Operation Hyperspeed
Find the fund. Check the call.
Official programmes for immersive, real-time, screen, arts, and on-chain work, wherever you are in the world. Nothing here is marked open. The funder’s page is the only status that counts. Prepare an outline
Directory
Links were checked on 19 October 2026. VR and AR rarely have their own window, so film and arts programmes stay in the list until you filter them out.
19 programmes
- 01
Unity for Humanity
Unity
Funding and support for Unity projects with measurable social or environmental impact. XR, games, film, and other real-time experiences can fit. Prepare a prototype and a clear account of who benefits.
Eligibility and application guidance
The current FAQ requires a Unity prototype or demo beyond the concept stage, alignment with a UN Sustainable Development Goal, and a studio, nonprofit, or other legal entity to receive funding. It says applications reopen in 2027. Check the official FAQ before planning your application.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 02
Biennale College Cinema – Immersive
La Biennale di Venezia
A development and production route specifically for immersive storytelling, with workshops, mentoring, and a competitive production grant. A useful route for a director and producer developing an original concept together.
Eligibility and application guidance
The linked 2026/27 edition accepts international director/producer teams with an immersive concept of up to 30 minutes and a €75,000 production scale. Up to one selected project can receive production funding. That edition's application window has passed; watch the official programme for a later call and its rules.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 03
Art + Technology Lab grants
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Grants for artists exploring emerging technology, with mentorship and in-kind access to partner companies. The page lists Snap Inc., Hyundai Motor, NASA JPL, MIT Media Lab, and Anthropic. It invites exploratory ideas and does not name a required medium.
Eligibility and application guidance
Open to individuals and collectives located anywhere in the world. Prior technology experience is not required. The page describes requests of up to US$50,000 per project for artist fees and direct costs, spent over about two years. Three to five projects are chosen through the open call, plus up to two invited projects. Grant cycles now run every two years.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 04
Prix Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica
An international competition for media art with a free worldwide open call. Its 2026 categories included Interactive Art +, New Animation Art, and Digital Humanity. It rewards work already made, so it is a route for recognition and distribution, not development money.
Eligibility and application guidance
Entry is free, and an artist may submit more than one work. Works must have been created, realised, or significantly updated within the last two years. Each Golden Nica carries €10,000; Awards of Distinction and Honorary Mentions carry no prize money. The u19 category is limited to young people living in Austria.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 05
SEED and FELLOWS Awards
Prince Claus Fund
Unrestricted awards for individual artists whose work engages with social issues, in eligible countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe. The fund takes a broad view of disciplines and welcomes experimental and interdisciplinary practice. These are awards to a person’s practice, not production grants for a studio.
Eligibility and application guidance
Applicants must come from, and live and work in, a country on the eligible-countries list, which is drawn from OECD DAC countries and includes South Africa. SEED is for artists 1 to 5 years into their careers and pays €5,000; past recipients cannot reapply. FELLOWS is for artists about 8 to 15 years in and pays €10,000. Collectives and organisations are not eligible for FELLOWS. Academic scholarships and research are excluded.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 06
Grants
Tezos Foundation
Milestone-based grants for projects on Tezos and its Etherlink layer 2. Arts & Culture and Gaming are listed as areas of interest, alongside core development, tooling, DeFi, and business development. The work has to use Tezos; this is not a general arts fund.
Eligibility and application guidance
The page does not set territory or entity rules. It names no award amounts or funding currency. The Arts & Culture criteria ask for ongoing community engagement, a strong lead or team, and a clear way to bring users to the concept. The Gaming criteria ask for market potential, strong core gameplay, and meaningful Tezos integration. Payments usually follow approved milestone reports.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 07
Project Catalyst
Cardano community treasury
Community-voted grants paid in ada, run in numbered funds with fixed category budgets. Cardano Open: Ecosystem covers non-technical work such as content, education, events, and community hubs. Cardano Use Cases: Prototype & Launch funds Cardano-integrated products. Neither category names art, games, or immersive work.
Eligibility and application guidance
Individuals and entities may apply. Participants must be 18 or over and pass identity verification. Each applicant may submit at most two proposals per fund. The rules have no country list but exclude work that would breach sanctions or AML requirements. The Fund15 scopes list Ecosystem asks of 15,000–60,000 ADA. Prototype & Launch asks are 15,000–200,000 ADA and need a working prototype on a public Cardano testnet. Payment is milestone-based.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 08
Project fundraising
Giveth
A crypto donation platform where a team lists a project and raises funds directly in crypto on several chains. It is a crowdfunding route, not a grant panel. Verified projects that show a public good can earn donor rewards and a better chance of joining quadratic-funding rounds.
Eligibility and application guidance
The project-creation guide sets no territory rule, and a project can mark itself as having global impact. Donations arrive on networks including Ethereum, Gnosis, Polygon, Optimism, Arbitrum, Base, Celo, Stellar, and Solana. Verification needs evidence of track record and community support, and a public good: a non-excludable, non-rivalrous good or service. Nonprofit status is not required. Projects for personal gain are excluded, and so are rewards to donors such as tokens or NFTs.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 09
Film and video funding
National Film and Video Foundation
South Africa’s public funder for film and video. The April 2026 funding policy (version 1.7) covers development, production, post-production, marketing and distribution, festival hosting, public screening, and market attendance. Calls are published per cycle. Immersive work is not a named category: read the policy definitions before you assume a format fits.
Eligibility and application guidance
Applicants must be a South African citizen, a permanent resident, a refugee, or a South African-owned and managed company. The policy limits how many active contracts one applicant may hold, and it excludes students, student productions owned by tertiary institutions, and several non-film formats such as podcasts, commercials, and reality shows. Tax compliance is checked.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 10
Project and organisation funding
National Arts Council of South Africa
Public funding for arts practice and arts organisations. The funding overview describes support for individuals, students (bursaries), and registered organisations. Immersive work is not a named discipline; a project has to fit the disciplines in the call you are reading.
Eligibility and application guidance
The overview is aimed at individual practitioners and formally registered organisations in South Africa. It states a ceiling of R350,000 for annual project funding and R1,000,000 for arts organisation support. A live call can set a different cap, and no applicant is entitled to funding.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 11
Mzansi Golden Economy
Department of Sport, Arts and Culture
The department’s funding page describes an annual call for Mzansi Golden Economy workstreams: cultural events, touring ventures, and public art. Applications, when a call is open, go through the government e-services portal rather than email.
Eligibility and application guidance
Read the guideline attached to the round you mean. The page points arts, culture, and heritage applicants onward to the National Arts Council, BASA, the National Heritage Council, and the NFVF for discipline funding.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 12
Supporting Grants
Business and Arts South Africa
Micro-grants for a short pilot between a creative and a business. The programme pages describe seed funding for a partnership, not a general production fund and not an XR stream. Any format still has to fit the call’s themes.
Eligibility and application guidance
The supporting-grants pages describe a South African-based creative (individual or organisation) applying with a business partner, and free BASA creative membership. They describe grants from R10,000 up to R100,000 for a pilot of about three months. One of the parties must be able to receive funds through a formal entity.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 13
Cultural funding
Goethe-Institut South Africa
The Johannesburg cultural-funding page gathers several programmes: project space support, the International Coproduction Fund for music, dance, theatre, and performance, residencies, and Africa–Europe partnership work. Each programme has its own rules. This is not one XR fund.
Eligibility and application guidance
Eligibility depends on the programme. Coproduction support on that page is for professional artists in the performing-arts fields it names, working with a partner. Read the programme you mean rather than this summary.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 14
Johannesburg liaison office
Pro Helvetia
The Johannesburg office supports cultural exchange between Switzerland and Southern, East, Central, and West Africa: residencies, research trips, and projects with a Swiss dimension. Formats and dates live under Find support.
Eligibility and application guidance
The office says it supports projects with a clear Swiss connection involving Swiss arts professionals. It does not normally fund a regional artist to present work in Switzerland, it does not fund tertiary study, and it does not fund a project with no Swiss partner or context.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 15
Connections Through Culture
British Council
Grants for a collaboration between at least one partner based in the UK and at least one partner based in a participating country. The 2026 page lists South Africa among participating countries. Grant amounts are published per country on that page.
Eligibility and application guidance
Both partners must be legally based in the country they apply from, at application and through the activity. Read the toolkit and the country amount on the page. A previous round’s dates are not the next round.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 16
Calls for applications
French Institute of South Africa
The Institute’s calls page is the list of current and recent opportunities. The French Embassy describes IFAS as supporting exchange across visual arts, music, animation, literature, fashion, and video games. A past immersive call on the page is not a live one.
Eligibility and application guidance
Each call sets its own who-can-apply rules. Open the call itself. If the page marks it closed, it is closed.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 17
International Fund for Cultural Diversity
UNESCO
A competitive fund for projects that change how culture is made, produced, distributed, or accessed: policy, institutional capacity, and markets. It is a structural fund, not a typical grant for one artist’s production.
Eligibility and application guidance
The apply page invites public authorities and NGOs from eligible developing countries that are Parties to the 2005 Convention, and international NGOs registered in a State Party. It describes support up to US$100,000 over 12 to 24 months. The same page states whether the current call is open.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 18
Epic MegaGrants
Epic Games
Epic publishes MegaGrants for promising UE5 and UEFN projects, aimed at smaller teams and solo developers using Unreal. Submission windows are printed on the MegaGrants page. This is an engine programme, not an arts council.
Eligibility and application guidance
The page describes support for projects built with Unreal Engine 5 or Unreal Editor for Fortnite. Read the FAQ there for territory, budget, and the current window before you prepare an application. This directory does not copy the window.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
- 19
IDFA Bertha Fund
IDFA
Support for creative, author-driven documentary films in development and in production or post-production. The fund’s FAQ says documentary series, curriculum films, and immersive and interactive media are not eligible. Listed here so an XR team does not apply the wrong work.
Eligibility and application guidance
For IBF Classic, the director must hold the nationality of a country on the Classic list and live and work there. The main producer, when there is one, must be based in a listed country. A 2025 Classic country-list PDF includes South Africa. Confirm the list attached to the round you mean. Filmmakers from a listed country who no longer live there are directed to IBF Europe instead.
Reviewed 19 October 2026. Confirm the current rules with the funder before you apply.
Application outline
Answer what a panel will ask. Download a markdown note generated here. It is not sent to a funder, and it does not invent a deadline.
0 of 10 ready
- Working title, still open
- One-sentence intent, still open
- Project stage, still open
- Discipline, still open
- Where it will be made or shown, still open
- At least one budget figure, still open
- Who holds the rights, still open
- Partners, or a clear note that you are solo, still open
- At least one milestone, still open
- Two pieces of evidence you can actually attach, still open