Deadline: March 10, 2026
Applications are open for the UNICEF Venture Fund 2026. The UNICEF Venture Fund is calling on startups developing blockchain-based social good solutions for accountability and financing to join its Blockchain Ventures cohort.
The UNICEF Venture Fund invests in open-source frontier technology solutions from emerging markets. For this call for applications, they are seeking ready-to-deploy, blockchain-based solutions with the potential to drive social impact for children and their communities.
Early-stage startups in emerging economies leveraging blockchain through an existing, functional product with real-world use cases are invited to apply. Companies must be registered in one of UNICEF’s programme countries and have impressive proof points and a commitment to open-source licensing and practices. Woman-led startups and young founders are especially encouraged to apply.
Benefits
- Startups selected for the Blockchain Ventures cohort will receive equity-free funding of up to US$100,000 in ETH, BTC or USDC, along with tailored technical mentorship to support piloting, implementation and measuring of impact during the 12-18-month investment period.
Eligibility
UNICEF is looking to provide investment-style funding to early-stage technology startups. Only entities that fulfill these mandatory requirements will be considered eligible:
- Registered as a private company at the time of the Innovation Fund award (projected: 3 months from submission of EOI)
- A private company registered in a UNICEF programme country
- Working on open source technology solutions (or willing to be open source) under the following licenses or their equivalent:
- for software, a GNU General Public license, MIT or BSD,
- for hardware, a CERN, MIT or TAPR open license and
- for design or content, a CC-BY license
- An existing prototype of the open source solution with promising results from initial pilots
- Solution has the potential to positively impact the lives of the most vulnerable children
- Generating publicly exposed real-time data that is measurable
Application
For more information, visit UNICEF Venture Fund.
