Comcast Innovation Fund: Useful & Interesting Things Grants

Overview

The Comcast Innovation Fund was created to support technology and public policy research that contributes to the betterment of the Internet, and the continued evolution of connectivity products and services. The fund provides grants to technologists, researchers, and academics to support Internet- and connectivity-focused projects within the fund’s areas of interest, which are updated annually.

Useful & Interesting Things Grants fund work that contributes to the Internet in novel and useful ways. This includes individuals who are working on ideas, technologies, or approaches that are useful and valuable to the Internet. Sometimes it’s a conference that’s being organized, or a new piece of hardware that’s being invented. Either way, it helps advance the growth of the Internet and the Internet Community.

We only support one-year projects. We will sometimes consider multi-year projects but will only fund one phase at a time with no guarantee of continued funding.

Types of Grants

Open-Source Development Grants

Open-Source Development Grants are intended to fund new or continued development of open-source software in areas of interest to Comcast or of benefit to the Internet and broadband industries. Applicants for these grants are often organizations, academic institutions, or individuals.

General and Target Research Grants

General Research Grants provide an unrestricted award of funds to support researchers, usually at colleges and universities. These grants are focused on supporting excellent technical research in a wide variety of fields that are relevant to the evolution of the Internet.

Targeted Research Grants are more narrowly tailored and typically study more specific issues. Applicants for these grants often come from organizations, academic institutions, and occasionally individuals.

Useful & Interesting Things Grants

We also fund work that contributes to the Internet in novel and useful ways. This includes individuals who are working on ideas, technologies, or approaches that are useful and valuable to the Internet. Sometimes it’s a conference that’s being organized, or a new piece of hardware that’s being invented. Either way, it helps advance the growth of the Internet and the Internet Community.

Eligibility

_You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website._

* Areas of focus for the Comcast Innovation Fund are updated annually. Projects most likely to receive Innovation Fund Grants will fall into one of these areas. Top Areas of Interest for 2025:
* End User Application Quality
* Wi-Fi Performance
* Routing Security
* Live Video Streaming
* Edge Computing/Caching
* Policy Issues
* FCC Outage Reporting & E911/988 Reporting
* Quantum Computing-Related Cybersecurity and Privacy
* Wireless & Mobility
* We will consider proposals in other Internet technology areas at a lower priority.

Ineligibility

* Areas out of scope for the 2025 Grant Year include:
* Fintech, NFTs, blockchain, crypto currencies
* Projects which focus on network simulators
* New social media systems