National Braille Press is now accepting applications for the 2025 Louis Braille Touch of Genius Award. The Touch of Genius Prize for Innovation is an annual prize of $10,000 awarded to a project, or projects, that show the most innovative idea in the field of braille and tactile literacy. Projects can involve software and apps for education, professionals, or gaming, or a tactile/braille hardware device that promotes learning and literacy.

Open to startups in central and eastern Europe (CEE) this €25 million fund offers up to €250k to early-stage startups. More than 30 startups will be supported annually through the AIP Seed 2.0 early-stage investment fund, which is targeting the most promising young companies from the CEE. Through its unique model the fund will evaluate and respond to startups within a week.

‘This four-year global competition invites innovators and teams from anywhere on the planet to create and demonstrate solutions that can pull carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere or oceans, and sequester it durably and sustainably. Funded by Elon Musk and the Musk Foundation, this $100M competition is the largest incentive prize in history.‎’

‘Have an innovation ready to supercharge?’ is the big question Regeneration.VC is asking innovators worldwide. And if your company is pioneering circular solutions that can tackle the climate emergency then you should seriously think about giving Leonardo Di Caprio, a strategic advisor to the fund, and the team at Regeneration.VC a call. The fund, which recently brought down the gavel on its first $45 million pot, aims to harness the epoch-making changes that can be triggered by people power to inspire a paradigm shift in the consumer industries, so its future is one defined by ‘circular and regenerative principles’.

The Good Fashion Fund finances the ‘implementation of highly impactful and disruptive production technologies in Asia’. It specifically targets ‘long-term USD debt investments in textile and apparel manufacturers in India, Vietnam and Bangladesh’.

The European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator supports individual Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), in particular startups and spinout companies to develop and scaleup game-changing innovations. In some cases small mid-caps (up to 500 employees) are supported. The EIC Accelerator provides substantial financial support with: grant funding (non-dilutive) of up to €2.5 million for innovation development costs; investments (direct equity investments) of up to €15 million managed by the EIC Fund for scale up and other relevant costs. You can apply for EIC Accelerator funding at any time through the EIC platform.