Surge and Sustain Fund

The Surge and Sustain Fund from Open Technology Fund (OTF) supports the user carrying costs of established, large-scale, open source circumvention technologies, so that people in China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, Russia and other authoritarian contexts can securely and reliably access the uncensored internet. It is for leading circumvention tool developers, such as VPNs, with a track record of operating at scale in highly censored environments.

Key Details

• Concept Note deadline: 11:59 PM EDT on October 15, 2026
• Funder: Open Technology Fund
• Funding model: contract-based monthly reimbursement of server infrastructure costs per active user
• Application process: two stages (Concept Note, then invited Proposal)

Funding or Award

• Funds awarded are based on unique users served in specific countries, up to a maximum ceiling
• OTF approves the verified number of unique users per month, multiplied by the contractually established cost per user, and reimburses contractors up to a maximum monthly ceiling set in the awarded contract
• Successful applicants receive contracts with per-user costs for a set of approved countries, and are reimbursed only for the number of demonstrably served active users each month
• Payment is dispersed monthly at an agreed rate per user, based on the actual number of monthly active users, subject to maximum monthly ceiling thresholds determined by OTF
• The fund exclusively covers the server infrastructure costs of providing circumvention services to users in highly censored countries. It does not cover any staff time or development efforts. Technology development applications should go to OTF's Internet Freedom Fund

Focus Areas

• Large-scale, open source tools with a documented track record of successfully circumventing authoritarian censorship
• Priority users: those living in China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar, Russia and other closed information environments

Evaluation criteria

• • Technical effectiveness:Sustained performance: demonstrated ability to maintain a large-scale user base in one or more priority countries, with high quality of service in the most severe blocking environments over an extended period
  • Resilient tactics: a sophisticated set of fallback strategies for evading targeted blocking and functioning under intensive censorship, so the tool stays resilient if any one component is undermined or blocked
  • Responsive scalability: mature backend server infrastructure that can scale quickly to accommodate changes and surges in usage
  • Innovative: a past record of and future plans for innovative and unique features, tactics and strategies that distinguish the tool from others
• Cost effective: reasonable and justified costs per user in each country, with validated user-carrying costs and demonstrated cost-saving measures
• Collaboration: engagement in efforts that positively impact other circumvention and internet freedom technologies, particularly tool-to-tool collaboration and engagement with the proxy developer community
• Privacy and security: demonstrated policies that minimize the information collected, to ensure user privacy and security
• Usability: user experience considered in design and improvement plans, with user feedback actively solicited and used to set development priorities

Eligibility

• Individuals or organizations (for-profit or nonprofit) of all ages, irrespective of nationality, creed or sex, may apply. Individuals must be 18 or older to receive funding
• OTF cannot support applicants in countries subject to U.S. trade restrictions or export sanctions as determined by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control, or applicants currently debarred, suspended or otherwise not eligible to receive funding from the United States Government or potentially other non-United States governments

Qualifying conditions

Applicants must demonstrate that they meet the following:

• Open source: the tool must be open source. Specific licenses and open sourcing practices can be discussed during the application process
• Security audited: applicants must provide their most recent security audit (if available) and undergo regular security audits
• Ownership information: full ownership details must be provided to OTF and publicly disclosed to the extent possible without compromising anyone's safety
• Privacy policy: developers are expected to take reasonable steps to minimize or eliminate the collection of users' personal data, and to submit their publicly available privacy policies to OTF
• Demonstrated large-scale user base: applicants must provide metrics on the number of unique monthly users from designated countries such as China, Cuba, Iran, Myanmar and/or Russia

Timeline

• September 15, 2026: Request for Applications opened
• September 28, 2026: deadline to submit questions
• Proposals: due date TBD, communicated to selected applicants when they are notified
• April 1, 2027: anticipated start date of contracts for successful applicants
• OTF intends to re-compete this solicitation annually

Application Process

• Stage 1, Concept Note: submit via OTF's online application system an overview of the circumvention tool, including its resilience and scale and its adherence to the qualifying conditions
• Stage 2, Proposal: selected Concept Notes are invited to submit a full Proposal covering the tool's distinguishing features, its ability to demonstrably support a large user base in highly repressive contexts, and its cost model. Staff costs are not allowable. Pricing should be stated as cost per monthly active user, calculated from actual documented infrastructure and bandwidth costs, and quoted in US Dollars. Tools must be able to provide a verified count of unique users per country who successfully connect to and use the tool each month. OTF may also ask about other aspects of the tool
• Final review: the Surge and Sustain Fund Advisory Council, made up of experts from the circumvention and internet freedom community, reviews competitive Proposals, and OTF considers this review in its final selection

Rules and Conditions

• Selected applicants are paired with an OTF program manager who oversees monitoring and evaluation for the duration of the contract, based on predetermined metrics, deliverables and goals in the awarded contract
• OTF will not compensate or reimburse applicants for preparing their responses. All Concept Notes and Proposals become OTF's property upon submission
• A request for a Proposal or more information is not a guarantee of funding, and issuing the solicitation does not commit OTF to award a contract
• Approval of an application does not authorize starting work or incurring costs. Service should not begin until a fully executed contract is in place
• Applicants may not issue any publicity about the work or their participation, during or after the solicitation or contract, without OTF's prior written approval
• Work product under an awarded contract is subject to the contract's intellectual property provisions, and the fees paid are full, fair and adequate compensation for conveying deliverables, reports and work product to OTF
• Contracts are based on OTF's standard terms, including a termination for convenience provision, and may include relevant U.S. Government provisions and other standard contracting clauses depending on the funding source
• Restrictions on the use of data in an application must be clearly stated. OTF cannot sign non-disclosure agreements with applicants
• OTF reserves the right to accept or reject any or all applications, take exceptions to the solicitation specifications, waive requirements or minor deficiencies, award only part of the activities or make multiple awards, award based solely on submitted applications or negotiate with applicants, and cancel or modify the solicitation at any time without liability

Resources and Contact

• Questions: ssf@opentech.fund