Press Release

November 6, 2025

Good tech needs more runway: Mozilla Foundation launches experimental Incubator to help values-driven tech thrive

  • First Incubator cohort are tackling data access and transparency across climate, AI accountability
  • Applications for next Incubator cohort will open soon; total of $1million will be awarded to 10 projects focusing on AI & Democracy


Mozilla Foundation today launches an experimental Incubator to help values-driven tech survive the leap from prototype to sustainability. The program centers on product/community fit—pairing teams with the users, contributors, mentors, and funders who will help them grow without sacrificing their core values. Throughout 2026, Mozilla Foundation will test, learn, and refine this approach before expanding investment in future years. It's part of the Foundation's mission to make good on a tech future powered by people, open by design, and fueled by imagination.

Nabiha Syed, Executive Director, Mozilla Foundation, says "Technology is at a crossroads. A handful of platforms now control how we build, learn, connect and communicate. Decisions about algorithms, data, and AI happen behind closed doors. The result is a growing gap between what technology promises and what people actually experience.

"We're putting our money behind these startups because we know the systems being built today will shape our digital future for decades. We know if we want more good tech in the world – especially in AI and data infrastructure – we have to back it at the early stage when it counts. We have a strong idea of what values-driven tech needs most to survive and thrive, and this first cohort will help us test and examine our hypotheses so we can do even more of it."

The first cohort: Making the invisible visible

In a time of increasing platform opacity and surveillance, critical information remains invisible to the people it affects most. But it doesn’t have to be this way, and the Incubator’s first cohort is working to prove that. Four teams across three continents are building alternatives that work, tools that put data—and power—back where it belongs:

  • MethaneMapper (USA): Tracks harmful gases and particulate matter that are invisible to the naked eye using open satellite data and AI.
  • Code Carbon (France): Helps developers see—and shrink—the carbon footprint of their code.
  • Fundación Vía Libre — EDIA (Argentina): A participatory tool that lets communities expose bias in large language models.
  • Air Quality for Asunción (Paraguay): Real-time air quality forecasts built by and for local residents.

These teams will receive grant funding, targeted coaching, and access to Mozilla's global network—plus platforms to share open code, data, and learnings.

How the Incubator works: focusing on product/community fit

Projects enter a tiered support model that includes cohort workshops, bespoke mentorship, fundraising guidance, and intentional matchmaking across philanthropy and investment. Open practices are a requirement: Teams document in public and share datasets and learnings to strengthen the broader ecosystem. For example, Code Carbon's toolkit is already being reused by developers across multiple countries. The incubator optimizes for product/community fit—helping each team find the community that will use, contribute to, and sustain their work. Success is defined by real-world impact.

Lindsey Dodson, Director, Global Grants, Mozilla Foundation says, "We're backing a new generation of technologists pushing back against extractive defaults—building alternatives that are open, transparent, and designed to serve people. These projects show what's possible when innovation aligns with human values.

"But too many great projects stall before they take root. There's a technology 'valley of death'—the gap between prototype and sustainability where most promising alternatives die. Mozilla's Incubator changes that. We connect teams to the coaching, community, and capital they need to cross that gap without compromise. We're not just funding projects. We're changing the conditions to make values-driven technology more robust from the jump.

"This is smart, early capital paired with real-world support: mentors who've shipped, peers who share playbooks, funders who care about impact and integrity. The result is clearer revenue paths, a strengthened community of users and contributors, and open knowledge others can reuse. That's how good technology becomes the default."

Up next: AI & democracy

The Foundation’s next incubator cohort will narrow its focus to AI & Democracy, funding technologies that address AI's impact on democratic institutions and information ecosystems. Running over 24 months, the program will support 10 projects working to ensure AI strengthens—rather than undermines—democratic life. Initial recipients will receive $50,000, with two finalists advancing to receive an additional $250,000 ($300,000 each in total funding).

Nabiha Syed, Executive Director says, "Democracy depends on access to trustworthy information and systems to participate in public life. AI is reshaping both—at unprecedented speed and scale. Whether AI becomes a tool for empowerment or manipulation isn't yet clear. It depends on the choices we make now, and who gets to make them. We're looking to fund projects that leverage positive uses of AI to enhance and reimagine democratic participation, consistent with Mozilla Manifesto principles of openness and human agency. We want to ensure democratic values shape AI's development—not the other way around."

Applications for the awards will open in early 2026. Interested applicants can submit their early project ideas and sign up to receive more information on the project website. Submissions are welcome from researchers, technologists, and advocates working at the intersection of AI and democratic health—or something entirely new. Priority areas include information ecosystem resilience, algorithmic accountability, tools to improve transparency and agency, and community-led governance models.

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