About the Competition
Boundless San Francisco is a competition funded by Crankstart that will award up to $150 million to organizations anywhere in the world with ideas for making San Francisco a better place to live. Up to three Awardees will receive up to $50 million each to bring their proposal to life.
The story of San Francisco has always been one of exchange — of ideas born here that have spread throughout the world, and of people and ideas from elsewhere that have shaped this city. Boundless San Francisco — open to proposals in any subject area, from near or far — builds on this tradition and reflects the premise that the next great idea for the city could come from anyone, anywhere.
Successful proposals will pair an ambitious vision for San Francisco's future with a clear, credible plan to build it and make it last. In addition to grant funding, applicants may request flexible, below-market capital (such as a low-interest loan). Projects must primarily benefit San Francisco.
Before You Apply
Before applying, complete the Organization Readiness Tool and refer to the Competition Rules to help determine eligibility and ensure that your solution is a strong fit for the initiative. You can also review the full Application, available in PDF form here.
Interested applicants must register to apply before 5:00 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time on Friday, September 11, 2026. Complete applications are due before 5:00 p.m. U.S. Pacific Time on Friday, October 9, 2026.
Evaluation Process
Valid applications will be scored by four fellow applicants during Participatory Review in November and December 2026. Top-scoring applicants will advance to Evaluation Panel Review, where they will be scored by four Evaluation Panel Reviewers using the same Evaluation Criteria: Transformative Ambition, Viability, Evidence of Results, and Durability. Scores will be adjusted to ensure fairness. Once evaluations are complete, the Competition team will review the top-scoring submissions and may request additional information as needed to select up to seven Finalists who will move on to the next phase.
Finalists & Awards
Between $1–$3.5 million in project development support will be divided among three to seven Finalists. In Fall 2027, up to three Awardees will each receive an Award of between $10–$50 million to implement their solution. Please see the complete Competition Timeline for more information.
Applicant Webinar & Questions
An Applicant Q&A webinar was hosted on Tuesday, August 18 at 11:00 a.m. U.S. Pacific Time. View the recording here. To access the live interpretation recording in Spanish click here and for French click here. To view the ASL interpretation, click here. The webinar covers an overview of the Boundless San Francisco Competition, a demonstration of the submission platform, and answers to some frequently asked questions. Please direct any questions to boundless-sf@submittable.com.
Registration & Application Access
Follow the "Apply" link at the bottom of this page to access the registration form and application. If you have already registered for Boundless San Francisco, you will have received a confirmation email confirming your registration. Within the hour, you will receive another email containing instructions for accessing the application.
If you have already begun your application, you may sign in to your Submittable account at manager.submittable.com/login. Once signed in, you may access and continue your application. You may also view your application, once complete, via your Submittable account. If you have lost or forgotten your password, please follow the instructions here.
