New York, NY- February 23, 2026 - GEN has partnered with The Knot Worldwide, a leading all-in-one wedding tech platform, to launch the new WeddingPro Grant Program. The Program, administered through GEN's Small Business Grants Program, will award $500,000 in financial grants, advertising support, and mentorship with a focus on fueling small business growth within the wedding industry. In addition to monetary awards, The Knot Worldwide will also provide grantees with access to education and community support.
Within the wedding industry, more than 50% of businesses have fewer than ten employees. Recent data from The Knot Worldwide also found that three in four vendors say adaptability is critical to long-term success, with access to flexible capital cited as a growing barrier for many small businesses within the wedding industry. The WeddingPro Grant Program is designed to help address this gap by providing financial grants, advertising support, and mentorship when it’s needed most.
The WeddingPro Grant Program builds on the success of The Knot Worldwide's previous initiatives focused on supporting small businesses, which include over 200,000 in the U.S. alone. The Program will provide support for some of the biggest issues wedding professionals are facing during a period of continued economic uncertainty.
The WeddingPro Grant Program is open to U.S. wedding entrepreneurs who have been in business for at least six months, have demonstrated active revenue stream from their operations, and earn at least 50% of their business from weddings. To apply, applicants are invited to submit a short form and video showcasing their business, their work, and how they would put the grant funds to use over the next 12-24 months. Applicants can also select if they prefer to receive support via a monetary grant or through free advertising on WeddingPro.
To execute the Program, The Knot Worldwide has partnered with the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), an organization operating in 200 countries with a mission to make it easier for anyone, anywhere, to start and scale a business. GEN has awarded $30 million in grants to more than 2,000 entrepreneurs since 2020. Beyond its small business grants work, GEN annually supports 2.24 million entrepreneurs and collaborates with more than 1,000 entrepreneur support organizations through programming including the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (September 21-24) and Global Entrepreneurship Week (Nov. 16-22).
Applications for the WeddingPro Grant Program are open through March 27. Learn more and apply here. Winners will be notified starting in April.