Comcast Innovation Fund
The Comcast Innovation Fund is accepting new applications for the 2026 Grant Year
The Comcast Innovation Fund was created to support technology and public policy research that contributes to the betterment of the Internet, and the continued evolution of connectivity products and services. The fund provides grants to technologists, researchers, and academics to support Internet- and connectivity-focused projects within the fund’s areas of interest, which are updated annually.
Other Programs
Information about other Comcast programs not connected to the Comcast Innovation Fund can be found here:
2026 Interest Areas
Low Latency Networking: Research & open source (OSS) development related to IETF standards for Low Latency, Low Loss, Scalable Throughput (L4S) and Non-Queue-Building Per Hop Behavior (NQB). That includes measuring the adoption of L4S and NQB and comparing dual queue latency to single, classic queue latency as we study Quality of Experience (QoE), Quality of Outcome (QoO), and other end user quality measures.
Wi-Fi Performance: Studying ways to improve home Wi-Fi network performance, including potentially developing or improving open-source software that supports wireless networking.
AI/Edge Computing/Caching: Research and open-source development related to distributed Artificial Intelligence (AI) inference/training, cloud AR/VR, targeted advertising, and video analytics. This includes cost-effective distribution of live events at the network edge.
Live Video Streaming: Developing open-source tools to lower the latency-from-live streaming video – especially for live sports and studying the latency differences streaming over different access technologies.
Quantum Computing-Related Cybersecurity and Privacy: Protection against quantum computing threats via developing technologies, standards, operating models, best practices, and transition strategies to protect network infrastructures and digital assets from plausible quantum computing enabled attack vectors.
Quantum Network Optimization: We are excited to announce a significant new investment in our future – funding for a PhD position dedicated to Quantum Computing. This initiative places us at the vanguard of the telecom industry, directly exploring how quantum technologies can solve our most complex and mission-critical network challenges. This is not a traditional PhD. The successful candidate will operate at the intersection of corporate innovation and foundational academic research and will be jointly supervised by their academic advisor at their home institution and by a technical leader from Comcast. The PhD candidate’s research will have a dual purpose: (1) Solve real-world problems of immediate interest to the telecommunications industry, and (2) Advance foundational science in quantum computing, specifically by developing novel methods for network optimization. The research will focus on formulating complex telecom problems as mathematical models (e.g., QUBOs) that can be executed on quantum hardware. This includes exploring the capabilities of both quantum annealers and gate-based quantum computers and utilizing algorithms like the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA).
The research will target the core challenges that define modern telecommunications, including (but not limited) to these areas:
- Latency Optimization: Finding new ways to route data with minimal delay
- Network Resiliency: Designing self-healing networks that can withstand and adapt to failures
- Traffic Flow Optimization: Dynamically managing network congestion and bandwidth allocation
- Future Network Design: Modeling next-generation network topologies from the ground up
2026 Areas of Scope:
- Fintech, NFTs, blockchain, crypto currencies
- Projects which focus on network simulators
- New social media systems
Please see our Innovation Fund annual reports for the projects we’ve funded since our opening in 2013.
Open-Source Development Grants
Open-Source Development Grants are intended to fund new or continued development of open-source software in areas of interest to Comcast or of benefit to the Internet and broadband industries. Applicants for these grants are often organizations, academic institutions, or individuals.
General and Target Research Grants
General Research Grants provide unrestricted award of funds to support researchers, usually at colleges and universities. These grants are focused on supporting excellent technical research in a wide variety of fields that are relevant to the evolution of the Internet.
Targeted Research Grants are more narrowly tailored and typically study more specific issues. Applicants for these grants often come from organizations, academic institutions, and occasionally individuals.
Useful & Interesting Things Grants
We also fund work that contributes to the Internet in novel and useful ways. This includes individuals who are working on ideas, technologies, or approaches that are useful and valuable to the Internet. Sometimes it’s a conference that’s being organized, or a new piece of hardware that’s being invented. Either way, it helps advance the growth of the Internet and the Internet Community.
Annual Reports
Application Instructions
Before applying we recommend you read the guidance we have provided below. When you are ready to apply, the first step is to submit the pre-qualification form.
- Submit a Pre-Qualification Form– gauging our potential interest, before taking the time to develop a full grant application.
Get Started — Covering the Basics
The application process for a Comcast Innovation Fund grant is designed to be quick and easy.
We’ve switched to a two step process starting in 2025.
Step one, is submitting a quick to complete Pre-Qualification form giving us a high level look at what your proposing. We’ll review it and respond with our decision. The second step, if we approve your pre-qualification proposal, will be to complete a full application using a link we will send you.
- We anticipate grants being in the $3,000-$150,000 USD range
- Do not submit any materials you believe are confidential, because you have no expectation of confidentiality in the submission process except with respect to your personally identifiable information
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these expected to be one-year or two-year projects?
We only support one-year projects. We will sometimes consider multi-year projects but will only fund one phase at a time with no guarantee of continued funding. Projects are always welcome to submit additional proposals for funding.
Do you have any limitations on how the budget is used or on indirect costs? Can we put administrative overhead for the university in as “other” expenses (e.g., paid faculty such as researchers and assistants, overhead costs for the university, etc.)?
The proposal needs to describe how the budget is going to be used, so we cannot support indirect costs. Overhead pay and “other expenses” is not permissible. Please put the faculty and research assistants into one figure.
Are funds open to applicants outside the United States of America?
Yes. Grant funds are available globally to researchers both within and outside the U.S.
What time of year does the fund accept new submissions?
Funding is done annually starting in January and continues until the year’s fund is exhausted. Once the final applications for the year have been approved, we close out any remaining proposals that have been submitted.
Applicants are welcome to create and submit a new application when the next funding year opens.
Do Comcast Innovation Fund gifts require Purchase Orders (POs)?
POs are not required. However, you must create and submit an invoice and sign other paperwork, such as an acknowledgement of the grant.
How to Write a Successful Grant Proposal
If you’re pre-qualification proposal is accepted, in your full proposal which will be you asked a more detailed series of questions which will be used by the Innovation Fund Steering Committee at Comcast to evaluate the funding request.
Below are some suggestions to help you create an effective proposal.
Impact Is Important
As part of our evaluation of proposals we consider the impact the project would have, if successful. Will it solve a problem that is vexing Internet providers or users? Will it be something that is widely adopted? Will it shift current practices in an improved, better direction?
Be specific about what you want to achieve
Your proposal should include a clear and well-defined problem statement. Clearly state what you want to achieve and how you will do so. Also, let us know if the funding you seek is part of a larger project, or one which is funded elsewhere. This is not necessarily an impediment, but it is important for us to know.
State how the funding will be used and why your proposal should be chosen
Describe the potential outcome of your research or development, including what specific areas require funding and how the funding will be applied. For example, will your research provide incremental progress along a given technical trajectory, or is it revolutionary? Likewise, if your proposal relates to open-source, please indicate when the software will be available, how widely might it be used or distributed (and whether it scales), which open-source license governs the software, and whether you are a project committer resourced to contribute code. Also, explain any best/worst-case outcomes.
Explain how your work is different or unique relative to the state-of-the-art in your field of R&D
While your ideas may be clear to you, please bear in mind that the individuals who review your application may not be experts in your specific field. Therefore, it is critical to provide an explanation that helps both experts and non-experts understand what your research can offer that’s not already out there.
Explain how you will carry out the research or development
In addition to clearly identifying the problem you plan to investigate, it will be beneficial to describe how you intend to carry out the research or development. In doing so, please identify the risks you may encounter, and how you might mitigate them. In R&D, failure is often a form of progress, so it’s important to record the challenges you encounter in your work.
Comcast Liaisons
In the event you are selected to receive a grant, Comcast may assign an internal project liaison to interface with you. If you have worked with Comcast technical personnel on related research or technical projects, please feel free to identify such personnel as potential liaisons in your submission.
All of the above matters
As you draft your proposal, remember that you are selling an idea. Be complete, but refrain from providing an amount of detail that may bog down individual and group reviews. Be enthusiastic. It can be contagious, and you want the review committee to be enthusiastic, too.
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