Startup credits for AI companies, checked daily

Every program below is checked on the vendor's own page. Most recent check: October 14, 2026. Amounts are published maximums; programs review applications and can say no.

See only the programs open to self-funded founders

Open now (13)

Google for Startups Cloud

Self-funded: Yes, $2k tier

$2,000 pre-funded (MVP). Up to $200k over 2 yrs (Seed to Series A). AI tier up to $350k (yr 1 covers 100% up to $250k); covers Gemini/Gemma, not third-party models

Cloudflare for Startups

Self-funded: Yes, $10k tier

Tier 3 $10k (bootstrapped or under $1M raised, no partner). Tier 2 $100k (under $5M, affiliated partner). Tier 1 $350k ($5M+, partner). 1 year. Workers AI capped $2.5k/$10k/$50k by tier, R2 $10k, AI Gateway not covered

AWS Activate

Self-funded: Yes, Founders

Founders: $1k, select up to $5k. Portfolio: up to $200k with an Activate Provider Org ID

Databricks Startup Program (Neon)

Self-funded: Yes, $1k

Self-funded (under $1M): up to $1k. VC-backed ($1M+ or recognized accelerator like YC): up to $200k Neon + Databricks. 12 months from acceptance

Microsoft for Startups

Self-funded: Yes

Starter credits right away (amount not published), up to $150k over time with verified progress and Azure usage

PostHog for Startups

Self-funded: Yes

$50k for 12 months + partner perks (page values at $12k). Not for PostHog AI tools

Vercel for Startups

Self-funded: Unclear, ask

Up to $30k Flexible Commitment Amount + Enterprise access

ElevenLabs Grants

Self-funded: Yes

33M characters for 12 months (over $5,500 value)

Deepgram

Self-funded: Yes

$200 free credit, no card

MongoDB for Startups

Self-funded: Yes, Inspire

Atlas credits + Voyage AI tokens, 4 tiers (Inspire for bootstrapped), amounts not published

Pinecone Startup Program

Self-funded: Likely, confirm

Standard tier, Pro Support, usage credits and discounts (amount not published)

Modal for Startups

Self-funded: No (only the $30/month)

One-time grant per tier (amount not published). Every account also gets $30/month free compute

OpenAI for Startups

Self-funded: No

API credits, rate limits, engineering time (amount not published)

Watch list (2)

Anthropic (Claude for Startups)

Self-funded: n/a

Cohort full, not accepting applications on check date

Supabase

Self-funded: n/a

No credit amount on startups page on check date