Yes. Applying to several programmes at once is not just allowed, it is how almost everyone gets funded. The question worth answering is not 'am I allowed to do this' but 'which of these will object if I do, and what do I owe them if two say yes on the same week.' Those are different problems and most founders only worry about the first one.
The default is parallel, not exclusive
Most of the programmes in our catalogue say nothing about exclusivity because they don't need to. gener8tor's Investment Accelerator runs rolling applications with no fixed deadline, which exists precisely because they expect founders to be mid-process with other people when they apply. Together AI's Startup Accelerator gives credits, not cash or a board seat, so there is nothing to be exclusive about: a Build tier company taking up to $15K in platform credits can also be sitting in a cash accelerator the same quarter without either side caring.
Grant programmes are usually the same. i2E's Concept Fund matches $50,000 to $100,000 1:1 and takes no equity, which means there is no cap table for a second investor to conflict with. The Fashion Scholarship Fund's Accelerator Grant, at $50,000, is the same shape. Non-dilutive money rarely asks for exclusivity because it isn't buying anything that exclusivity would protect.
Where exclusivity actually shows up
It shows up when a programme is taking equity and putting you through a cohort at the same time, because now they are investing real time and real capital into you specifically, during a window where you'd otherwise be elsewhere.
- Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator writes $150K on a 6% post-money SAFE, cohort-based (W'27 and S'27 are open), and expects you in New York for the program, which makes running a second cohort in parallel a scheduling conflict before it's ever a legal one.
- Alchemist Accelerator takes a $25,000 stipend for roughly 5% equity, negotiable, which means the percentage itself is a live conversation; stacking a second priced round mid-cohort complicates that negotiation even if nobody calls it exclusivity.
- EIC Accelerator combines a grant below EUR 2.5 million at TRL 6-8 with an investment component, and the diligence on the investment side will ask directly what else you're raising and from whom.
None of this means you can't apply elsewhere while these are in process. It means that once they move from application to term sheet, the question of who else is on your cap table stops being optional small talk.
Disclose at the term sheet, not at the application
At the application stage, nobody expects a list of every other programme you've applied to, and volunteering one makes you look unfocused rather than honest. The moment to disclose is when a programme is about to put real money or a real equity stake in front of you: that's when you say 'I'm also in late-stage conversation with X' before they find out from your cap table later. Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First Latin America is equity-free with product credits and a possible Cloud credit add-on, so disclosure there is close to irrelevant. Entrepreneurs Roundtable's SAFE is exactly the moment it becomes relevant.
Two offers, same week
This is the scenario founders actually fear, and it is rarer than the fear suggests, but it does happen when a grant and an equity programme land in the same cycle. If one is non-dilutive, like i2E's $50,000 to $100,000 matched fund, and the other is equity, like Alchemist's $25,000 for ~5%, you are very rarely choosing between them: you take both, because they aren't competing for the same slot on your cap table. The real conflict only exists between two equity programmes with overlapping cohort time, such as Entrepreneurs Roundtable and Alchemist landing in the same window. There, the honest move is to go back to one and ask for a short, named extension while you close the other, rather than stalling both with vague answers. Programmes with firm batch cycles, like EIC Accelerator's quarterly batching of short proposals, are used to this rhythm and would rather hear a specific date than silence.
Two programmes worth flagging for timing, not exclusivity
EU-LAC Digital Accelerator's open call #6 is live now, offering 30-40k€ in acceleration services rather than cash, with the page listing a 30 November deadline without a year attached, so confirm the year directly before you plan a cohort schedule around it. Grindstone Accelerator is free and takes no equity, which makes it low-conflict by design, but its site currently fails certificate checks in most browsers, so verify you're on the real domain before entering any application details there.
The practical rule: apply wide while the money is still just an application. Get specific and honest the moment it's a term sheet. Everything in between is just a calendar problem, not an ethics one.