NLnet Foundation

Overview

NLnet is a Dutch foundation that pays for work on open software, open hardware, open data and open standards, and has long been active in internet infrastructure and privacy tooling. Grants are for technical development rather than for writing about it, and everything produced must be released under a recognised free and open-source licence, with research outputs published open access. Applications are deliberately lightweight: a short form in plain English, answered in your own words, with no attachment required. NLnet describes the mechanism as cost recovery rather than commercial contracting.

Who it's for

It suits a small team or an individual with a defined piece of engineering work and a maintainable plan: a protocol implementation, a security improvement, a port, a missing piece of infrastructure. Anyone may apply in principle, but each fund adds its own eligibility, and the EU-backed funds expect a European dimension, usually meaning applicants based in Horizon Europe-eligible countries. Work that is mainly advocacy or design without a development component is a weaker match.

What you get

Funding covers the cost of the work, at a rate the foundation describes as cost recovery rather than a commercial rate, which keeps it accessible to people who are not running a company. Grants can be scaled up where a project shows real potential. Grantees also draw on support services that vary by fund: security and accessibility audits, mentoring, testing expertise and copyright or licensing advice. For an infrastructure project, that advice often prevents expensive mistakes later.

How to apply

Choose a fund, or submit to the open call if none is an obvious fit, then complete the short proposal form. It asks for a summary and expected results, a budget with tasks and rates, a comparison with related work, the technical challenges you foresee, the surrounding ecosystem and your own background. Answers are plain text and are read by people, so clarity matters more than polish. The foundation publishes a generative-AI policy and requires disclosure, including prompts, if you used such tools while drafting.

Timing

Periodic. NLnet runs back-to-back calls rather than one annual window, and each call has a published deadline, so there is always a next round. The funding page states the recurring deadline pattern and lists the funds currently open. Dates and open funds change, so confirm the current call before you write.

How to stand out

Write the budget as tasks with time estimates and a rate, because reviewers compare effort against the deliverable and a lump sum tells them nothing. Say what already exists (upstream projects, prior art, standards bodies) and whether you will contribute upstream or fork. The European-dimension question sinks otherwise good proposals from outside Horizon Europe, so address it directly in the background section. Keep the form short; the guidance asks for brevity, and length is not read as thoroughness.

FAQ