18 founder cheques are open right now.

Quick question before you scroll: how many founders do you reckon actually know that 18 new opportunities opened up for them this week? Honestly, most will never hear about a single one, and not because the programmes are hidden, but because nobody has the time to read every accelerator page, grant call and residency deadline across six regions. That is the whole job of Open This Week. Every Monday this is the friendly round-up of what is genuinely open for founders right now, who each programme is built for, and which ones are worth a calendar block before they close. This week there are 18 of them, two close within days, so here is the tour, region by region.

Africa

Three open doors on the continent this week, at three very different sizes, and not one of them asks you to relocate.

• Accelerate Africa: Future Africa's pan-African launchpad. Up to $500K in investment, no equity asked simply to apply, cohort open until July 25. Built for the early-stage founder already eyeing a global market from a Lagos or Nairobi desk.
• The Baobab Network: a $100K cheque plus a twelve-week build alongside its venture team, on rolling applications. The room for founders who want capital and operators in the same handshake.
• Katapult Africa: a three-month hybrid programme run with Norrsken, Smart Africa and the Tony Blair Institute, for climate, agriculture, logistics and supply-chain founders. Roughly fifteen companies a cohort, so the mentorship actually lands.

EU

Europe carries the most urgent door on the whole list, so start here.

• Baltic Ventures: £25K through an ASA plus a possible £75K follow-on from the Baltic Angel Syndicate, for digital-tech founders who can base themselves in Liverpool. Closes Friday May 29, so this is the one to file before the weekend.
• EIC Accelerator: up to €2.5M in grant plus up to €10M in EIC Fund equity for deep-tech startups across the EU and Horizon Europe associated countries. Next full-proposal cut-off July 8, and the short proposal goes in any time.
• EXIST Gründungsstipendium: twelve months of founder salary plus up to €30K in materials and coaching, with zero equity taken, rolling for founders attached to a German university. Germany's quiet pre-seed, paid in runway instead of dilution.

US

The US list runs from a tiny, rare cheque all the way to the most famous programme in tech.

• Spark Accelerator: a $15K stipend for hardware, materials and energy founders, plus access to Oak Ridge National Lab facilities most startups could never book on their own. Closes Wednesday May 27. Small cheque, rare keys.
• Google for Startups Accelerator: North America: equity-free, focused on AI and machine learning for energy, with a cohort that kicks off in September. The window runs to June 30.
• Y Combinator: the Fall 2026 batch, $500K for the standard 7%, with the on-time deadline landing in early August. Whatever you make of the brand, the cheque clears and the alumni door stays open for years.

LATAM

Latin America's three doors all trade a cheque for something structural.

• EU-LAC Digital Accelerator: up to €30K in acceleration services (€40K if a Caribbean partner is in) and a six-month proof-of-concept with a European corporate that already has the budget and the intent to buy. Open Call #5 closes June 12.
• Founder Institute Brasil: a structured pre-seed programme for the 2026 São Paulo cohort, with FI's global mentor network and a bridge to Brazil's top investors. Open now, built for the idea-stage founder who needs the scaffolding more than the cheque.
• CodeLaunch LATAM 2026: a Guadalajara stage on October 7 worth at least $50K in investment plus tens of thousands in product and software services. Applications are open now.

MENA

The Gulf is quietly paying founders just to show up.

• Hub71: up to $100K in subsidies covering ADGM office space, a housing allowance, health insurance and cloud credits. Cohort 20 applications run until August 2. Abu Dhabi essentially underwrites your first year.
• Flat6Labs: $30K to $50K seed cheques for a small slice of equity, on rolling programmes across Cairo, Beirut, Tunis and Bahrain. The default first institutional cheque for a North African or Levant founder.
• Misk Accelerator: equity-free, mentor-dense cohorts in Riyadh, rolling. Built to put a founder onto a Saudi cap table without giving anything up just to get in the room.

APAC

Asia-Pacific closes the tour with a residency, an equity-free seat and a government cheque.

• Antler Singapore: up to $400K at inception, starting with a $150K ticket for 10% after a six-week build. Rolling applications for the September residency. The default room for a founder who has not yet found a co-founder.
• Google for Startups Accelerator: Southeast Asia: equity-free, for seed to Series A AI-first startups, with the cohort kicking off in mid-August. The window opened this month, so file before it shuts.
• Startup India Seed Fund Scheme: up to ₹20 lakh for proof of concept and up to ₹50 lakh for market entry, year-round through approved incubators. Government money on founder-friendly terms.