FINNOVATION Fellowship Program Grant

The FINNOVATION Fellowship Program is evolving in 2025 to better support social entrepreneurs, particularly those at the early stages of their business ideas. The program will now consist of two phases: a Discovery Module and a Fellows Module, allowing for more participants and tailored resources. This initiative is ideal for passionate individuals aiming to create positive community impacts. Eligible candidates must be 18 years or older, authorized to work in the U.S., and committed to addressing social or environmental challenges.

The New & Improved Fellowship Program
The FINNOVATION Fellowship Program supports impact-driven entrepreneurs as they launch and lead sustainable and innovative businesses. New in 2025, the program is changing to support more social entrepreneurs, especially those in the earliest stages of exploring a business idea.
How is The Program Changing?
The program is changing to support more entrepreneurs and better tailor the curriculum and resources for Fellows.
For its first six years, the FINNOVATION Fellowship was an intensive nine-month initiative for a select cohort of nine social business leaders in Minnesota. For the 2025-26 cohort, the Fellowship program will be split into two distinct phases: the Discovery Module and the Fellows Module.
Everyone who completes both modules will officially be a FINNOVATION Fellow and a part of our Alumni Network that gets you access to even more programs and opportunities.
The best part about this change is that it allows us to expand the number of participants for the first three months of the program. Your chances are better than ever to be accepted and we hope you apply!
Are you Right for this Program?
No matter where you are in your startup journey, the Fellowship program will help take you and your social impact venture to the next level!

Eligibility

To be eligible to apply you must:

• Be authorized to work in the United States
• Be at least 18 years of age
• Either currently live in or be willing to move to the Twin Cities Metro Area in Minnesota, and have an idea that will impact individuals or a community in MN
• Be dedicated to solving a social or environmental issue through entrepreneurship
• Not be a Bush Fellow during the FINN Fellowship program term
• Not be related to any members of the Bush Foundation’s staff or board of directors
• You or your spouse cannot be a government official (click for more details) during the program term
• Be able to participate in the program 35 hrs/week from September - June and work out of the FINNOVATION Lab space in Minneapolis, MN