SEA Capital Pathways

The hitachi global foundation is now accepting applications for the asia innovation award 2026, recognizing outstanding research and development that contributes to solving societal challenges and advancing the un sustainable development goals (sdgs) across the asean region.

This prestigious award supports researchers whose scientific and technological innovations demonstrate both academic excellence and strong potential for real-world implementation.

💰 Award funding
* Awards ranging from $10,000 to $100,000

🎯 What they're looking for
* Outstanding research and development achievements
* Innovations addressing societal challenges
* Projects aligned with at least one sdg goal and target
* Clear social implementation plans that demonstrate how research outcomes can create impact in the applicant's country or across asean

👥 Who can apply
* Researchers
* Faculty members
* Students
* Applicants affiliated with selected universities and research institutions in eligible asean countries

⚠️ Eligibility note
* Applications are not open to the general public
* Companies, ngos, startups, and other organizations are not eligible
* Nominations and submissions must be made through participating institutions

📄 Application requirements
* Application form
* R&D introduction video
* Recommendation letter
* Supporting evidence such as published papers, patents, or other research outputs

📌 Evaluation criteria
* Relevance to societal issues
* Utilization of science, technology, and innovation
* Feasibility of the social implementation plan
* Alignment with the sustainable development goals (sdgs)

🌍 Eligible region
ASEAN

⭐ Why this opportunity stands out
The award goes beyond recognizing research excellence by encouraging applicants to demonstrate how their innovations can be translated into real-world solutions that contribute to sustainable development across southeast asia.

📅 Application deadline
June 30, 2026

📩 Learn more and apply:
https://www.hitachi-zaidan.org/global/activities/award/

Funding Opportunity: Disability Rights Fund (DRF) 2026 Grantmaking Cycle

The Disability Rights Fund (DRF) has opened its 2026 grantmaking cycle to support disability-led organizations advancing the rights of persons with disabilities across eligible countries in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, and Haiti.

Unlike many funding opportunities, this grant is exclusively for Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs). Eligibility is based on leadership, governance, and staffing by persons with disabilities not simply disability-focused programming.

💰 Funding Available
* Grants ranging from $30,000 to $120,000
* Three funding streams available based on organizational size and coalition structure

🌍 Eligible Regions
* Sub-Saharan Africa
* South Asia
* Southeast Asia
* Pacific Islands
* Haiti

🎯 Who Can Apply
* Disability-led Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs)
* National disability coalitions
* Coalitions of three or more OPDs
* Organizations headquartered and operating in eligible countries

📌 Priority Areas
All proposals must:
* Align with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)
* Advance disability rights and inclusion
* Address at least one intersectional issue such as:

Gender equality
Climate justice
Indigenous rights
Youth empowerment
Economic inclusion

📅 Deadline
Letter of Interest (LOI) deadline:
June 21, 2026 (23:59 ET)

🔗 Learn more and apply:
https://www.disabilityrightsfund.org/grantseekers/

💡 Important Note
This opportunity is designed to strengthen disability-led movements. OPDs must lead the project and can bring in technical partners if needed, but leadership and decision-making must remain with persons with disabilities.

Funding Opportunity: Biodiversity Credit Pilot (Jambi + Sorong) Indonesia

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), through the Biodiversity Finance Initiative (BIOFIN), is seeking a qualified civil society organization (CSO) to facilitate and implement a community-level biodiversity credit pilot in Indonesia.

This initiative aims to explore innovative biodiversity financing mechanisms that can help close Indonesia’s conservation funding gap while supporting sustainable community-based forest management.

🎯 Objectives
* Conduct a feasibility study for biodiversity credit implementation
* Develop biodiversity baselines, including FPIC, GESI, MRV, and social assessments
* Prepare a Project Identification Note (PIN) and Project Design Document (PDD)
* Generate lessons learned and policy recommendations for national and local stakeholders

📍 Location: Indonesia (Jambi Province & South Sorong, Southwest Papua)

⏳ Project Duration
* 12 months (June 2026 – May 2027)

👥 Who Can Apply
* Civil society organizations (CSOs)
* Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)
* Organizations with experience in policy assistance and natural resource management implementation

📅 Application Deadline
June 17, 2026 (23:59 WIB / GMT+7)

🔗 More information and application: https://procurement-notices.undp.org/view_notice.cfm

📌 Important Notes
* Project concept and full proposal must be submitted in English
* Applications should be sent via email as outlined in the Terms of Reference
* The email subject line must follow the required format specified by UNDP

🌱 This pilot will help test biodiversity credits as a market-based solution for conservation financing while generating valuable lessons for future biodiversity finance policies in Indonesia.

Southeast Asia’s climate tech sector has raised more than US$1.1 billion, but according to Kai Raghuwanshi, the real problem isn’t funding volume it’s what happens after the first cheque.

While early-stage investment remains active, the capital needed to help climate ventures scale is still missing. Too many founders are pursuing equity-first strategies when grants, catalytic capital, and institutional funding may be better suited to bridge the gap between proof and growth.

In today’s market, climate success depends less on raising capital and more on matching the right capital to the right stage.

Read the full article on e27: https://e27.co/funded-sea-climate-tech-has-us1-1b-and-a-problem-no-one-wants-to-name-20260614/

Funding opportunity for water & sanitation enterprises in Indonesia

Aqua for all has launched a new phase of its flagship making water count programme (2026–2030) and is now accepting applications from scalable, sustainable, and impact-driven enterprises working to improve access to water and sanitation across Indonesia. Selected enterprises may receive grant funding and/or technical assistance to help accelerate growth, strengthen operations, and expand impact.

💰 Support available
* Grant funding
* Technical assistance support
* Scaling support tailored to enterprise needs

🎯 Priority areas
Drinking water
* Safe water enterprises
* Household water treatment and safe storage solutions
* Operation and maintenance services
* Smart water technologies (metering, billing, iot, etc.)
* Water infrastructure and hardware providers
* Water distribution solutions

Sanitation
* Toilet economy service providers
* Faecal sludge management
* Waste treatment and transportation services
* Circular economy and human waste reuse solutions

⭐ Cross-cutting themes
* Climate resilience
* Gender inclusion
* Ecosystem-strengthening initiatives

👥 Who should apply
* Registered enterprises with at least 2 years of operations
* Organizations actively operating in Indonesia
* Businesses that have achieved proof of concept
* Enterprises using commercial or market-based approaches
* Organizations contributing to sdg 6 (clean water and sanitation)
* Enterprises with a pathway toward financial sustainability

🌍 Eligible country
* Indonesia

📅 Application deadline
June 25, 2026

⭐ Why this opportunity stands out Aqua for all is looking for enterprises that can create lasting change in water and sanitation systems. beyond funding, the programme provides technical support designed to help proven solutions scale, strengthen resilience, and reach more underserved communities across Indonesia.

📩 Learn more and apply: https://aquaforall.org/indonesia-call-for-applications/

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is seeking innovative digital solutions that help communities report disaster impacts in real time and improve humanitarian response efforts worldwide.

This global challenge supports open-source technologies that enable affected populations to share crisis information through accessible reporting tools, helping governments and responders make faster, more informed decisions during emergencies.

💰 Funding
* $50,000 prize for the winning solution

🎯 What they're looking for
* Open-source digital solutions for crisis and disaster reporting
* Tools that enable community-generated damage and impact reports
* Platforms that integrate photos, geolocation, and real-time data
* Solutions that can connect community reports with satellite analysis
* Technologies that function in low-connectivity environments
* Secure, transparent, and scalable data management systems

👥 Who should apply
* Startups
* Researchers
* Software developers
* Civic tech innovators
* Humanitarian technology teams
* Digital solution providers worldwide

🌍 Eligible regions
Global

⭐ Why this opportunity stands out
UNDP is investing in technologies that put affected communities at the center of disaster response. this challenge offers innovators the opportunity to build open, scalable infrastructure that strengthens humanitarian decision-making, accelerates recovery efforts, and improves resilience in crisis-affected regions.

📅 Application deadline
June 23, 2026

📩 Learn more and apply:
https://undp.community.innocentive.com/challenge/95de975b672e41939afbefccb4539beb

Applications are now open for the zayed sustainability prize 2027, one of the world's leading awards recognizing organizations and schools delivering impactful solutions to global sustainability challenges. The prize supports innovative, scalable, and inclusive initiatives that create measurable social, environmental, and economic impact across communities worldwide.

💰 Funding
* $1,000,000 for each organizational category winner
* $150,000 for each global high schools category winner

🎯 Categories
* Health
* Food
* Energy
* Water
* Climate action
* Global high schools

👥 Who should apply
* Small and medium-sized enterprises (smes)
* Nonprofit organizations
* Secondary schools (global high schools category)
* Organizations with proven, scalable sustainability solutions

🌍 Eligible regions
Global

⭐ Why this opportunity stands out
The zayed sustainability prize goes beyond recognition by providing substantial implementation funding to help winners expand their impact. the program prioritizes solutions that demonstrate innovation, measurable results, and a clear pathway to improving lives in underserved communities around the world.

📅 Application deadline
June 23, 2026

📩 Learn more and apply: https://zayedsustainabilityprize.com/

The biggest startup risk in Southeast Asia may not be a lack of funding it may be being trained for the wrong game.

Kai Raghuwanshi highlights how many founders are taught to become pitch-ready, but not fund-ready. While accelerators focus on demo days and investor introductions, critical elements such as governance, capital mapping, data rooms, and funding infrastructure are often overlooked.

The result is a growing number of startups that can tell a compelling story but cannot survive institutional due diligence.

The future belongs to founders who build capital infrastructure, not just better pitch decks.

Read the full article on e27: https://e27.co/pitch-perfect-fund-broken-the-structural-flaw-in-southeast-asias-incubators-and-accelerators-20260307/

AI startups in southeast Asia: apply for the google for startups accelerator: SEA 2026

Google is now accepting applications for the google for startups accelerator: Southeast Asia 2026, a flagship program designed to help high-potential AI startups accelerate growth, strengthen their technology, and expand their global reach.

Selected startups will gain direct access to google’s cutting-edge ai ecosystem, personalized mentorship, and opportunities to connect with industry leaders and investors.

🎁 Program benefits
* Access to build with the gemini stack and gemini enterprise agent platform
* One-on-one mentorship from google and deepmind experts
* Strategic immersion bootcamp in San Francisco
* Technical guidance to scale ai products and infrastructure
* Connections to global innovation networks and industry leaders

🎯 Who should apply
* AI-focused startups based in Southeast Asia
* Founders building innovative, scalable AI solutions
* Startups seeking technical expertise, mentorship, and growth opportunities
* Teams ready to accelerate product development and market expansion

🌍 Eligible region
Southeast Asia

⭐ Why this opportunity stands out
This accelerator combines world-class technical mentorship, direct access to google’s latest ai technologies, and exposure to a global startup ecosystem. for founders building the next generation of ai solutions, it offers a unique opportunity to accelerate growth and expand impact across the region and beyond.

📅 Application deadline
June 20, 2026

📩 Apply here:
https://startup.google.sc/programs/accelerator/southeast-asia/

Major Funding Opportunity for Renewable Energy Organizations in Indonesia

The UK Government, through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), has launched a new call for proposals under the MENTARI 2 – UK–Indonesia Low-Carbon Energy Partnership.

This initiative aims to accelerate Indonesia’s clean energy transition by supporting projects that expand renewable energy adoption, advance low-carbon development, and strengthen climate action efforts across the country.

💰 Funding
* Grant size: More than USD $1 million

🎯 Focus Areas
* Renewable energy deployment
* Low-carbon energy transition
* Climate action and sustainable development
* Energy sector innovation and capacity building

👥 Who Can Apply
* Renewable energy non-profit organizations
* Organizations with demonstrated experience delivering clean energy, climate, or energy transition programs

🌍 Eligible Country
* Indonesia

📅 Deadline
* June 19, 2026

📌 Why This Matters
MENTARI 2 is a key component of the UK–Indonesia Strategic Partnership, designed to support scalable solutions that contribute to Indonesia’s long-term energy transition goals while fostering inclusive and sustainable economic growth.

🔗 More information: https://www.gov.uk/international-development-funding/mentari-2-uk-indonesia-low-carbon-energy-partnership-call-for-proposals