Deadline: 01-Dec-2025
The NGI Mobifree program by NLnet Foundation is currently offering R&D grants between €5,000 and €50,000 to independent developers, organizations, and researchers who want to push mobile technology toward more open, ethical, and human-centered designs.
Mobifree aims to challenge the dominance of closed, proprietary mobile ecosystems by supporting work in open source software, libre hardware, open standards, and interoperable protocols. Grant recipients are encouraged to propose projects that disrupt existing gatekeepers, enhance security and privacy, improve usability, or build community-owned infrastructure. All resulting code and research must be published under open licenses and shared openly for reuse, scrutiny, and collaboration.
Applicants will compete for a share of €670,000 allocated specifically for these grants. Projects are evaluated based on technical merit, relevance to the Next Generation Internet vision, strategic impact, and value for money. During the evaluation process, successful applicants may receive feedback or be asked to refine their proposals before final selection.
This call offers a rare chance for innovators to make breakthroughs in how mobile technologies are built and experienced. Whether through new operating systems, application frameworks, alternative app stores, or privacy-enhancing tools, supported projects will help steer the future of mobile computing toward greater transparency, choice, and user sovereignty.
For more information, visit NLnet Foundation.