Refugee Entrepreneurship Grants 2025: How Refugee Led Enterprises Can Secure 150000 USD for Growth

If you run a refugee‑led business that is creating jobs, dignity, and real options for your community, this is the kind of opportunity you do not ignore.

The Tent Partnership for Refugees, through the Global Refugee Entrepreneurship Network, is backing refugee‑owned and refugee‑led enterprises with up to 150,000 USD per enterprise. This is not a tiny pilot pot that barely buys a laptop. This is “hire staff, scale operations, professionalize your systems, and reach new markets” money.

And crucially, it is tailored to businesses that put refugees at the center — not as a PR story, but as owners, leaders, and employees.

The world is full of programs about refugees. Tent is unapologetically about working with refugees, backing real businesses in host countries that already operate legally, already serve communities, and already show they can create fair, inclusive jobs. If that sounds like you, you are squarely in their target zone.

Below is a complete, practical guide to what this opportunity offers, who stands a real chance, and how to put together a serious application by the 5 July 2025 deadline.

At a Glance: Tent Refugee Entrepreneurship Grant 2025

What This Opportunity Actually Offers

Think of this grant as catalytic fuel for refugee‑led businesses that are already moving and now need a serious push to reach the next level.

The headline figure is up to 150,000 USD per enterprise. That amount is big enough to:

• Formalize or expand operations (register in new markets, secure proper premises).
• Hire and retain a stronger core team, including refugees from your community.
• Invest in equipment, inventory, or technology you have been improvising without.
• Build proper systems: accounting, HR, compliance, marketing, and logistics.
• Design and run training or apprenticeship programs that move refugees into better‑quality work, not just survival jobs.

But the money is only half the story.

Tent sits at the center of a business network that includes more than 500 major companies — names like Amazon, Pfizer, Marriott, Sodexo and many others that have publicly committed to hiring and supporting refugees. While this specific fund is focused on direct enterprise support, being selected puts you on the radar of a network that is already hiring and working with refugee talent at scale.

In practice, that can mean:

• Potential introductions to corporate buyers or suppliers.
• Access to locally tailored guidance on inclusive hiring and workplace integration.
• Visibility in a global community that actually understands refugee hiring barriers — work authorization, language, credential recognition, childcare, transportation — and has real experience addressing them.

If you run, say, a refugee‑owned logistics company in Colombia, a catering business in Germany, a tech services startup in the Netherlands, or a manufacturing venture in Mexico, this grant is designed to help you stop playing small and start operating like the serious business you are.

Who Should Apply: Is This Really for You?

This is not a generic SME grant. It is tightly focused on refugee‑owned and refugee‑led enterprises with genuine community impact.

You are in the right place if:

• Refugees own or lead your enterprise. The majority of ownership or leadership must be in refugee hands. That could be a Syrian founder running a construction company in Spain, a Venezuelan entrepreneur operating a food brand in Colombia, or Afghan tech founders building a software firm in Canada. If the leadership table has mostly non‑refugees and one token refugee advisor, this is not for you.

• You operate legally in a host country. Your business must be based in a country where refugees have the right to work and trade, and you must be operating within that country’s laws — registrations, licenses, tax obligations, the whole lot. Tent is not funding informal side hustles that cannot survive basic due diligence.

• You can show community impact and inclusive employment. This is where many applicants will be filtered. You need evidence — not just nice words — that your enterprise:

  • Employs refugees (ideally alongside members of the host community).
  • Treats employees fairly (pay, working conditions, hours, benefits where applicable).
  • Contributes to local economies rather than draining them.
  • Opens doors to better opportunities: training, promotions, skills development.

Imagine three examples:

1. A refugee‑led food processing business in Mexico that buys produce from small refugee and local farmers, employs a mixed refugee/host workforce, and sells to supermarkets.
2. A digital services company in Poland that hires Ukrainian and local software testers, provides them with training, and helps them build formal CVs and portfolios.
3. A cleaning and facilities company run by refugees in the UK that hires refugees on legal contracts rather than day‑to‑day cash work, offering language support and supervisory training.

All three would be compelling candidates — if they can show solid operations and a concrete plan for using the grant to grow impact and revenue.

On the other hand, if your enterprise is purely charitable (no revenue model) or purely profit‑driven with no inclusive employment angle, this opportunity is not a natural fit.

What This Grant Looks for in a Business

While there is no public scoring rubric spelled out line by line, reading Tent’s broader work gives some clear clues about what they care about.

They are looking for enterprises that:

• Create real jobs, not just one‑off gigs. A critical part of Tent’s philosophy is that a stable job is the cornerstone of rebuilding a life. Show that your roles are consistent, legal, and as decent as your sector allows.

• Address genuine barriers for refugees. Are you dealing with language, transportation, credential recognition, or childcare issues in smart, practical ways? For instance, flexible shifts for parents, on‑the‑job language support, or partnerships with local NGOs for wraparound services.

• Can grow with the right capital. The best candidates will have a clear growth path: more locations, new products, expanded services, bigger contracts. The 150,000 USD should multiply impact, not simply plug short‑term cash flow problems.

• Benefit both refugees and host communities. Tent works with major employers across the Americas and Europe specifically because they want to show that hiring refugees is good for business and for societies. If your business bridges communities rather than isolating refugees, mention that clearly.

Insider Tips for a Winning Application

You are not applying to a charity handout. You are pitching to a group that understands business, jobs, and refugee realities. Treat the application like a serious investment proposal with a social impact brain.

Here is how to stand out.

1. Make the refugee leadership structure undeniable

Do not rely on vague statements like “We are refugee‑led.” Spell it out:

• Who owns what percentage of the company?
• Which leadership roles are held by refugees?
• What is their story — not as trauma porn, but as evidence of resilience, skill, and experience?

If your board or leadership team includes non‑refugees, explain how their role supports, rather than overshadows, refugee leadership. For example: “Our CFO is not a refugee, but joined specifically to help us meet local regulatory requirements and strengthen our financial systems under the direction of our refugee founder/CEO.”

2. Treat the impact section like a data story, not a slogan

“Empowering refugees” is the kind of sentence reviewers see 50 times in one sitting. It means nothing without numbers and specifics.

Instead, write something like:

• “We currently employ 23 staff: 15 refugees (Syrian, Sudanese, Afghan) and 8 members of the local community. Of these, 12 had never had a formal contract before joining us.”
• “In 2024, we paid a total of 92,000 USD in wages to refugees and 74,000 USD to host community staff, all at or above the legal minimum plus transport and meals.”

If you are early stage and do not have big numbers yet, show rate of growth and clear plans: how many people you will hire, train, and promote with this funding.

3. Be brutally clear about what the 150,000 USD will do

Vague uses of funds kill good applications. “Scale operations” is not a plan.

Break it down:

• “50,000 USD to purchase packaging equipment that will triple production capacity from 2 tons/month to 6 tons/month.”
• “40,000 USD to hire 10 refugee staff on full‑time contracts plus benefits over 12 months.”
• “25,000 USD to run a structured 6‑month training program for 30 refugees, including language‑support and on‑the‑job training, with a target of hiring at least 60 percent on completion.”

If you can connect these numbers to revenue and sustainability — even better. Show that this grant gets you to a stronger, more resilient business model.

4. Prove you understand risk and regulation

Refugee‑led enterprises often operate in complex legal environments: work permits, business licences, shifting migration policies. Tent knows this. If you pretend everything is smooth and simple, you will not sound credible.

Instead:

• Briefly outline key regulatory constraints and how you comply.
• Acknowledge any genuine risks (e.g., delays in work permits, political shifts) and how you reduce their impact (diversifying clients, working in multiple regions, strong local partners).

Mature risk awareness is a positive signal, not a negative.

5. Show how you treat people, not just numbers

Refugees entering the workforce deal with more than just “finding a job.” They need supportive workplaces that understand trauma, cultural adjustment, and language gaps.

If you already offer:

• Mentoring for new hires.
• Flexible learning time for language courses.
• Clear, written contracts in a language staff can understand.
• Progression paths from entry‑level roles to supervisory positions.

Describe these in detail. Tent’s whole ethos is that companies can transform lives through better jobs, training, and mentorship. Align with that — concretely.

6. Get an external reader who is not in your sector

Have at least one person outside your industry read your draft application. If they cannot understand what you sell, how you make money, and how refugees benefit, the reviewers probably won’t either.

Ask them specifically:

• “Where did you get bored?”
• “Where did you get confused?”
• “What sounded vague or unconvincing?”

Then fix those parts.

Application Timeline: Working Back from 5 July 2025

If you treat the deadline as the day you start, you are already too late. Here is a realistic backward plan.

By mid‑June 2025

Aim to have a full draft ready by 15 June. That gives you about three weeks for revisions, translations (if needed), and chasing any missing documents. At this stage, your narrative, budget, and impact logic should all be in place.

May 2025

Use May as your heavy writing and data‑gathering month. You should:

• Lock your budget and spending plan.
• Pull together employment records, registration documents, and basic financials.
• Draft your impact story with hard numbers (jobs created, wages paid, communities reached).

April 2025

April is for planning and information gathering:

• Confirm your refugee ownership/leadership structure in writing.
• Decide your growth priorities — you probably cannot do everything at once with 150,000 USD.
• Sketch out your theory of change: “If we spend money on X, Y and Z, the result will be more sustainable revenue and increased, high‑quality refugee employment.”

March 2025

If you are reading this early:

• Check your legal status and documentation now — registrations, permits, licences. Fix any gaps.
• Talk with key partners (NGOs, training providers, local government, corporate buyers) about letters of support or future collaborations you could mention.

Final week before 5 July 2025

Do not submit at the last minute. Online systems crash, internet drops, PDFs misbehave.

Submit at least 48 hours before the deadline, and spend the final days double‑checking:

• All required sections are complete.
• Numbers are consistent across narrative and budget.
• Names, dates, and figures match your supporting documents.

Required Materials and How to Prepare Them

Exact requirements may vary slightly by call, but expect to produce at least the following core pieces — and treat each one as part of a single, coherent story.

1. Enterprise Overview / Narrative

   A document (often 5–10 pages) that explains who you are, what you do, where you operate, and how refugees are involved. Keep it tight but vivid: sector, products, customers, business model, and impact.

2. Refugee Ownership and Leadership Proof

   This might include shareholder agreements, registration documents, or organizational charts. If your ownership structure is complex, provide a simple diagram showing how refugees control the enterprise.

3. Employment and Impact Data

   Prepare a concise snapshot: number of employees, how many are refugees, typical roles, wages, contract types, and any training or promotion data. Even an Excel sheet converted to PDF can work, as long as it is clear and honest.

4. Budget and Use of Funds

   A detailed budget showing how you will use up to 150,000 USD — with categories and justifications. Do not invent numbers at midnight. Build from real quotes, salary benchmarks, and your historical expenses.

5. Basic Financial Information

   Depending on your size and age, this could range from simple income/expense statements to full financial reports. The key point: reviewers must see that you understand cash flow and have at least basic financial discipline.

6. Legal and Registration Documents

   Proof that you are legally registered where you operate and that refugees can legally work and trade there. This may involve company registration, tax ID, and any specific authorizations.

7. Optional but Powerful: Letters of Support

   Short, specific letters from partners, buyers, or NGOs saying what you do and why it matters. “We have purchased X from this company since 2022 and have seen them provide stable jobs to refugees” is far more convincing than generic praise.

What Makes an Application Stand Out

Imagine sitting in front of a stack of applications from refugee‑led enterprises around the world. Which ones rise to the top?

1. Clarity of Business Model

   You should be able to explain your business in two or three sentences that a 16‑year‑old could understand. What you sell, to whom, how you make money, and why customers choose you instead of others. If that core is fuzzy, everything built on top of it collapses.

2. Evidence of Real, Ongoing Operations

   Reviewers will prioritize enterprises that are already trading, even modestly, over vague ideas. Actual customers, invoices, contracts, or recurring orders matter more than visionary decks about what you might do someday.

3. Tight Link Between Funding and Growth

   The best applications show a strong cause‑and‑effect chain: grant → specific activities → higher revenue + more and better refugee jobs. Not “more activities” for their own sake, but real steps that drive both income and inclusion.

4. Serious, Respectful Treatment of Refugee Staff

   You can expect reviewers to be alert to exploitation dressed up as “opportunity.” If your model depends on paying refugees far below typical rates or using unstable short‑term contracts for core roles, that will raise questions. Strong applications explain how they commit to decent conditions given local realities.

5. Credible Team

   Your team does not need fancy degrees. But you do need to show competence: years of sector experience, previous business attempts (even failed ones, with lessons learned), and a track record of getting things done despite hard conditions.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Some errors show up again and again in impact‑oriented grant applications. Avoid these and you are already ahead of a large part of the field.

1. Overstating what you can do with 150,000 USD

   Tripling revenue and expanding to five new countries in one year from a very early baseline is unlikely. Ambition is good, but reviewers are allergic to fantasy numbers. Ground your projections in past performance and realistic assumptions.

2. Underplaying the commercial side

   This is an impact‑driven grant, but Tent is deeply immersed in the private sector. If your application reads like an NGO proposal with no attention to costs, margins, and customers, you will look unprepared to handle growth capital.

3. Leaving refugees as background characters

   Saying “we help refugees” and then spending 90 percent of the application on generic SME growth will not work. Refugees should be central — as owners, leaders, staff, and beneficiaries. weave them through every section: governance, operations, HR, impact.

4. Ignoring host communities

   A common critique of refugee‑only initiatives is that they can deepen tensions or perceptions of unfairness. If you hire or serve both refugees and locals (which many enterprises do), say so and explain how this benefits everyone.

5. Vague or sloppy budgets

   “Miscellaneous program costs: 60,000 USD” is not a budget line. Break down your spending into understandable categories with logic that matches your narrative. If you are weak at budgeting, find someone to help you — this is worth the effort.

6. Submitting at the last minute with no external review

   Fresh eyes will catch gaps and contradictions you can no longer see. Rushing usually leads to inconsistencies between sections (“12 employees” in one place, “15 employees” in another) that make reviewers doubt your reliability.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Do we have to be located in one of Tent’s existing focus countries in the Americas or Europe?

Tent’s broader employer work is concentrated in specific countries, but this grant is described as global, with the key condition that you operate in a host country where refugees have the legal right to work and trade. If you meet that condition and can show legal operations, you are likely eligible, even if you are outside the 11 countries where Tent currently runs its largest employer initiatives.

2. Can very early‑stage enterprises apply?

You can, but your odds improve significantly if you have at least some trading history, however small. This fund is geared toward growing refugee‑led businesses, not funding raw ideas. If you are early stage, bolster your case with:

• Clear pilots or proof of concept.
• Strong prior experience of the founders.
• At least a handful of paying customers, even if informal.

3. Does my enterprise have to be a nonprofit?

No. In fact, most of Tent’s work is with private sector employers. For this opportunity, both for‑profit and social enterprises can be strong fits, as long as they are legally registered and majority refugee‑owned or refugee‑led with clear employment impact.

4. Can we use the funds for salaries and operating costs?

Yes, within reason. Hiring additional refugee staff, stabilizing key roles, and covering necessary operating expenses to support growth are all valid. Where you lose points is if the entire budget looks like basic survival — rent, existing salaries, debt repayment — with no clear pathway to growth, better jobs, or expanded impact.

5. Are there sector restrictions?

The call does not specify banned sectors, but you should assume that any enterprise misaligned with social wellbeing (e.g., activities linked to exploitation, illicit trade, or harmful products) will not be funded. If your business is in a sensitive area — for example, informal lending or private security — be extremely transparent about safeguards and compliance.

6. What reporting will we be expected to provide if funded?

You should expect to report on:

• How you actually spent the funds, compared to your budget.
• Changes in employment numbers, especially for refugees.
• Any training or mentoring provided.
• Key business milestones (revenue, new contracts, new branches).

Plan for basic monitoring systems now so you are not trying to reconstruct everything afterward.

7. Can we apply if we already work with one of Tent’s corporate members?

Absolutely. In fact, that can strengthen your case if you can show:

• Stable contracts with a Tent member.
• Joint initiatives on refugee hiring or training.
• A track record of delivery that proves you can handle larger opportunities.

Just avoid sounding like you expect special treatment. Let the results speak.

8. Can we reapply in future years if not selected this time?

Tent and related networks often encourage improved resubmissions. If you are not successful, treat any feedback you receive as gold. Use it to tighten your business model, data, and narrative — then try again, ideally with stronger numbers and clearer systems.

How to Apply and Next Steps

You do not need personal connections or insider access to apply, but you do need discipline and clarity.

Here is how to move forward decisively:

1. Read the official information carefully. Go straight to Tent’s site and any specific call details provided through the Global Refugee Entrepreneurship Network. There you will find exact eligibility, application forms, and any updates to timelines or amounts.

2. Confirm your eligibility on paper, not just in your head. Write down: ownership structure, registration details, countries of operation, and legal status of refugees working with you. If something is weak, fix it now or address it honestly.

3. Draft a one‑page summary first. Before you touch the formal application, write a one‑page internal brief covering:

   • What your enterprise does.
   • Who owns/leads it.
   • How refugees benefit.
   • What you would do with 150,000 USD and what that would change.

   If that page is not sharp, your full application will not be either.

4. Build your budget from real quotes and numbers. Talk to suppliers, check salary benchmarks, and base your figures on reality. A believable 120,000 USD budget is better than a random 150,000 USD maximum with no backbone.

5. Get at least two external reviews. One from someone who knows business or finance, and one from someone who understands refugee issues. Their questions will show you where your logic is thin.

6. Submit early and keep copies of everything. Store your final application, budget, and attachments in a shared folder so your team can refer back during reporting or future fundraising.

Ready to start?

Get Started

To check the full details, confirm current requirements, and access application information, head straight to the official Tent Partnership for Refugees website:

Visit the official opportunity page: https://www.tent.org/

Use the site to explore Tent’s broader work with employers, see how they think about refugee hiring and entrepreneurship, and align your application with that mindset.

If you are a refugee‑led enterprise serious about growth and serious about decent jobs, this grant is competitive — but absolutely worth the effort.