IOTA Opens Business Innovation Program—Funding Up to €100K

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• IOTA has launched a Business Innovation Program, offering up to €100,000 in funding and support for projects utilizing the upcoming IOTA Rebased Mainnet
• The program targets areas like supply chain tracking and digital identity, excluding projects like token value speculation.

The IOTA Foundation has announced the launch of its Business Innovation program, offering up to €100,000 in funding ahead of the highly anticipated IOTA Rebased upgrade. On top of the funding, the program will be offering comprehensive support to the selected businesses developing real-world applications on the upcoming IOTA Rebased Mainnet.

This initiative is a to attest its vision of using public, permissionless DLT for impactful, real-world applications, rather than solely for speculative assets and collectibles.

This announcement comes on the heels of IOTA co-founder, Dominik Schiener’s argument between permission and permissionless networks on the X platform.

I always used to say that the bigger competition for us was permissioned Blockchains.

After the death of IBM’s Hyperledger we have gone full circle, with RWA protocols like Ethena and Ondo launching their own permissioned networks in a game attempting to control the ecosystem… https://t.co/lOYvIuvkZx

— Dominik Schiener (@DomSchiener) March 18, 2025

IOTA has gone far beyond just words about the untapped potential of public/permissionless networks contrasting them with established private and permissioned networks.

Now, with the IOTA Rebased upgrade on the horizon, IOTA will walk the talk by providing the necessary functionality, stability, and scalability for real-world demands. It goes without saying that the upgrade will also address key issues such as privacy, regulatory compliance, and technological complexity.

As per the blog post, the Business Innovation Program will run until December 31, 2025. Additionally, by being open to everyone, IOTA encourages new ideas, which fits with the core idea of being decentralized.

We’re funding real-world innovation!

Apply for the #IOTA Business Innovation Program and get up to €100K in funding, as well as tech, marketing & strategic support to launch on the IOTA Mainnet. Applications open until Dec 31, 2025
https://t.co/1gLpfMr3PK pic.twitter.com/vueDW8JejE

— IOTA (@iota) March 20, 2025

In this case, the program is open to businesses of all sizes that seek to commercialize IOTA-powered products.

A representative stated that;

We see public, permissionless Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) as a transformative tool for addressing real-world challenges and driving meaningful change. This program is designed to empower innovators to leverage the IOTA Rebased Mainnet for practical, impactful solutions.

In order to qualify, projects must meet criteria related to the mainnet activity, demonstrated expertise, and real-world asset representation on-chain. Specifically, they must exhibit measurable mainnet utilization, prove technical and domain capabilities, and establish functional on-chain assets that correspond to real-world entities.

Notably, the project has set its eyes on projects that work around the niche of;

• Supply chain tracking for authenticity and traceability
• Digital Product Passports (DPPs) for end-to-end product transparency
• Decentralized identity and access management
• Data integrity and compliance for regulated sectors
• Tokenization of real-world assets.

On the other hand, it is worth noting that the program specifically excluded projects focused on;

• Token value speculation
• High-risk financial mechanisms without real-world integration
• Pure infrastructure integrations
• Research projects
• Applications on private/permissioned networks or the IOTA EVM Layer 2

After passing through the aforementioned stage, selected applicants/projects will receive up to €100,000 in funding, technical support, marketing assistance, and access to IOTA’s core protocol features, SDKs, and advanced products.

Additionally, the program will provide consulting services, best practice guidance, and development support for vertical-agnostic building blocks. Marketing and visibility will be enhanced through blog posts, case studies, and participation in industry events.

IOTA stated;