Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said the money would be given "to develop inspirational projects that could have a transformative local effect".
She said it would be a legacy from next year's Great Exhibition Of The North, to be held in Newcastle and Gateshead.
It comes after the government scrapped projects in the north and then backed a £30bn Crossrail 2 scheme for London.
Jake Berry, minister for the so-called Northern Powerhouse, welcomed the cash injection.
He said: "The North is a cultural powerhouse, as well as an economic one, and this £15m fund will give a boost to the region's vibrant culture and tech sectors.
"We've already invested over £3.4bn for projects to boost local economies in the Northern Powerhouse and this latest funding will help make sure the Great Exhibition of the North creates a legacy for years to come."
Under the scheme, towns and cities across the north can apply for grants of up to £4m per project via the Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund.
Projects such as opening a new tech start-up centre or renovating live music venues would be considered.
Ms Bradley said: "We want as many people as possible to benefit from the Great Exhibition Of The North, and this fund will boost the Northern Powerhouse and help build a lasting legacy across the whole region."
The first round of bids will be coordinated by Local Enterprise Partnerships in Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, East Riding, Greater Manchester, Humber, Lancashire, Leeds, Liverpool, North East, Sheffield, Tees, York and North Yorkshire.
Successful projects are expected to be announced in March 2018.

Led by fire officer Dave Curry, the team created a giant Indian bread, weighing 26kg (57lb 5oz) and measuring 3.79m (12ft 5in) by 1.4m (4ft 7in).
The cooking feat, carried out at the Eastleigh Mela in Hampshire on 6 July, was confirmed as successful on Tuesday by the Guinness World Records.
This beats the 2008 record naan, which weighed 9.5kg (20lb 15oz).
That creation was cooked by Loblaw Companies Limited in Brampton, Ontario, Canada and measured 2.89m (9ft 6in) by 1m (3ft 4in).
Mr Curry said they were "absolutely thrilled" to have the record confirmed.
"We were also able to raise several hundred pounds for charity through selling the naan at the Eastleigh Mela," he said.
"As well as being a record-breaker, it tasted good too as it quickly sold out."
The Hampshire firefighters' enormous naan bread, which was sold for Â£3 per portion with a curry, raised money for The Fire Fighters Charity, Water Wells Project and Hampshire Hurricanes.
It was created with the help of Badi Mirchi and Sanjha restaurants.

Ryan Walls took pictures of 101 passengers during the Edinburgh Festival in 2015.
The 42-year-old said only two people refused out of the 103 people he asked due to being in a hurry and having a bad hair day.
Now the father-of-three's pictures will go on display at Out of the Blue Drill Hall, Dalmeny Street, in August.
Mr Walls told the BBC Scotland news website how he took photographs of a hen party, stag do, football fans, a chef, a high court judge and a TV agony aunt from Kuwait.
He said: "Everyone was so nice. One of the pictures is of a passenger who was in such a hurry that he couldn't wait for another taxi when I discovered the central locking system was broken so I had to pull him in and out of the taxi window.
"I also had an elderly former English teacher who had suddenly decided she wanted to go out to a show at the festival at the last minute and she had lots of words of encouragement for me so I really enjoyed chatting with her.
"I also got a Jambo fan and was worried I wasn't going to get a Hibs fan but luckily I did.
"I'm really interested in people and wanted to capture that moment in my cab, I only had seconds to take a few pictures and I'm really pleased with the end result."
The exhibition runs from 31 July until 5 August.
A £15m cash fund to boost culture and creativity across the North of England has been announced by the government.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
A huge naan bread made by firefighters has been confirmed to be the biggest the world has ever seen.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
An Edinburgh taxi driver has created an exhibition and book from pictures he has taken of passengers in his cab.