Every programme in detail
Read the exclusions before the eligibility. It is faster to find out you are ruled out than to find out you qualify.
Amber Grant for Women
RollingWomensNet · Private
Three $15,000 grants every month, plus three $75,000 year-end grants.
Monthly. Applications close on the last day of every month, and winners are announced by the 21st of the following month.
Who qualifies
- Woman-owned business
- One application enters you for both the monthly grant and the year-end grant
Who does not qualify
- Businesses that are not majority women-owned
How to apply
- Apply online before the month-end deadline
- Describe the business and what the money would do
Not Georgia-specific; open across the US and listed here because Georgia applicants qualify. The widely republished figures of $10,000 monthly and $25,000 annual are out of date. As of 27 October 2026 it is $15,000 and $75,000.
Ben Franklin Technology Partners Challenge Grant
RollingBen Franklin Technology Development Authority, through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development · State
Not published as a fixed figure. Set each year as a share of the BFTDA appropriation in the state budget, decided by the BFTDA Board.
Through the state grants portal. No fixed annual deadline published.
What it funds
- Direct company investments
- Business and technical support
- Technology and entrepreneurial infrastructure
Who qualifies
- Technology-oriented businesses, from start-up and early stage through to established companies
- Entrepreneurs, investors, higher education institutions and research organisations
- Ben Franklin Technology Partners alumni companies
Who does not qualify
- Non-technology businesses. This is a technology development programme, not general small business support
- Anyone expecting a published award size, because the amount is set annually from the state appropriation
How to apply
- Read the Ben Franklin Technology Partners Challenge guidelines
- Register and apply through the Pennsylvania grants portal at grants.pa.gov
Described by DCED as grants, loans and equity investments, so what you are offered may not be a grant at all. Pennsylvania's clearest state-level route to actual grant money, and it is restricted to technology.
Pennsylvania Business Opportunities Fund
RollingPennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, delivered by CDFIs Finanta and Bridgeway Capital · State
No minimum or maximum loan size. Installment loans, lines of credit and technical assistance.
Rolling, through one of the two participating CDFIs rather than DCED.
What it funds
- Working capital
- Equipment
- Leasehold improvements
- Acquisition of owner-occupied real estate
Who qualifies
- Small businesses needing capital and technical assistance to compete for government and private contracts
- Priority for minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises
- Located in one of 25 eligible Pennsylvania counties
Who does not qualify
- Businesses outside the 25 eligible counties, which excludes most of the state including Philadelphia County
- Anyone looking for a grant. This is lending and it is repaid, despite sitting on DCED's programmes list alongside grants
How to apply
- Check your county is on the eligible list
- Contact Finanta or Bridgeway Capital directly
- Apply through the CDFI, not through DCED
Routinely listed as a Pennsylvania small business grant. It is a loan. Recorded as one so nobody applies expecting free money.
COVID-19 Relief Statewide Small Business Assistance (Pennsylvania)
ClosedPennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, from federal CARES Act funds · State
Closed. DCED stated the second application window was the final opportunity to apply.
Who qualifies
- When it ran: Pennsylvania businesses earning at least 51% of revenue in the state, with annual revenue of $1 million or less and 25 or fewer full-time equivalent employees as of 15 February 2020, able to document pandemic impact
Who does not qualify
- Everyone, currently. There is no open window and the CARES Act funding behind it is spent
Still sitting on DCED's live programmes list in late 2026, which is why grant round-ups keep republishing it as available Pennsylvania money. It is not.
