Startup Programs for AI startups (2026): 74 Programs, Accelerators & Perks
Built for companies building with AI models. 74 listings on startups.ws state that they accept ai startups.
🎁 Startup programs for AI startups
Filter all startup programs →Google for Startups Cloud Program 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $2,000 in Google Cloud credits pre-funding, or up to $200,000 ($350,000 for AI-first startups) once VC-funded.
🔥 Up to $2,000 (Start) or up to $200,000 / $350,000 for AI-first startups (Scale) in Google Cloud credits
AWS Activate 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $5,000 in AWS credits if you are self-funded, or up to $200,000 with an Activate Provider Org ID.
🔥 Up to $5,000 (Founders) or up to $200,000 (Portfolio, with Activate Provider Org ID) in AWS creditsGoogle for Startups Cloud Program (AI tier) 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits over two years for VC-funded startups building on Gemini.
🔥 Up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits over 2 years for AI-first startupsPostHog for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
$50,000 in PostHog credits for 12 months, plus merch and partner perks, for startups under two years old.
🔥 $50,000 in PostHog credits for 12 monthsNSF SBIR/STTR (America's Seed Fund powered by NSF) 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $2 million of zero-equity seed funding from NSF for deep-tech startups, starting with a short Project Pitch.
America's Seed Fund (SBIR/STTR) 🎁 ProgramFree
Equity-free US federal R&D awards from 11 agencies, from proof of concept (Phase I) to prototype (Phase II).
Cloudflare for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
$10,000 in Cloudflare credits if bootstrapped, $100,000 or $350,000 if funded by an affiliated partner.
🔥 $10,000 (bootstrapped), $100,000 or $350,000 (partner-funded) in Cloudflare credits for one yearMicrosoft for Startups (Azure AI and Foundry) 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $150K in Azure credits (up to $200K via investor partners) usable on Microsoft Foundry models.
🔥 Up to $150K in Azure Startup credits (up to $200K for Investor Network-backed startups)Microsoft for Startups (Azure credits) 🎁 ProgramFree
Azure credits from $200 up to $150,000, with higher tiers unlocked by progress or an Investor Network referral code.
🔥 Up to $150,000 in Azure Startup credits (higher tiers via Investor Network referral code)EIC Accelerator 🎁 ProgramFree
Grant of up to EUR 2.5 million (about $2.9 million) for deep-tech startups and SMEs, with optional EIC equity.
SR&ED Tax Incentive (Canada) 🎁 ProgramFree
Refundable 35% R&D tax credit for Canadian-controlled private corporations on up to C$6 million of R&D a year.
Intercom Early Stage 🎁 ProgramFree
93% off Intercom in year one, then 50% and 25%, for startups under $10M raised and 15 staff
🔥 93% off year one, 50% year two, 25% year threeClaude for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
Claude API credits, higher rate limits, a partner perk stack and office hours for startups building on Claude.
🔥 Up to $100K extra Claude API credits via partner VCs, plus partner perks worth up to $45,000ElevenLabs Startup Grants 🎁 ProgramFree
12 months of the ElevenLabs platform with 33 million characters for voice AI startups under 25 people.
🔥 12 months free with 33M characters (stated value more than $5,500)R&D Tax Incentive (Australia) 🎁 ProgramFree
Refundable R&D tax offset of your company tax rate plus 18.5% for Australian companies with turnover under A$20 million.
WBSO (Dutch R&D tax credit) 🎁 ProgramFree
Dutch payroll-tax credit of 36% (50% for starters) on R&D wage costs up to about EUR 391,000, then 16%.
EXIST Business Start-up Grant (exist Gründungsstipendium) 🎁 ProgramFree
12 months of stipends (EUR 1,000-3,000 a month each) plus EUR 30,000 for costs, for German university spin-off teams.
NVIDIA Inception 🎁 ProgramFree
Free programme with DLI training, cloud credits from NVIDIA and partners, GPU pricing and VC introductions.
NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP) 🎁 ProgramFree
Canada's main SME innovation programme: advice from technology advisors and, for some projects, funding.
Deepgram Startup Program 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $100,000 in Deepgram speech-to-text, text-to-speech and Voice Agent credits over 12 months.
🔥 Up to $100,000 in Deepgram credits over 12 monthsBrex Partner Rewards and Day Zero Stack 🎁 ProgramFree
Over $350,000 in partner discounts for Brex customers, plus a 20-tool Day Zero Stack for new startups
🔥 Over $350,000 in partner discounts; Day Zero Stack of 20 toolsTogether AI Startup Accelerator 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $50K in Together AI platform credits plus forward-deployed engineering hours, tiered by how much you raised.
🔥 Up to $15K / $30K / $50K in platform credits depending on funding raisedNeon / Databricks Startup Program 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $1,000 in Neon credits if self-funded, or up to $200,000 in Neon and Databricks credits if VC-backed.
🔥 Up to $1,000 (self-funded) or up to $200,000 (VC-backed) in Neon and Databricks creditsIdeation (Tnufa) Incentive Program 🎁 ProgramFree
Conditional grant of up to NIS 200,000 (about $60,000) for Israeli entrepreneurs to reach proof of concept.
UK R&D Tax Relief (merged scheme and ERIS) 🎁 ProgramFree
A 20% R&D expenditure credit, or a 186% deduction plus payable credit for loss-making R&D-intensive UK SMEs.
Stripe Atlas Partner Perks 🎁 ProgramFree
Over $50,000 in partner discounts plus $2,500 in Stripe credits for companies incorporated with Atlas
🔥 Over $50,000 in partner discounts + $2,500 Stripe credits for Atlas companiesDigitalOcean Startups (Hatch) 🎁 ProgramFree
12 months of DigitalOcean credits, 15 months of free support and partner perks for startups that raised $10M or less.
🔥 12 months of DigitalOcean credits (amount set by your partner) plus 15 months of free Standard supportMongoDB for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
MongoDB Atlas credits and Voyage AI tokens in four tiers, from bootstrapped to rapidly scaling startups.
🔥 MongoDB Atlas credits and Voyage AI tokens (amount depends on tier)Bourse French Tech 🎁 ProgramFree
Bpifrance subsidy of up to EUR 30,000 (about $34,500) for early feasibility work on a French tech innovation project.
AssemblyAI Startup Program 🎁 ProgramFree
12 months of recurring free speech-to-text credits and startup pricing for voice and audio products.
🔥 12 months of recurring free credits plus startup pricingBaseten for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $25,000 for dedicated inference or training and up to $2,500 for Model APIs, for seed to Series A AI startups.
🔥 Up to $25,000 for dedicated inference or training plus up to $2,500 for Model APIsPinecone for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
Free Pinecone Standard tier with Pro Support plus usage credits and discounts for early-stage startups.
🔥 Free Standard tier with Pro Support plus usage creditsOpenAI for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
OpenAI API credits, rate limit upgrades and engineer time for startups backed by OpenAI partner VCs.
Salesforce Launchpad for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
Free programme for venture-backed startups with discounted Salesforce, Slack, Tableau and Agentforce offers
🔥 Free and discounted Salesforce, Slack, Tableau and Agentforce offers for membersVercel for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $30,000 in Vercel credit, Enterprise-tier access and startup support for eligible teams.
🔥 Up to $30,000 in Vercel Flexible Commitment Amount plus Enterprise-tier accessLangSmith for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
Discounted LangSmith seats for early VC-backed startups, or $10K in credits via LangChain partner VCs.
🔥 $10K in LangSmith credits for 1 year (Scale tier, premier VC partners)Scaleway Startup Program 🎁 ProgramFree
European cloud credits from a €1,000 Founders voucher up to about €36,000 for growth-stage startups.
🔥 From a €1,000 Founders voucher up to €36,000 (Growth Stage) in Scaleway creditsRunpod Startup Program 🎁 ProgramFree
$1,000 in GPU credits for pre-Series A teams, or a $25,000 bonus on a $50K commitment for scaling startups.
🔥 $1,000 Starter credits, or $75K credits for a $50K commitment (Growth tier)Fireworks AI Startup Program 🎁 ProgramFree
Build credits, higher rate limits and applied AI engineers for VC-backed startups on Fireworks inference.
🔥 Fireworks AI Startup Program: build credits plus rate-limit upgrades for venture-backed startups with $500K+ raised, below Series D.Modal for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
One-time serverless GPU credits, engineering support and GTM help for VC-backed AI startups new to Modal.
🔥 Modal for Startups: one-time serverless GPU credits (amount not published) for VC-backed or $1M+ raised teams.GitHub for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
$10,000 in GitHub credits for Enterprise, Copilot, Actions and Advanced Security, through a partner investor.
🔥 $10,000 in GitHub credits for 12 months (via a GitHub for Startups partner)Startup SG Tech 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to S$400,000 (POC) or S$800,000 (POV) for Singapore deep-tech startups, with a share subscription right attached.
Alibaba Cloud AI Catalyst Program 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $120,000 in Alibaba Cloud credits and up to 2B free Model Studio tokens for AI-first startups.
🔥 Up to $120,000 in Alibaba Cloud credits and up to 2B Model Studio tokensQdrant for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
20% off Qdrant Cloud for the first year, plus technical advice, co-marketing and partner perks.
🔥 20% off Qdrant Cloud for the first yearNebius for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
$5,000 in introductory GPU credits and up to $150,000 in compute savings for startups with $5M+ VC backing.
🔥 $5,000 in introductory credits plus up to $150,000 in compute savingsCartesia for Google for Startups members 🎁 ProgramFree
12 months of Cartesia Startup Tier (1.25M credits a month) for Google for Startups Cloud Program Scale tier members.
🔥 12 months of Startup Tier (1.25M credits/month) for Google for Startups Scale tier membersLambda Cloud credits for NVIDIA Inception members 🎁 ProgramFree
$1,000 in Lambda Cloud credits for on-demand B200, H100, A100 and GH200 GPUs, for NVIDIA Inception members.
🔥 $1,000 in Lambda Cloud credits for NVIDIA Inception membersVultr Digital Startup Program 🎁 ProgramFree
Up to $100K in cloud credits and 35% long-term discounts for recently funded Series A-E startups.
Fivetran for Startups 🎁 ProgramFree
$50,000 in free Fivetran usage over 12 months for current and recent Y Combinator companies.
🔥 $50,000 in free Fivetran Standard-plan usage over 12 months for current/recent YC companies (50 or fewer employees)Weaviate Startup Deal 🎁 ProgramFree
Discounted access to Weaviate's managed vector database, redeemed through the Weaviate Console for startups and partner-backed teams.
🚀 Accelerators & incubators for AI startups
Filter all accelerators & incubators →Y Combinator 🚀 AcceleratorFree
$500K for 7% plus an MFN SAFE, a three-month batch in San Francisco and the best-known demo day.
a16z speedrun 🚀 AcceleratorFree
$500K for 10% on a SAFE, $500K more in your next round, plus over $10M in partner credits.
Techstars Accelerator 🚀 AcceleratorFree
$220K (5% plus an uncapped MFN SAFE) for a three-month, mentor-driven programme in cities worldwide.
Entrepreneur First 🚀 AcceleratorFree
Co-founder matching for individuals, an equity-free living grant, then up to $250K (8% SAFE + MFN SAFE).
South Park Commons Founder Fellowship 🚀 AcceleratorFree
$400K for 7% on a SAFE plus $600K guaranteed in your next round, for founders still finding their idea.
Accel Atoms 🚀 AcceleratorFree
Accel's pre-seed programme for Indian and Indian-origin founders: up to $1M (Atoms X) or $2M (Atoms AI).
Google for Startups Accelerator 🚀 AcceleratorFree
Equity-free accelerator for technical Seed to Series A startups, with Google mentors and product credits.
AI Grant 🚀 AcceleratorFree
$250K uncapped MFN SAFE for AI-native pre-seed and seed startups, plus a large credits bundle and SF demo day.
Alchemist Accelerator 🚀 AcceleratorFree
Six-month accelerator for enterprise AI-SaaS and deeptech; most companies grant about 5% equity.
🧾 Founder services for AI startups
Filter all founder services →Stripe 🧾 ServicePaid
Online payments, subscriptions and invoicing with no monthly fee: 2.9% + 30c per US card payment.
Stripe Atlas 🧾 ServicePaid
Form a Delaware C-corp or LLC from anywhere for a one-time $500, with EIN, equity and 83(b) filing.
🔥 $500 fee refunded if you fund Stripe Treasury with $5,000 within 90 daysVercel 🧾 ServiceFreemium
Frontend and full-stack hosting with Git deploys; free Hobby tier, Pro at $20 per developer seat a month.
🔥 Vercel for Startups: up to $30,000 in Flexible Commitment Amount for eligible teams.Framer 🧾 ServiceFreemium
Design-first website builder with CMS and AI; paid plans from $10 a month and a free Pro year for startups.
🔥 Framer for Startups: a free year of Framer Pro (worth $360) for pre-seed or seed startups backed by a Framer-approved partner.Mercury 🧾 ServiceFreemium
Online business banking for US companies, with a $0 base plan and founders accepted from most countries.
🔥 Mercury Books ($35/mo) fee waived until 31 December 2026Webflow 🧾 ServiceFreemium
Visual website builder with a CMS, hosting and AI tools; free Starter plan, Basic from $15 a month.
Paddle 🧾 ServicePaid
Merchant of record for SaaS, apps and digital products: 5% + 50c per transaction, global tax handled.
Render 🧾 ServiceFreemium
Cloud platform for web services, workers, Postgres and cron jobs; free tier and startup credits up to $100K.
🔥 Render for Startups: $500 to $100K in credits valid for one year, depending on funding stage and partner investors.Clerky 🧾 ServicePaid
Delaware incorporation plus the legal paperwork startups need for fundraising and hiring.
Ramp 🧾 ServiceFreemium
Free corporate cards, expense management and business account for US companies, plus $350K+ in startup perks.
Brex 🧾 ServiceFreemium
Corporate cards, business account and spend management for funded US startups, free on the Essentials plan.
Chargebee 🧾 ServicePaid
Subscription billing on top of your payment gateway, free for partner-backed startups up to $1M billed.
🔥 Startup Program: Billing free until $1M cumulative revenue billed (partner-backed, under $5M raised)Polar 🧾 ServiceFreemium
Merchant of record and usage billing for AI and software companies, free plan at 5% + 50c.
🔥 Startup Program: Scale plan free for 12 months for early-stage AI startups (application)Kruze Consulting 🧾 ServicePaid
CPA firm for seed and VC-backed Delaware C corps: bookkeeping, startup tax, R&D credits and CFO work.
Every 🧾 ServiceFreemium
Free Delaware C-corp incorporation plus banking, payroll, bookkeeping and tax for startups.
Before you apply
- Read the eligibility line on each page: funding stage, company age and region rule out more applications than anything else.
- Apply with a company domain email and a live website; many programs reject personal addresses.
- Keep a list of what you claimed and when it expires.