Skip to content
Unclaimed
Discovery tool, not advice. Every figure is the published rule, not a decision on your case.
Grants

California Competes Grant Program

California Competes Grant Program (CCGP)

Status

Status not published

Run as discrete rounds subject to state budget appropriation. Round 3 ran 24 July 2023 to 14 August 2023 with awards announced 16 November 2023 and is closed. Monitor grants.ca.gov and business.ca.gov for any successor round.

Check with the funder
Amount
$36,000,000

Figures are from the most recent published round (Round 3): '$120,000,000' estimated available, with individual awards of '$5,000,000 - $36,000,000'. Whether a further round is funded depends on the state budget each year - do not assume these amounts recur. This is a cash grant alternative to the California Competes Tax Credit aimed at 'businesses for whom a non-refundable tax credit would not provide a significant financial benefit', including startups with minimal tax liability.

Funder

California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz)

public · regional

Deadline: One call a year — Run as discrete rounds subject to state budget appropriation. Round 3 ran 24 July 2023 to 14 August 2023 with awards announced 16 November 2023 and is closed. Monitor grants.ca.gov and business.ca.gov for any successor round.

Your odds
Not published

This funder does not publish a success rate. We rank it using the rate observed across similar programmes and label it as an estimate rather than implying we know.

Effort
moderate

Moderate — a form and supporting documents.

Who can apply

The 500-job / $10 million investment thresholds mean this is realistically only reachable by well-funded scale-ups (large-scale manufacturing, battery, semiconductor and biotech buildouts), not early-stage startups. State programme - no SAM.gov registration or UEI required.

How to apply

  1. Confirm you can commit to creating at least 500 new full-time California jobs, or investing at least $10 million in facility construction/renovation, or meeting both thresholds in a high-unemployment or high-poverty area. — link
  2. Submit the online application during an open round.
  3. GO-Biz evaluates, negotiates an agreement and the Committee approves; grant funds are paid against milestone achievement.

What you will need

Related reading: How grant deadlines actually work · UEI and SAM.gov registration, explained

Apply on the funder's site

Source. https://www.grants.ca.gov/grants/california-competes-grant-round-3/

"$5,000,000 – $36,000,000"

Verified on 14 August 2026

Source: www.grants.ca.gov

Similar programmes

Michigan Business Development Program (MBDP)

Open continuously

Michigan Economic Development Corporation / Michigan Strategic Fund

Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) Grants and Loan Guarantees

Open continuously

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development

USDA Rural Energy for America Program grants and loan guarantees

Open continuously

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development

NIST MEP Center State Competition (FY2026 Round 2)

Closed for now

U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology

National Institutes of Health SBIR/STTR Program

Status not published

U.S. National Institutes of Health (Department of Health and Human Services)

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program

Status not published

U.S. Small Business Administration (coordinating) and 11 participating federal agencies

Paid, separate from Unclaimed

Want a human to review your application?

Involve Consulting can help — a paid expert-review service run by the same person behind Unclaimed, entirely separate from this free check. A flat fee, agreed up front; never a cut of what you receive.

Talk to Involve Consulting