AT&T launched its 2026 Small Business Contest on April 28, with submissions opening May 1 and running through July 31 at att.com/shesconnected. One winner will receive $50,000 in cash to invest in their business, plus a feature on She’s Connected by AT&T, while four finalists each take home $5,000.
For solo founders and microbusiness owners who skipped a busy first quarter without a fundraising plan, this is a low-friction grant opportunity that pairs with the start of National Small Business Week on May 3. The total prize pool of $70,000 is non-dilutive cash that does not require giving up equity or signing a loan.
What The Contest Actually Offers
The grand prize includes a $50,000 cash award, access to a private community of small business owners, AT&T tools and resources, and an episode feature in the She’s Connected by AT&T series. Four runners-up each receive $5,000 in cash, bringing the total prize pool to $70,000.
Submissions run from May 1 through July 31 and are open to small businesses across the United States. The contest is in its fourth year, and prior winners have spanned product, service, and creator categories. AT&T has not capped the number of entries per category, so applications need to differentiate on impact and story rather than slot eligibility.
Why This Matters For Self-Employed Owners
Cash grants of this size rarely require giving up equity or signing a debt note, which makes them especially valuable for solopreneurs and microbusinesses that cannot easily raise venture capital. Even without winning, the application acts as a forcing function to clarify the business pitch and stress-test the case for investment.
The community access component is sometimes the more durable prize. Past contests have led to introductions to other founders, AT&T product teams, and B2B distribution channels that solopreneurs would otherwise spend years building on their own.
What Self-Employed Owners Should Do Next
Open the application at att.com/shesconnected this week and pull together a one-paragraph community impact statement, since most contests of this kind weight social and community impact heavily. Submit early in the May 1 to July 31 window to avoid late-cycle review fatigue, and keep a clean copy of the answers for reuse on future grant applications.
Pair the AT&T submission with the still-open Verizon Super Pitch contest, which closes May 18, for a two-track approach to non-dilutive funding. Treat both as marketing exercises, even if the prize money never lands, since both judging panels and follow-up content are visible to potential customers and partners.
What To Watch Next
Five finalists will be announced later in 2026, and AT&T typically promotes each finalist through its small-business channels in the weeks leading up to the grand prize reveal. That visibility alone can drive new revenue if a finalist runs a public-facing brand, and is usually worth more than the $5,000 cash prize.
National Small Business Week 2026 also kicks off May 3 and runs through May 9, with workshops and training tracks that pair well with the AT&T application timeline. Owners can use the SBA Virtual Summit on May 5 and 6 to refine the pitch language they then submit to AT&T, especially the financial readiness and growth plan sections that tend to separate finalists from also-rans.
Photo by Rubaitul Azad: Unsplash
