PROGRAM OVERVIEW

The Digital Financial Services Grant supports ideas around Interledger-driven business models that seek to build equity and inclusion within a global interoperable payments network. This grant is designed to help the Interledger Foundation’s vision for a world where everyone can send a payment as easily as an email. Expanding digital financial inclusion through inclusive systems means advocating for the adoption of an open-source, currency-agnostic payment network powered by the Interledger Protocol (ILP). 

The Digital Financial Services Program caters to a specific audience and seeks to support organizations with an interest in unlocking the potential of frictionless, global transactions; enabling micropayments, cross-currency interoperability, and seamless financial access for everyone—regardless of identity, geography, or income. 

FUNDING TRACKS

This grant opportunity supports players in the ecosystem that seek to build digitally inclusive finance systems through the Internet, by building on Interledger with an intent to either become a financial node within the Interledger Network or expand payments options on an existing web-based platform. If you are interested in joining a global network of inclusive financial service providers,  here are the available funding options:

• Track 1: Interledger | Enabled (up to $250,000.00)

Designed for digital financial service providers—including digital wallets, mobile money providers, banks, savings co-ops, and neo-banks—this track helps integrate Rafiki into existing financial infrastructures, establishing new financial nodes on the Interledger Network.

• Track 2: Interledger | Unlocked (up to $150,000)

For web-based platforms (e.g., e-commerce sites, donation platforms) that want to expand payment options for users by integrating Open Payments APIs into their systems. 

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Before completing an application, please review the 2025 Application Guide for the Digital Financial Services grant to access information on the grant process, requirements, resource list, and other details essential to applying for this opportunity.

If you plan on applying for this grant and want to get the latest updates on ILF technologies and connect directly with our team. RSVP Here!

ELIGIBILITY & APPLICATION PROCESS

• ONLY registered corporations, non-government entities, institutions, collectives, and nonprofits are eligible to apply under this grant program.
• Projects must run for 12-months.

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Application closes on Friday, April 4, 2025 at 11:59 am (EDT).

Need specific details? Submit a Grant Inquiry Request Form for personalized support.

Interledger-NextGen Higher Education, 2025 Call for LoI

Interledger Foundation (ILF) is welcoming Letters of Intent (LOIs) from educational institutions with a vested interest in nurturing a talent pipeline of builders, innovators and advocates for inclusive digital financial systems. 

The Interledger-NextGen Higher Education program aims to adequately prepare tomorrow’s open-source, open-payment, and digital financial inclusion workforce. To do this, the Interledger Foundation is looking for educators in higher education institutions to build campus and classroom programs, ranging from research, curriculum development, training, community-building, and technological innovation, amongst other initiatives, that will establish learning, investigative and practical exposure for its students to open-payment technologies with the potential to disrupt the economic landscape. 

About the LOI Request 

Applicants will be asked to upload a 2-page PDF outlining the proposed project’s objectives, its intended impact, and the estimated budget/grant amount being sought with an indication of what the majority of the budget will be spent on. More specifically, insights on the proposed program, including a high-level description of the activities to be undertaken, e.g., course offering, curriculum reboot/development, etc. The proposed project/initiative should be built on diversity, equity, and inclusion principles and support the Interledger Foundation's thrust to foster an empowering ecosystem for digital financial inclusion. 

The project should indicate some level of investigation, integration, student exposure to the Interledger Protocol, and engagement with the ILF ecosystem. The proposed initiative should focus on developing skills in open payment technologies, social impact, entrepreneurship, and international development research. Successful projects must have a theory of impact.

Eligibility

Educational institutions to include public and private two to four-year institutions, institutional systems or consortia of institutions, and university-affiliated research centers or laboratories. Applying universities must align the proposed initiative with their undergraduate or graduate departments of computer science, information technology, business, sustainable development, or related fields.

We are accepting only one letter of intent per institution. 

Project Timeline & Grant Amount

Grant funding of up to USD 50,000 is available for a 12-month timeline to cover both work on the proposed project and any costs associated with event participation, training, or software development.

Resources

Interested applicants can download the Application Guidelines which provides a comprehensive overview of the grant requirement, process, guidelines and list of resources about Interledger Foundation, and its related technologies. 

You may also preview the work done by the following previously funded universities - Bowie State University (USA) and the University of Cape Town (South Africa).

Additional Key Information

We've decided to keep the LOI process open and accept submissions on a rolling basis. On that basis, the Interledger Foundation will be accepting letters of intent from interested universities up to Friday, October 3, 2025 at 11:59 pm (EDT). 

We invite you to connect with us via our various communication channels, Community Forum, and Interledger Slack for more details on this grant opportunity.

For specific grant related questions, please contact the program team at programteam@interledger.org. Please include "Interledger-NextGen Higher Education Grant LOI:  Inquiry" in the subject line.