Kyros runs three grants: Springboard, Builder, and Bridge. They are non-repayable, they map to three different moments in a business's life, and you can hold one active grant at a time. Apply, and the panel tells you plainly which one fits, even if it is not the one you applied for.
This course walks through each grant, who it is for, what it covers, and what the panel looks for, so you can apply for the right one the first time.
Why this matters
Grant money is different from every other kind of money. You do not pay it back, which means the only real cost of applying is the ten minutes the application takes, and the only way to waste the opportunity is to apply for the wrong grant with the wrong story.
Founders who understand the three stages apply once, to the right programme, with the evidence that programme actually wants. Founders who do not, apply to whichever name sounds biggest and get a "not yet" that a better-matched application would have avoided.
The three grants
- Springboard
- For aspiring founders ready to begin: an idea, early traction, or a clear plan, and no access to traditional credit. It covers working capital, first inventory, first registration costs, or a first marketing push, paid in one tranche after approval. No business registration is required.
- Builder
- For early traction with a clear next milestone: a founder with customers, a measurable next step, and a plan for the funds. It covers the push that turns traction into repeatable revenue, inventory, equipment, or a first hire. Basic business details are asked for.
- Bridge
- Working capital, fast. For the founder with a confirmed order or invoice and a timing gap to close between today and payment. It is the fastest-moving of the three, because timing is its whole point.
- The common thread
- All three are decided by a standing panel of founders and operators, against published criteria, with most decisions within 7 business days of a complete application. You compete on the strength of your business, not on who you know.
Finding your grant in four questions
Answer these honestly and the right programme names itself.
Has the business made real sales yet?
If not, or barely, you are a Springboard candidate. That is not a lesser category; it is the grant designed for exactly the moment before "founded".
Do you have customers and a next milestone you can measure?
Repeat buyers, a stall that sells out, orders you had to decline: that is traction, and a checkable milestone on top of it makes you a Builder candidate.
Is there a confirmed order you cannot fund?
A real purchase order or invoice, a real delivery date, and a gap between the two: that is precisely what Bridge exists for. Nothing else qualifies for it, and nothing else is needed.
What exactly will the money do?
Whichever grant fits, the application asks the same hard question: what will the funds do for the business, specifically? "Grow my business" is not an answer. "Buy the second freezer that doubles my daily stock" is.
Three founders, three grants
Picture three applicants in the same week. The first has perfected a shea butter formula, has a costed plan, and has sold only to neighbours: Springboard, to fund first inventory and registration. The second runs a school uniform business with three schools buying every term and wants a second industrial machine to take on two more: Builder, with a milestone the panel can check.
The third supplies a hotel that has just placed its biggest order yet, payable thirty days after delivery, and she cannot fund the fabric today: Bridge, with the order and the dates doing the talking. Same programme, three different moments, three different right answers.
Common mistakes
Applying for Builder or Bridge with no traction, hoping ambition covers the gap. The stages exist because evidence differs by stage.
Applying for Springboard while sitting on real traction that would make a stronger Builder case.
Describing the funds' purpose in general terms. Vague plans read as no plan.
Applying for a Bridge without a confirmed order. Bridge is about a real date and a real payment, not general working capital.
Forgetting that one active grant at a time is the rule, and treating the three as a menu to work through simultaneously.
Your action steps
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Key takeaway
Springboard for the moment before founded, Builder for traction with a measurable next step, Bridge for a confirmed order with a timing gap. Match the grant to your real stage, name exactly what the money will do, and let the evidence carry the application.
