THE BLUEBERRY STARTUP RESEARCH GRANT
Problem validation, product-market-fit, and continuous customer discovery with a dedicated user researcher joining your team for a month, at no charge.
Cohort 1 — Starts 1 April, 2026
Apply by 27 March · Up to 5 ventures
Cohort 2 — Starts 4th of May, 2026
Apply by 30 April · Up to 5 ventures
WHY THIS GRANT EXITS​
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Great founders know to test their assumptions
"Talking to five users changed our roadmap more than months of internal debate."
We believe a few good conversations a bit of structured thinking can save a great idea. This grant is how we put that belief into practice.
Early-stage teams rarely fail for lack of ambition. They fail because untested assumptions harden into roadmaps, biased interviews feel like validation, and the signals that matter get lost in the noise.
We created this grant to help founders catch those mistakes early — before they compound into a snowball of misconceptions that buries a genuinely good idea, or before a great opportunity slips by that was just a few conversations away.
This grant is also the first step toward something larger: a fund dedicated to sponsoring user research for the startups that need it most, especially those building in sustainability, human and animal wellbeing, health, education, art, literature and longevity.
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HOW IT WORKS​
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One month as part of your team
A dedicated user researcher joins your team for a month, up to 20 hours a week, with Natasha Gorobinskaya, principal UX researcher and founder of Blueberry Research Group, guiding the work throughout.
Depending on your research needs, we may cover all or some of the following phases: assumption mapping → customer discovery → synthesis → direction & handoff. We apply a proprietary methodology refined over 15 years of practice.
Depending on your stage and priorities, together we will define your ideal customer profile, aligning your content with the language and thinking patterns of your users, and shape your user experience strategy.
For pre-seed startups the central question is usually whether the problem is urgent enough to act on. For seed stage teams we focus on whether the product market fit is accurate and where it needs sharpening. Whatever your stage, the goal is to help you build what people need and make future decisions with less risk.
WHO IS IT FOR
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This grant is created for early-stage founders
This grant is free and open to all early stage startups. We created it to support innovation, shared wellbeing and a better future, because early access to customer knowledge has been shown to significantly increase the chances of startup success. To apply, fill out the application below.
Cohort 1 — Starts 1 April, 2026
Apply by 27 March · Up to 5 ventures
Cohort 2 — Starts 4th of May, 2026
Apply by 30 April · Up to 5 ventures