AWS Activate Credits
Up to $200,000 in AWS credits for early-stage startups, with additional AI-specific credits for startups ready to scale.
AWS Activate Credits
AWS Activate is Amazon's long-running startup credit program. It offers promotional credits based on startup stage, with higher tiers available through venture capital firms, accelerators, and incubators. For AI startups, AWS also runs a separate "Credits for AI Startups" tier for companies scaling past the initial Activate Portfolio level.
What you get
| Tier | Credits | How to access |
|---|---|---|
| Activate Founders | Up to $5,000 USD | Self-funded/bootstrapped startups apply directly |
| Activate Portfolio | Up to $200,000 USD | Requires an Org ID from an AWS Activate Provider (VC, accelerator, etc.) |
| Credits for AI Startups | $200,000+ USD | Invite-only for AI startups scaling past Portfolio |
- Credits apply to most AWS services, including EC2, S3, SageMaker, Bedrock, and EKS.
- Access to AWS Activate Provider network, which includes organizations like Y Combinator, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, and many accelerators.
- Technical support, training, and startup-focused events.
Eligibility
- Pre-Series B startups.
- Founded within the last 10 years.
- AWS account on a paid-tier plan.
- Either new to Activate Credits or requesting more credits than previously received.
How to apply
- Create an AWS Builder ID with your professional email.
- Complete your startup profile.
- Choose the credit tier that matches your stage.
- For Activate Portfolio, obtain an Org ID from your investor or accelerator and submit it with your application.
- For the AI-specific tier, work with your AWS account manager or contact AWS Startups.
Caveats
- SMF Clearinghouse does not administer this offer.
- Credit amounts and eligibility criteria change; verify directly with AWS.
- Credits expire — typically within one to two years of issuance.
- Some services, reserved instances, and third-party marketplace purchases may not be covered.
- Higher tiers require a relationship with an Activate Provider.
Best for
- Startups already building on AWS or planning to use SageMaker, Bedrock, or EC2 GPU instances.
- Teams with accelerator or VC backing that can unlock the Portfolio tier.
- AI startups scaling training or inference workloads on AWS infrastructure.
Verdict
AWS Activate is one of the largest and most established cloud credit programs. The Founders tier is easy to access for bootstrapped teams, but the real value is the Portfolio and AI-specific tiers for funded startups. If you are committed to AWS, this is essential. If you are cloud-agnostic, compare with Google Cloud for Startups and Microsoft for Startups before committing.
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