Deadline:
Sep 6, 2026IN ONE LINE:
Multi-year, core, flexible grants of USD 10,000 to 100,000 for feminist tech activism. South Asia is eligible, unregistered collectives of two people can apply, and the deadline is 6 September 2026.
About Numun Fund:
Numun Fund is a feminist tech fund grounded in and led by the movements it serves, and the first dedicated fund for feminist tech organising in the Larger Majority World. Its aim is to seed, resource and sustain a thriving ecosystem of feminist activists who define, imagine and shape technology.
It exists as a response to the concentration of resources and decision-making power around tech in the Global North. This is the third cycle of Seed, Grow and Sustain, following the first in 2022, and USD 1.75 million will be allocated across the two-year duration.
What makes this grant unusual:
Three features are rare in combination and worth understanding before applying.
It is core and flexible, not project funding. Money can go to organising, internal needs, or strategising towards emerging context shifts rather than a fixed set of deliverables.
It is multi-year, covering a two-year period, which is uncommon at these grant sizes.
And the eligibility bar on organisational form is genuinely low. Unregistered groups qualify. Online-only initiatives qualify. The minimum size is two people. Numun states plainly that it welcomes legally registered, formally organised, unregistered groups and online-only initiatives at any stage of growth.
The three tiers:
Who can apply:
The grant prioritises organising and leadership in the Larger Majority World, defined by both geography and politics, addressing historic resource disparities, exploitation and colonialism. Eligible regions include Africa, Asia including South Asia, WANA, Latin America, the Caribbean, Pacific Islands, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and Indigenous and migrant communities based anywhere in the world.
Beyond geography, applicants must have feminist tech central to their activism, advocacy or approach to change; be led by the communities whose realities they represent; and work with or comprise communities historically subjected to discrimination, oppression, exploitation or exclusion, for example Indigenous people, women, Afro-descendant, migrant, refugee, LBTQI+, young people, people with disabilities, rural women and sex workers.
Numun also adds an explicit invitation: if you believe your group should be eligible based on its stated politics and goals but do not feel included by the criteria, apply anyway and explain why in the additional comments section.
What is not supported:
Commercial tech providers and for-profit developers serving non-profits without a direct movement connection. Global North-based groups, unless led by Indigenous or migrant communities. Projects led by the Global North without shared leadership with migrant or Indigenous communities. Developers or service providers without direct collaboration with social justice, women's rights or feminist movements. Feminist tech initiatives led by cis-gender heterosexual men. Groups structurally dependent on political parties, government agencies or religious institutions. Individual applications, since Numun funds collective organising. And detached academic research not connected to or led by the communities it serves.
What counts as feminist tech:
Numun states there is no single definition and that every context and movement has its own understanding. Its own framing puts shifting power at the heart: a feminist engagement with tech treats the field as a site for activism where power structures are shaped, strengthened or transformed. Numun prioritises feminist analyses of power and the leadership of communities most affected by developments in science and tech.
Selection process:
Applications are screened and longlisted by the Numun team in September against the Who Can Apply criteria. A community-led selection committee, including members of the Grantmaking Design Circle, Numun nodes and activists from priority regions and movements, conducts peer review and final selection in October and November. References and due diligence follow in December, with Numun reaching out to the applicant's communities and networks. All longlisted applicants are informed in January 2027.
Language:
Applications are accepted in English only, as Numun's primary working language. The fund states that all applications will be read with a default understanding that English is not the applicant's first language, and it suggests DeepL as a translation aid. Interpretation is offered at the FAQ webinars in several languages, including Hindi.
Why Nepal fits:
South Asia is explicitly named among eligible regions. Nepal has an active community working at the intersection of gender, technology and rights, covering online gender-based violence, digital safety for women and LBTQI+ people, data and privacy, and technology-facilitated harassment, which is precisely the territory this fund exists for.
Two features make this particularly accessible for Nepali groups. Unregistered collectives can apply, which removes the Social Welfare Council registration barrier that blocks most donor funding for informal feminist and queer organising. And the Seed tier at USD 10,000 to 20,000 is a realistic entry point for a small collective rather than requiring an established institution.
Worth noting: the 19 August webinar offers Hindi interpretation, which may be useful for Nepali applicants more comfortable in Hindi than English.
Who should apply:
Nepali feminist and queer collectives, digital rights groups, women-led tech initiatives, and feminist programmes within larger human rights or digital rights organisations, working on online safety, digital security, technology-facilitated gender-based violence, data justice, or community technology. Registration is not required. A minimum of two people is.
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