D-Prize Global Competition 2026-2027 for Distribution Entrepreneurs

D-Prize funds new organisations that distribute poverty solutions which already work but are not reaching enough people. The global competition opened on 14 September 2026, and the regular submission deadline is 15 November 2026.

Winners receive up to USD 20,000 in seed funding to launch and run a pilot. The competition is deliberately aimed at people who have not yet built an organisation: most awardees are first-time entrepreneurs who have not launched or raised outside funding. Ventures with more than a year and a half of full-time operations, or that have already raised substantial money, are typically not supported. Existing organisations are considered only when their core work is distributing an evidence-based intervention.

Choosing an intervention. Applicants pick one item from a published list and build the proposal around it. The list spans health, agriculture, education and governance: getting oral rehydration salts and zinc into homes before a child falls ill, distributing reading glasses, improving foundational literacy in resource-limited classrooms, supplying smallholder farmers with quality inputs and training, selling ceramic water filters where clean water is scarce, and training birth attendants to prevent maternal deaths. Anyone with an evidence-backed idea outside the list can pitch it instead.

How selection works. Entrants submit a two-page concept note and CV. The strongest are invited to answer written questions, with two weeks to respond. Finalists go through phone and email interviews before the awards are made.

Applications from low- and middle-income countries are especially encouraged, which makes this one of the more realistic funding routes for early-stage founders across the continent. There is no nationality restriction and no requirement to relocate.