May 2026: $5K–$50K grants, open now!
We’ve officially made it through 30% of the year, and what a wild ride it’s been! Now is a great time to set the screens aside, take a walk through the gorgeous blooms that are starting to emerge in our neighborhoods, and reflect on where you're headed in the next few months.
Most of the small businesses we've chatted with are feeling the ongoing economic pressure, but are optimistic heading into the summer months. In fact, Small Business Expo recently released its 2026 State of Small Business Report, and 82.2% of respondents cited confidence in their near-term growth plans! However, more than half of respondents believe that “finding customers” is their largest challenge right now.
Regardless of where you are, here’s a few things that we hope will offer you a bit of inspiration:
💰Grant Opportunities: 6 open grants have deadlines THIS MONTH, with a few more in early June. And two of these are worth $50K, each! Links are below, and more available in our SMB Grant Database.
🇬🇧 LWL London 2026: We're absolutely chuffed to be heading back to London this summer! UK Launchers: Mark the diary to meet us in Shoreditch on 29th June, and keep your eyes out for the official invite!
📷 Instagram Update: The app we love to hate made some important changes in the last week. Details in the Power Picks section, below.
🩵 Meet Samantha: Founder of Motette and The Atlas Row, Samantha Gold, shares a fascinating perspective on how her kids have influenced her leadership (and what all business owners can learn from it!)
Always grateful for you!
The Ladies Who Launch team
💰GRANT DEADLINES
For any questions about the below grants, including eligibility, please reach out to the granting organization directly.
[$20K] Small Business Hero Program. Intuit's year-long grant program closes in just under 2 weeks! Deadline: May 15, 2026 at 11:59pm ET
[$10K] WomensNet Monthly Grant: Mental & Emotional Support. May's WomensNet grant is reserved for the women-owned businesses that hold space for the rest of us! Calling all counselors and therapists, this one is for you. Deadline: May 31, 2026
[$50K] Ingredients For Success Entrepreneurs Initiative. Significant non-dilutive funding and mentorship available for 3 early-stage, Black-owned businesses. Requires a video pitch, so don't delay! Deadline: June 1, 2026 at 11:59pm PT
[$50K] EmpowHer Grant. Our amazing partners at Boundless Futures Foundation have just opened up their spring grant cycle! Up to $50K is available for qualifying women-owned small businesses that demonstrate a clear social impact. Deadline: June 15, 2026 at 9:00pm ET
[$5K] Kirabo Grant. Open to founders and small business owners from historically under-resourced communities, and anyone facing systemic barriers to economic opportunity, Kirabo is offering a $5,000 cash grant, a complimentary Kirabo membership, and a business coaching session. Deadline: June 28, 2026 at 11:59pm PT
💥POWER PICKS
Your monthly shortcut to better decisions: handpicked listens, curated reads, and expert events that will level up your thinking and skills.
2026 State of Small Business Report. It's a breath of fresh air to review current statistics impacting small business owners, specifically, vs the broader business landscape. Consider whether these findings align with what you're seeing in your own business.
Everything changed when I stopped chasing AI tools. Katie Blouin—who recently shared her AI knowledge with our community!—penned this thoughtful piece on how stepping back from the AI tools race has helped her business move forward.
Simple Operational Shifts Female Entrepreneurs Can Make to Increase Profits. This one is specifically for the gals in that $100K-$500K sweet spot. We love the speaker's challenge for listeners to rewrite their internal story about numbers, so that decisions can be made from a grounded, data-driven place.
May 14th Virtual Event: Solo Summit by Lettuce.co. Lettuce, the automated tax and accounting software, is hosting a virtual summit on Thursday May 14th designed to support solopreneurs across a variety of topics. Registration is free, and the full agenda is strong!
Important Instagram Update: Original Content Guidelines. On the off chance you use Instagram for your business, don't miss this important update on how the app is shifting to prioritize original content over accounts that simply repost third-party content. Here's a more detailed explanation from Head of Instagram, Adam Mosseri, and a useful breakdown from a leading educator.
🩵LAUNCHER SPOTLIGHT
We celebrate women-owned businesses in motion: the decisions they’re making, the challenges they’re navigating, and sharing what other founders can learn along the way. Give your fellow Launcher some love, online!
Meet Samantha Gold
Samantha is the Founder of Motette and The Atlas Row.
We asked her: What’s something your kids have taught you that’s influenced how you show up as a leader?
Here's what she had to say:
"Kids ask “why” about everything, and somewhere along the way most adults stop doing that. Watching my kids question everything has made me a better leader because I stopped accepting “that’s just how it’s done” as an answer. Curiosity is how you find the better way.
And honestly, curiosity is at the core of how I run my businesses. I come from a background in tech and consulting, and bringing that lens into retail has been everything. This industry has so many inherited assumptions, about how you have to spend, how you have to grow, what a team has to look like. I’m constantly asking why, and then figuring out how to do it differently.
That looks like leveraging AI across the entire business. It looks like working with an incredible offshore team that keeps operations lean without sacrificing quality. It looks like testing new tools constantly, being willing to scrap something that isn’t working, and never getting too attached to the way things were done before. I’m not afraid to make changes, even mid-stream, because staying curious means staying honest about what’s actually working.
The brands that win over the next decade aren’t going to be the ones with the biggest budgets. They’re going to be the ones that stayed curious long enough to figure out a smarter way."
— Samantha Gold
Founder, Motette & The Atlas Row