Applications for this round are closed. The next cycle opens soon — follow along to hear when.

A microgrant for under-25s

Here’s a little money to begin the thing you keep thinking about.

The Lotus Fund sends $100 to people under 25 — anywhere in the world — who are making, fixing, growing, or figuring something out. No fee, no equity, no strings. You never pay it back.

Applications closed for this round This round filled up faster than I expected. The next cycle opens soon — follow along to hear when.

The Lotus Fund No. ∞

Pay to the order of

someone with an idea
worth starting

$100one hundred dollars

The Lotus Fund no strings attached

It’s yours

Nothing to pay back, no equity taken — everything you make stays yours.

No strings

No reports, no receipts, no committees, no spreadsheets. We trust you to use it well.

Anyone, anywhere

Under 25, any country, any field. You don’t need a CV, a company, or connections.

Who it’s for

You don’t need permission to be the kind of person this is for. You need an idea and the itch to build it — if it’s real to you, it counts.

Who got funded

India

Tanjot Singh

Bio-based air purification technology to curb air and plastic pollution (patent-published).

India

Rahul Chandelkar

Building agentic systems for finding security vulnerabilities.

United States

Aamani Cherukuri

A silent fidget toy to focus in quiet environments without distracting others.

Ukraine

Kateryna Mykyta

An ESP32-based smart energy monitoring and emergency-alert system for homes and communities.

Cameroon

Ngono Prince Fozoh

Helping underserved students in Cameroon access affordable exam preparation, guidance, and opportunity.

India

Ramya Prakash

A budget-friendly, four-legged quadruped robot that can walk and hold cool static poses.

India

Hirdesh Viikram

An error-context layer that captures exactly why applications break in production.

How it works

Tell us your idea

One sentence and a 60-second video. What are you making, and why does it matter to you?

Get funded

You hear back within a week. The money goes straight to you — no middlemen.

Show what bloomed

Afterwards, send a photo and a few words about how it went. That’s the whole deal.

Why this exists

Ideas without an affiliation or a fancy degree rarely get noticed, and the few grants that exist ask for credentials most students don’t have. But the idea was never the missing piece — the first small push to act on it is.

Motors were never the problem. The bolt was.

Read the full story →

The honest part

What’s the catch?

There isn’t one. It’s a gift, not a loan or an investment. No fee to apply, no equity taken, nothing to repay. You keep everything you make.

Who’s behind it?

One person, funded privately — not a foundation or a company. That’s exactly why it can stay this small, fast, and free of red tape. Here’s the story.

Why so small?

Because $100 at the right moment does more than $10,000 too late. Small, fast, and direct beats big, slow, and bureaucratic almost every time.

The next round opens soon.

Applications are closed for this cycle — follow along and I’ll announce when the next one opens.

Follow for the next opening