Episode Details

We’re running another ACX Grants round!

If you already know what this is and just want to apply for a grant, use the form here (should take 15 - 30 minutes), deadline August 15.

If you already know what this is and want to help as a funder, VC, partner charity, evaluator, or friendly professional, click the link for the relevant form, same deadline.

Otherwise see below for more information.

What is ACX Grants?

ACX Grants is a microgrants program that helps fund ACX readers’ charitable or scientific projects. Click the links to see the 2022 and 2024 cohorts.

The program is conducted in partnership with Manifund, a charity spinoff of Manifold Markets, who handle the administrative/infrastructure side of things.

How much money is involved?

I plan to contribute $200K. I expect (but cannot guarantee) an additional $800K from other donors, for a total of about $1 million.

Most grants will probably be between $5,000 and $50,000, with a rare few up to $100,000. Depending on how much external donor interest there is, we will probably give between 10 and 50 grants.

What’s the catch?

There’s no catch, but this year we plan to experiment with replacing some grants with SAFEs, and others with convertible grants. That means that if you’re a startup, we (ACX Grants as an nonprofit institution, not me personally) get some claim to future equity if you succeed. If you’re not a startup, you’ll sign an agreement saying that if your project ever becomes a startup, then we’ll get the equity claim. We’re still working on the exact details of this agreement, but we intend to have pretty standard terms and err in the favorable-to-you direction; obviously we’ll show you the final agreement before you sign anything.

We’re doing this because some of our previous grantees became valuable companies, and it seems foolish to leave that money on the table when we could be capturing it and reinvesting it into future grants rounds. Please don’t let this affect your decision to apply. Our top priority remains charity, and we’ll continue to select grantees based on their philanthropic value and not on their likelihood of making us money.

If you’re not a startup and don’t plan to become one, none of this should affect you. And if you have a good reason not to want to sign these agreements - including “I’m not savvy enough to know what this means and it makes me nervous” - then we’re happy to opt you out of them.

What’s the timeline?

We’d like to have grants awarded by October 1 and money in your hands by November 1. This is a goal, not a promise.

What will the application process be like?

You fill out a form that should take 15 - 30 minutes. If we have questions, an evaluator might email or call you, in a way that hopefully won’t take more than another 15 - 30 minutes of your time to answer.

If you win a grant, Manifund will send you the money, probably by bank wire. Every few years, we might ask you to fill out another 15 - 30 minute form letting us know how your project is doing.

What kind of projects might you fund?

There are already lots of good charities that help people directly at scale, for example Against Malaria Foundation (which distributes malaria-preventing bed nets) and

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