September Funding Opportunities - Oahu Business Connnector

01SepSeptember 1, 2024

By Alyssa Goslee Business Growth, Funding and Finances, Microenterprises

As we step into September, it’s a prime time for small business owners to explore the latest grants and funding opportunities available. With the final quarter of the year approaching, many organizations are rolling out new programs aimed at supporting small businesses in their growth and sustainability. Whether you’re seeking funds to launch a new project, expand operations, or simply navigate the economic challenges, we’ve got the latest information to guide you through the process this September and beyond.

Private companies and nonprofits are offering a number of grants for small businesses.

Please keep in mind these are offered by private organizations, not the City and County of Honolulu, and have their own eligibility rules and ways to apply. Read grant applications carefully – some organizations charge a fee to apply.

Grants

Creative Legacy Makers Grant

Application Deadline: September 3, 2024

The 2024 Creative Legacy Makers Grant is a $10,000 award designed to acknowledge and support an established Black craftsperson or collective with 30 or more years in the field who continues to impact contemporary craft and affirm Black Diasporic culture.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

The 2024 TD Ready Challenge

Application Deadline: September 5, 2024

The 2024 TD Ready Challenge is seeking applications from charitable and non-profit organizations that propose innovative approaches to supporting underserved small business owners to develop a business, launch a new business, or grow an existing business.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

Honeycomb Credits $5,000 Golden Summer Grant

Application Deadline: September 9, 2024

Be one of 4 winners of a POS system upgrade!

No Toast system? No problem! You do not need to have a Toast system to enter.

This giveaway is open to all small business owners looking to improve their operations.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

Vision Verde

Application Deadline: September 11, 2024

Visión Verde is a multi-year platform sponsored by Bacardi U.S.A., Inc., designed to empower Latinx/Hispanic entrepreneurs within the beverage alcohol service, sales, and hospitality industries. In its second year, Visión Verde grant will be awarded to 10 deserving recipients across the U.S., each receiving $10,000 to fund initiatives that promote sustainability and environmental impact through education and mentorship.n.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

Fast Break for Small Business Grant

Application Deadline: September 13, 2024

Small businesses that have been in operation for at least three months are eligible for a $10,000 small business grant and/or up to $500 in LegalZoom products and services. Entrepreneurs who have yet to launch their business are eligible for up to $500 in LegalZoom products and services.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

2024 Her Village Grant Application: Autumn Grant Cycle

Application Deadline: September 15, 2024

Eligible applicants: Nonprofit (501(c)(3)) organizations that support female entrepreneurs. Applicant organizations must be registered and operating in the United States and must offer entrepreneurship-related programs or services directly to women, including (but not limited to) skill-building opportunities, mentorship, education, business incubators/accelerators/services, or financial support. Please refer to the Boundless Futures Foundation website for more information.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

The Black Kitchen Initiative

Application Deadline: September 15, 2024

The Heinz Black Kitchen Initiative is back for Year 4 of empowering, supporting and pouring into Black-owned restaurants.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

Playbook Imagination Fund

Application Deadline: September 20, 2024

Calling all designers, artists, photographers, and creatives…Our mission is simple: help creative people be more creative. With the $100K Imagination Fund, we want to bring the Playbook community together to let our imagination fly without financial worries getting in the way.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

The Transform Business Grant

Application Period: September 15-30, 2024

Designed to support entrepreneurs in systemically marginalized groups,
The TRANSFORM Business Grant provides a $1,000 microgrant and a customized, year-long business strategy and development program to each grantee.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

Enthuse Foundation Pitch Competition

Application Deadline: September 23, 2024

2024 Eligibility

Food, beverage, or CPG business founder
Women own at least 51% of business
The company has a minimum amount of sales of at least $10,000
Business created on or after January 1, 2020
Revenue does not exceed $750,000

LEARN MORE AND APPY

Hawai'i FoundHer Cohort 4

Application Deadline: September 30, 2024

Women are over-mentored and under-funded so we aim to provide grant funding to seed your business’ growth and empower you to build your future.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

Galaxy Grants

Application Deadline: September 30, 2024

Enter for a chance to win our new $4,250 Galaxy Grant, brought to you by Hidden Star, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with an 8-year track record.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

ZenBusiness 5k Grant Program

Application Deadline: December 31, 2024

Grantees receive $5,000 to help grow your business, ZenBusiness Money Pro access for 30 days (providing tools to manage your clients, cashflow, and taxes all in one place), and ZenBusiness Banking free for the first month (so you can separate your business and personal finances).

LEARN MORE AND APPY

Freed Fellowship Grant

Open Dates: Ongoing

E$500 grant to business owner in the US to invest in their existing business. No strings attached. No equity required.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

National Association for the Self-Employed Growth Grant

Open Dates: Ongoing

Need $4,000 To Help Your Business Grow?

Apply for a business development grant from the NASE worth up to $4,000!

If you’re a member, login as a NASE member then come back to this page for additional instructions below to apply for an NASE Growth Grant Today!

You could receive up to $4,000 for your small business through the NASE Growth Grants program.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

Wish Local Empowerment Program

Open Dates: Ongoing

[Wish] recognize that as a large e-commerce company we have the responsibility to help uplift others. Black-owned small businesses have long faced hardship due to systemic racism. But small businesses like yours are integral to the makeup of America. So we are dedicating a $2M dollar fund to give roughly 4,000 Wish Local small business partners financial support. The selected recipients will receive amounts between $500 – $2000. This program will only be open to Black-owned stores, to help promote equality and diversity in American business.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

Healthy Food Financing Initiative

Open Dates: Ongoing

The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) provides loans, grants, and technical assistance resources to improve and support access to fresh, healthy, affordable food in urban and rural underserved communities.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund

Open Dates: Ongoing

To help restaurants recover in times of critical need, DoorDash has partnered with Hello Alice to create the Restaurant Disaster Relief Fund. The fund supports restaurants impacted by natural disasters like fires, floods, and hurricanes, and provides relief through $10,000 grants.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

America's Seed Fund

Open Dates: Ongoing

“We focus on transforming scientific and engineering discoveries into products and services with commercial and societal impact. The deep technologies we fund show promise but their success hasn’t yet been validated. And, each year, we award $200+ million in research and development (R&D) funding to about 400 startups across the United States.”

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

Binc Foundation Emergency Financial Assistance.

Open Dates: Ongoing

Binc helps bookstore owners, booksellers, and comic store employees and owners with unforeseen emergency financial needs. The Foundation assesses each request to determine how best to provide relief. If approved, grants are typically paid to third-party vendors.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

HerRise MicroGrant

Open Dates: Ongoing

The HerRise Micro-Grant provides financial assistance, with the help of our corporate sponsors and donors, to women of color creating innovative solutions that impact their community and that are often unable to secure funding for their small business.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

IFundWomen Universal Grant Application

Open Dates: Ongoing

Universal Grant Application Database is where they look first for qualified grant applicants. Here’s how it works: when IFundWomen partners with a brand, we match the partner’s grant criteria to businesses in the database. If you’re a match for one of their sponsored grants, you will be notified.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

Ladies Who Launch Grant Database

Open Dates: Ongoing

Ladies Who Launch focuses on four pillars: Inspiration, Education, Funding, and Community to help give women and non-binary entrepreneurs the motivation, resources, and connections to scale and sustain the businesses of their dreams.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

Loans

Healthy Food Financing Initiative

Open Dates: Ongoing

The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) provides loans, grants, and technical assistance resources to improve and support access to fresh, healthy, affordable food in urban and rural underserved communities.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

USDA Business & Industry Loan Guarantees

Open Dates: Ongoing

This program offers loan guarantees to lenders for their loans to rural businesses.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

Mālama Business Loans-Office of Hawaiian Affairs

Open Dates: Ongoing

This is the most popular loan OHA offers that supports Native Hawaiian business owners. Loan amounts are $2,500-$149,999 with 4.00% APR and up to 7-year term.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

Hua Kanu Business Loan-Office of Hawaiian Affairs

Open Dates: Ongoing

The Hua Kanu Business Loan Program is available to Native Hawaiians who own established business. Created on July 17, 2013, the low-cost loans are intended to help these small-businesses expand. It is meant to provide them access to credit and capital that allow them to grow as well as remain financially viable. Loan amounts $150,000-$1,000,000

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

Training

Healthy Food Financing Initiative

Ongoing

The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) provides loans, grants, and technical assistance resources to improve and support access to fresh, healthy, affordable food in urban and rural underserved communities.

LEARN MORE AND REGISTER

Other

Hawai'i FoundHer Cohort 4

Application Deadline: September 30, 2024

Women are over-mentored and under-funded so we aim to provide grant funding to seed your business’ growth and empower you to build your future.

LEARN MORE AND APPY

2023-2024 Restaurant Business Development Program Application

Application Deadline: January 31, 2024

eed the Soul Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, developed to aid marginalized professionals in the culinary industry. Funding for the Restaurant Business Development Program (RBDP) is provided by external corporations with a vested interest in the creation and sustainability of culinary businesses that are owned and operated by marginalized individuals.

The awarded grant amount for the RBDP recipients is $10,000, plus 6 months of business development consulting and training, at a value of $15,000. Awarded recipients are determined through a comprehensive review process. It is not guaranteed that all those who apply will receive the grant.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

Cyber awareness training for companies

Dates: Ongoing

Cyber awareness training for companies to offer their employees, technical assessments of IT systems to identify vulnerabilities, and penetration testing to validate security, and recovery services if applicable.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY

ON DEMAND

Learning

Watch Access to Funding: A Small Business Lifeline for an overview of the kinds of funding available to small businesses.

For more on demand learning, visit our Talk Story page.

Author

Alyssa Goslee