SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS

Apply for a grant from Pilot’s $250k growth fund

Pilot is putting $250,000 directly into small businesses. One of 18 grants could fund your next hire, your next location, your next year. We’re awarding:

  • One $50,000 grant
  • Two $25,000 grants
  • Fifteen $10,000 grants

Every winner also gets a year of free bookkeeping.

Applications open until March 31
Trusted by 3000+ growth-driven startups and small businesses
USE THE GRANT TO GROW

What can you use this grant money for?

One thing stands between you and your next move: capital. That's what this is for.

We've spent ten years watching small businesses grow—and watching growth stall when the money runs out at the wrong moment. The Pilot Small Business Growth Fund exists because the right support at the right time changes everything.

Stock up on inventory

Restock or pre-stock for the next busy season. Take a breather from tightly managing inventory to focus on moving product.

Buy new equipment

Get that new oven, install newer washers, or buy your team the tools to offer a better service.

Expand your team

Train your existing staff, hire more people, retain a recruiter, and find extra hands to free you up.

Improve your margins

Where do you make money? Lose money? Invest in hiring an accountant or bookkeeper and get a clear view of your whole financial situation to spend smarter.

Open a new location

Get a down payment for that new truck, start a new lease, knock down those walls, and increase your footprint.

Start marketing seriously

Put money into ads, flyers, direct mail, email, and social media marketing.

How do I apply?

This program is a partnership between Pilot and Hello Alice, and it's open to U.S. businesses that made between $5k and $5M in 2025. To apply, you must be the owner and 18 or older (19 in some states).

Complete the application

Takes < 10 minutes on Hello Alice's site.

Share a video

Selected finalists will be asked to send a short video.

Receive the grant

We deposit the funds into your business account.

This grant is brought to you by Pilot

Want to put that money to its highest use? Good books can tell you where to cut, when to hire, and whether you can afford to. The Small Business Growth Fund provides $250,000 to businesses ready to scale—backed by the financial expertise to make it count.

meet Pilot

Pilot handles your bookkeeping, tax, accounting, and advisory work—but we don't stop there.

It's 50/50 people and software—smart tools for instant insights, expert people for strategic guidance. Both working together on your business.

Track expenses in real time

Find the $2,000/month you didn't know you were wasting.

Model cash flow scenarios

Know if you can afford new hires well before you advertise the jobs.

Sleep better at tax time

Get IRS-ready books year-round that stay compliant and maximize what you keep.

Smart tools. Smarter people. Confident decisions.

Who can apply?

To be eligible to enter a business in the Program, you (“Officer”) must be all of the following as of the first day of the Program Period (defined below):

  • an entrepreneur who is the leading executive (i.e. Founder and/or President, CEO, CFO, COO, or any such other similar title) of a business that meets the below business criteria;
  • a legal resident of one of the fifty United States, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico;
  • eighteen (18) years of age or older (19 in AL and NE).

To be eligible to enter a business in the Program, you (“Officer”) must be all of the following as of the first day of the Program Period (defined below):

  • Be a for-profit business located and registered in one of the fifty United States, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico;
  • Generated between $5,000 and $5,000,000 in gross revenue in 2025

Must not be:

  • A multi-level marketing business
  • Owned by individuals (or their family members) currently or recently employed by Pilot
Let’s get you to that next level of growth

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