Whether your startup business is tech related, exclusively internet based, or even doing business brick-an-mortar style there are a variety of funding options available. Traditional venture funding is less easy to come by as the big investors and funds seek out the truly remarkable ideas. Still, many venture funding programs and grants exist for startups that may not have the immediate start quality that ventures like Google, Yahoo, or Twitter once had.

Grants

The government (at least in the United States) gives many people incentives to start new businesses. Grants are available on a federal, state, and even local levels. Depending on your race, gender, and economic status, there may even be additional grant money available.

Small Business Administration – The SBA is a government run operation that provides programs and services to help new and small business get started, grow, and succeed. They offer some excellent informative articles, newsletters, tools, and resources on the federal, state, and local levels.

Grants.gov – Grants.gov is the place to find out if you qualify for any grants for your new business. The easy to use website allows you to search based on category, agency, or keyword.

Business.gov – Business.gov carries a lot of the same information as the SBA and Grants.gov website, but has a bonus section about seed and venture funding. Business.gov has a few programs that can connect you and your idea to venture capital funds and angel investors.

Competitions

Startup pitch competitions usually take place at large events and expositions. Additionally, there are may business plan competitions put on by universities and foundations across the world. A few of the most well known are highlighted here. Click here for a list of the rest.

LeWeb09Paris – Each year at the LeWeb expo in Paris European high-tech startups present and pitch their ideas to a room full of conference goers. On the first day of the expo 20 startups will demonstrate their technology with the winners getting a chance to give a full presentation the next day. LeWeb expo not only provides the chance for startups to meet and secure investors, it also provides a way for startups to really push their product on a large scale to the innovators and early adopters across the world.

MIT 1o0K – This one is huge. The MIT 100K Entrepreneurship Competition has launched over 20 companies in its 20 years of existence with a market cap and exit value of over $12.5 billion. With such a big success rate, and only 60 seconds to make your pitch you better BRING IT!

VentureForward – VentureForward is Canada’s premiere business plan competition offering $100,000 to the winner. In addition to cash funding, the winner is also the recipient of support services and mentorship.

UofAuckland Challenge – For those Down Under, the University of Auckland holds a $100k entrepreneurship challenge. The process begins with a 55 second video pitch. Finalists are then chosen and invited to a live event at the University of Auckland School of Business.

VenCorps – VenCorps describes themselves as community powered capital. VenCorps is a platform upon which companies or funds sponsor a startup showdown with certain criteria. Startups and businesses meeting this criteria are able to pitch the idea to the VenCorps community. A large amount of discussion and voting ensues. The voting progresses through a few rounds until winners have been chosen to receive that amount of money that was up for grabs.

Incubators

The incubator model has become increasingly popular over the past couple of years. Startups apply to incubators and if accepted receive a bit of funding, office space, and mentorship from the knowledgeable startupists and incubator investors and partners who have know how to build successful businesses and services in exchange for a relatively small share of the startup’s common stock. These programs are often very excellerated and rarely last longer than 18 months.

Y Combinator – Y Combinator was among the very first to use this startup funding and development model. They offer $5,000 plus $5,000 more per founder in funding plus mentorship and in exchange for a 2-10% stake in the new company. Y Combinator operates of of Mountain View, CA.

TechStars – Based in Boulder, CO and Cambridge, MA, TechStars is a summer-long incubator which offers mentorship from industry experts, up to $18,000 in funding, and a chance to pitch to angels and VCs at the end of the program.

LaunchBox Digital – Based in Washington, D.C., LaunchBox Digital is a 12-week competition program with the winners taking $20,000 in funding in exchange for a 6% position in the new business.

DreamIt Ventures – DreamIt Ventures of Philadelphia, PA is one of the newer incubators on the scene. DreamIt invests between $10,000 and $30,000 into startups, receiving a 4-8% share in return. DreamIt also gives ventures office space and mentorship to insure their success.

CrowdFunding

If none of these options really resonate with you or your business plan or you feel like you have exhausted most of your options, then it may be time to take it all to the people. A few internet communities broker loans on behalf of businesses and individuals. These communities then turn the loan over to the people to fund the loan. People pitch in $100 here or $500 there until the loan is fully funded. Other community sites seek to allow entrepreneurs to list their venture with a short pitch and then leave contact information for any interested investors.

LendingClub – While LendingClub is traditionally used to fund personal loans, there are no stipulations that say you can’t borrow money to fund your new business. Be prepared to pay the loan back relatively quickly though, as loans all LendingClub loans are scheduled to be repaid within 36 months.

40Billion – 40Billion.com is a bit more small business and startup focused than LendingClub. Businesses post a “raise” pitching their company. The 40Billion community is then allowed to browse the raises and fund any they deem worthy of the money. At this point though, the number of raises far outweighs the number of those willing to fund the raises. Until 40Billion manages to grab a few more people with deep pockets, you may want steer clear and consider your other options.

GoBigNetwork – Rather than offering anyone the opportunity to collectively invest into startups and small businesses like LendingClub and 40Billion do, GoBigNetwork’s goal is to connect entrepreneurs with angels and venture capitalists. According to RedHerring, GoBigNetwork is essentially a craigslist for startups. Business owners post their venture and pitch onto the GoBigNetwork boards, and the investors make the call from there.