Cybersecurity grants for startups

19 grants, prizes and schemes written for Cybersecurity startups. Grants open to every sector are on the main grants page.

Open all yearSubsidy
Arbitrum Audit Program
Arbitrum Foundation
Amount set per project (USD 10 million pool in ARB over 12 months)Subsidises third-party smart contract security audits for early Arbitrum projects
Open nowGrant
DRDO Technology Development Fund (TDF)
Ministry of Defence, executed by DRDO
Projects up to ₹50 crore; TDF funds up to 90% of costGrants for Indian industry to develop defence and dual-use technologies
Closes 13 Nov 2026Grant
ELEVATE NxT 2026 (Karnataka DeepTech Grant)
Department of Electronics, IT, BT and S&T, Government of Karnataka (KITS) Karnataka
Up to ₹1 croreGrant in aid for deep tech startups from anywhere in India building science based products
Open all yearGrant plus other support
Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups (GENESIS)
MeitY Startup Hub, Ministry of Electronics and IT
Up to ₹10 lakh early stage; up to ₹50 lakh for pilots; up to ₹1 crore for deep techFunding for tech startups in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, from idea to pilot and deep tech
Open all yearGrant
GitHub Secure Open Source Fund
GitHub
USD 10,000 per projectFunding and security training for maintainers of widely used open source projects
Open all yearReimbursement
Odisha IT Policy Patent Registration Incentive
Electronics and IT Department, Government of Odisha (OCAC as nodal agency) Odisha
75% of patent costs. Up to ₹2 lakh per Indian patent, ₹10 lakh per unit. Up to ₹5 lakh per foreign patent, ₹25 lakh per unit.Refunds most patent filing costs for IT companies and startups operating from Odisha
Open all yearReimbursement
Odisha IT Policy Quality and Security Certification Assistance
Electronics and IT Department, Government of Odisha (OCAC as nodal agency) Odisha
75% of certification costs, up to ₹15 lakhRefunds most CMMI, ISO and similar certification costs for Odisha IT units
Open all yearReimbursement
Odisha IT Policy R&D Incentive for Software Products
Electronics and IT Department, Government of Odisha (OCAC as nodal agency) Odisha
50% of R&D costs, including staff costs. Up to ₹1 crore a year.Refunds half of R&D spending, salaries included, once an Odisha software product is built
Open all yearGrant
Open Technology Fund: Internet Freedom Fund
Open Technology Fund
USD 10,000 to USD 900,000 for up to 24 monthsFunding for open-source internet freedom, privacy and digital security projects
Open all yearGrant
Sovereign Tech Fund
Sovereign Tech Agency, Germany
Work worth more than EUR 50,000; amount set per projectDevelopment and maintenance of open source base technologies that others build on
Open all yearReimbursement
Support for International Patent Protection in Electronics and IT (SIP-EIT)
Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY)
Up to ₹15 lakh per invention (50% of cost)Refunds of international patent filing costs for electronics and IT startups and MSMEs
Open all yearGrant
TCOE India: Prototyping, PoC, Validation and Pilot Support
Department of Telecommunications, through Telecom Centres of Excellence India
Up to 80% of cost, max ₹50 lakh per pilotGrants to pilot and validate telecom and ICT products in live networks
Closes 31 Oct 2026Grant
Alpha-Omega Open Source Security Grants
Alpha-Omega (Linux Foundation, OpenSSF)
Typically USD 50,000 to 100,000Security improvements in critical open source projects and ecosystems
ClosedEquity
BPCL Ankur Fund Startup Cohorts
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), central public sector company
Up to ₹5 crore as equity. BPCL stake capped at 20%.Equity investment in startups ready to bring their product into oil and gas
ClosedGrant
C-DOT Samarth Incubation Programme
Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), Department of Telecommunications
Up to ₹5 lakh, plus 6 months of office space, lab access and mentoringSix month incubation with a grant, office space and labs for telecom and ICT startups
ClosedPrize
Cyber Security Grand Challenge
Ministry of Electronics and IT, with Data Security Council of India
Edition 2.0: ₹5 lakh idea stage, ₹10 lakh MVP stage, ₹25 lakh finalists; top prize ₹1 croreStaged prizes for Indian startups solving published cybersecurity problem statements
ClosedPrize
Maruti Suzuki Mobility Challenge (T-Hub)
T-Hub with Maruti Suzuki India
₹5 lakh to the winner. ₹3 lakh and ₹2 lakh to runners-up.Cash prizes and a paid pilot chance for mature startups solving Maruti Suzuki challenges
Closes 3 Nov 2026Grant
NLnet Open Calls (Restack and CodeSupply funds)
NLnet Foundation
€5,000 to €50,000 for a first grantSmall grants for open-source software, hardware and internet infrastructure
ClosedGrant
Samsung Mobile Advance
Samsung R&D Institutes India (Bangalore and Noida)
Up to USD 50,000 per startupZero-equity grants to build proof-of-concepts with Samsung's mobile teams

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Cybersecurity grants for startups

Arbitrum Audit Program

DRDO Technology Development Fund (TDF)

ELEVATE NxT 2026 (Karnataka DeepTech Grant)

Gen-Next Support for Innovative Startups (GENESIS)

GitHub Secure Open Source Fund

Odisha IT Policy Patent Registration Incentive

Odisha IT Policy Quality and Security Certification Assistance

Odisha IT Policy R&D Incentive for Software Products

Open Technology Fund: Internet Freedom Fund

Sovereign Tech Fund

Support for International Patent Protection in Electronics and IT (SIP-EIT)

TCOE India: Prototyping, PoC, Validation and Pilot Support

Alpha-Omega Open Source Security Grants

BPCL Ankur Fund Startup Cohorts

C-DOT Samarth Incubation Programme

Cyber Security Grand Challenge

Maruti Suzuki Mobility Challenge (T-Hub)

NLnet Open Calls (Restack and CodeSupply funds)

Samsung Mobile Advance