We invest in progressive startups and entrepreneurs to build civic power, strengthen democracy, and drive social change across media, technology, and organizing.
New Media Ventures channels flexible early-stage capital into media, AI, and democracy projects, with a 2025 grant slate led by a series of $50,000 awards. The fund’s charitable grants include Deceleration in San Antonio, Texas; Arizona Luminaria in Tucson, Arizona; and Factchequeado in Carmichael, California, showing a preference for civic-information and narrative work over general operating support alone. Through its Innovation Fund and its 501(c)(3) affiliate New Rising Ventures, the foundation backs for-profit and nonprofit ventures that aim to shift power in civic life. Its stated model combines investment, grants, coaching, and community connections for leaders building media and AI solutions. That mix appears across programs focused on responsible AI, digital organizing, advocacy platforms, civic engagement tools, elections and voting systems, and progressive political media. The foundation also uses targeted vehicles such as an open call for Voices for Democracy and a Latino-led media accelerator, which point to a grantmaker that organizes funding around specific civic and media use cases rather than broad general support. The recent awards are concentrated in media and information integrity, community reporting, and tools meant to influence civic participation.
A major thread in the portfolio is community-based media. New Media Ventures gave $50,000 to Texas Signal Media Foundation for charitable support, and the same grant level appears for Arizona Luminaria for charitable support, both fitting the funder’s emphasis on local news and narrative work. Another area is Latino-led and bilingual media. The LV4D accelerator is described as a bilingual news media accelerator for Latino-led news organizations and media ventures, which aligns with the foundation’s media and creators focus. They also fund civic infrastructure and organizing tools. The Innovation Fund supports early-stage ventures building media and AI solutions, while New Rising Ventures backs nonpartisan entrepreneurs and activists working on democracy innovation and civic engagement. The Responsible AI funding cycle targets AI-driven tools for trustworthy media, countering disinformation, and civic or voting technology.
The listed grant sizes cluster at a single level: seven of the nine recent awards are $50,000, with one $25,000 grant and one $10,000 grant. That pattern suggests a relatively standardized early-stage grant size, with smaller awards reserved for select projects. The foundation is a regular funder and a public charity, and it also operates as a DAF-classified grantmaker. Its programs point to a mix of open-call and active funding, with several vehicles marked as accepting unsolicited applications. The same recipient names do not appear across the recent-grants list, so the sample reads as one-off awards rather than repeated annual support in the data shown.
$100K
$174K
$343K
$518K
About 22% of grants go to recipients in NC.
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All nine recent grants went to U.S. recipients, and the named cities show a spread across the South, Southwest, West, and Northeast. North Carolina appears multiple times through Knightdale, Raleigh, and Ashville, while Texas appears through San Antonio. Other recipient cities include Tucson, Concord, Carmichael, Nobleboro, and Los Angeles. The grants are not limited to California despite New Media Ventures’ Sacramento headquarters; in the recent list, none of the awards went to a California recipient city other than Carmichael and Los Angeles.
New Media Ventures funds early-stage startups, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit projects working in media, responsible AI, democracy innovation, civic engagement, digital organizing, advocacy platforms, and elections or voting systems. Its programs also include support for progressive media creators and Latino-led news ventures.
Yes. Several active programs are described as open or actively funding and explicitly accept unsolicited applications, including the Innovation Fund, New Rising Ventures active funding, and the Voices for Democracy open call.
The recent-grants list is concentrated at $50,000: seven of nine awards are at that level. The remaining grants are $25,000 and $10,000.
The recent grants all went to U.S. recipients. Named recipient cities include San Antonio, Tucson, Knightdale, Raleigh, Ashville, Concord, Carmichael, Nobleboro, and Los Angeles.
Yes. The Innovation Fund is described as supporting early-stage startups across for-profits and nonprofits, while New Rising Ventures provides grant funding to early-stage nonprofit projects and organizations.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Current and upcoming funding from New Media Ventures that your nonprofit may be able to apply for.
Who can apply: Early-stage startups seeking funding; strongest applicants are beyond the idea phase. NMV uses a simple set of criteria for those it funds.
Deadline: Continuous/open investment cycle; no fixed deadline stated.
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Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCRUTINIZE A PROJECT OF THE URBAN | NEW YORK, NY | $50,000 | 2026 | CHARITABLE |
| RETRO REPORT | MYSTIC, CT | $50,000 | 2026 | CHARITABLE |
| ENLACE LATINO NC INC | KNIGHTDALE, NC | $50,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| PALABRA BY NAHJ ASSOCIATION | RALEIGH, NC | $50,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| ARIZONA LUMINARIA | TUCSON, AZ | $50,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| DECELERATION | SAN ANTONIO, TX | $50,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| TEXAS SIGNAL MEDIA FOUNDATION | CONCORD, NH | $50,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| HOLA CAROLINA | ASHVILLE, NC | $50,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| FACTCHEQUEADO | CARMICHAEL, CA | $50,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| DIRTROAD ORGANIZING | NOBLEBORO, ME | $25,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
| MICHAEL LATT LEGACY FUND | LOS ANGELES, CA | $10,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE |
RETRO REPORT
$50,000CHARITABLE
DECELERATION
CHARITABLE
FACTCHEQUEADO
$50,000CHARITABLE
