in their locale.
Requirements
- Detailed Budget
- Expression of Interest
- Timeline