Google offering no-strings startup grants for innovative digital journalism projects
It’s not every day that a digital startup gets offered between €50k and €1M ($56k to $1.2M) in funding without having to hand over a single share in return, but that’s exactly what Google has today announced in Europe.
The company is offering grants – not loans or investments – to companies looking to innovate in the field of digital journalism.
The DNI Innovation Fund aims to tackle that problem by providing non-refundable support for projects that demonstrate new thinking in the practice of digital journalism, that promote the development of new business models or maybe even change the way users consume digital news.
The fund, which opens for applications today, is part of a Digital News Initiative first announced back in April. It was promoted by Google finding itself in conflict with a number of news organizations concerned that it was effectively stealing their content. The company has since been working hard to attempt to make friends with publishers.
Photo: AP Photo/Marcio
