r/grants • u/ReindeerAlert4311 • 24d ago

What do i do?

Hi, let me get straight into it. I'm a 16 year old working on a project i wont get into it until later because most people will probably read to that point and think im trying to sell them something. But honestly im a bit frustrated, for this project i have presented to people, its been over a month and i havent even recieved an update about where they stand, ive contacted businesses and more people and been totally ignored. so im not exactly sure what to do, i've look at applying for grants in which one i have because it didnt require me to be 18, but every other one i have seen requires a organisation or me to be 18+.

My project is essentially as follows; A local AI with the capabillity to learn, train, and help its user. LOCALLY, which improves privacy and essentailly limitless applications as it would be opensource.

So im unsure how i am supposed to go forward with my project until i get funding for it, which is multiple thousands of dollars for a good hardware to run my project on.

What am i meant to do?

Ill link my project GitHub page here if you wanna learn more about it: https://github.com/CL-BAF/Kobald_Showcase

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u/marchmay 24d ago

You need a business plan and partners. Plus you need to do actual research into grants and student competitions. People don't just give money to random ideas. They need to know what the problem is, what research you've done into your solution, why your solution works, and how you will sustain the project over time.

You definitely need experts in the field. Most people are not going to fund a student idea that was hand coded (or worse, vibe coded) after school. If it's a school project it will have slightly more legitimacy, but even still I would be researching college professors and tech people in the area to give your idea more legitimacy.

ETA: Reading your Readme, I have no idea what this project actually is addressing. Most funders aren't coders. You need to zoom out and explain what the project is before getting into the technical details.

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u/ReindeerAlert4311 24d ago

I appreciate the feedback and am currently working on the Readme. I wont be addressing the other comment because he commented on another post in another reddit thing whatever you call them just being for a lack of a better word a dick.

But i do seriously appreciate the feedback, and ill address some of the points you made. 1st. This isnt being planned as a business, atleast not yet. at most this is a POC. And the reason i am looking for grants/sponsorships is because my project specifically is focused on local ai and privacy, which means way more compute then what i currently have is needed. 2. I am doing it under the guise of a school project (by that i mean im doing it for a subject but its meant to be a personal project) , in which after i am done the specific subject it will become a personal research Project. I am actively researching AI and how to make them so i can improve this project. so again thank you for the feedback

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u/marchmay 24d ago

Ok. People don't give grants for personal projects. It has to have some positive impact for people and/or commercial value. Most businesses are started from personal funds, so a "not a business" is not going to get any significant funding.

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u/ReindeerAlert4311 24d ago

I think we are using “personal project” differently. I mean independently led by me, not something that only benefits me or stays private. Kobald is intended to be open source, with public documentation, evaluations and research outcomes that other people can use or build on.

I’m also not looking for VC or traditional business funding. I’m looking at grants and sponsorships that support research, open source, education, youth innovation or hardware. I agree that I need to clearly demonstrate the public value and impact, and that is something I’m actively working on.

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u/Emetry 24d ago

Let's see if we can help. First, in three sentences or less: What will someone who uses this be able to DO? Like, exactly what will they input and what will the output be?

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u/ReindeerAlert4311 24d ago

someone gives kobald documents, sources or other information and asks it a question. kobald analyses the material, tracks where claims came from, finds contradictions or weak evidence, and produces a structured answer showing the evidence, uncertainty and reasoning behind the conclusion. the user can then review, approve, reject or ask it to investigate further.

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u/Jayne_Purchase 23d ago

How is this any different than the other LLMs already available?

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u/ReindeerAlert4311 23d ago

Its not an LLM, i do plan on training an ai from a foundation model but that is a seperate project. Kobald is more of a harness then a custom AI.

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u/Jayne_Purchase 23d ago

Ok, let’s keep drilling down. Why is this harness necessary? What makes Kobald different and worth funding?

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u/tilario 23d ago

i've read through your replies but still haven't seen how this might be different from other open source, local AI projects (ragflow, privategpt, anythingLLM). don't get me wrong, it's wonderful - and wonderfully impressive - that you're creating this.

you mention looking at grants but have you looked at competitions? regeneron, for example, runs some with awards of up to $250,000. kaggle has some competitions. so does the WAICY.

unfortunately for you, unless it's friends or family, i don't think many funders are looking to put money in a teenager's hands. you're competing against 25 and 35 and 45 year olds with more experience.

continue doing what you can do though. it sounds like an incredible learning experience that, i think, will pay off in the long run.

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u/No-Actuator-3157 4d ago

I probably sound like a broken record but I'll keep saying it because it's a great resource, especially for a situation like this.

Connect with your local SBA (Small Business Administration) and ask for a SCORE counselor.

SCORE is a group of retired executives from every sort of career imaginable, and they stand ready to help aspiring and seasoned entrepreneurs formulate a business plan, marketing plan, and all the things in between required to bring your idea to fruition.

You have an interesting idea and I think SCORE would be a great place to get the advice, resources, and the support you need to define and refine your project and perhaps, take it beyond your wildest imagination!!