For most tech startups, the biggest challenge isn’t the idea, the team, or even the market.
Before product market fit, before revenue, and sometimes even before a public launch, founders are forced to pay for servers, cloud resources, databases, deployments, monitoring etc.
For many early stage startups, this becomes an invisible entry barrier that stops the them before they can begin.
For me even it could have been the same, but thanks to Amazon Web Services (AWS) Activate Program.
This article is written for startup founders across the globe, especially those building in the tech, SaaS, AI, and other such spaces.
I’ll share how AWS startup programs are helping founders break this barrier and how you can claim AWS credits ranging from $1,000 to $100,000 through different startup enabling platforms.
AWS Startup Program
AWS has built one of the strongest startup focused ecosystems in the world. Through AWS Activate, founders can access:
- Cloud credits
- Technical guidance
- Architecture reviews
- Training and best practices
Depending on your stage and eligibility, AWS credits can go up to $100,000.
Let’s break this down into three practical paths, starting from the earliest founder stage.
Founders Tier: Get Up to $1,000 in AWS Credits, Open to Everyone
If you’re an early stage founder, solo developer, or just validating an idea, AWS offers a Founders Tier.
Who is this for?
- Early stage startups
- Early MVP builders
- Developers experimenting with products
What you get?
- Up to $1,000 in AWS credits
- Valid for core AWS services
- Enough to build, test, and deploy an MVP
For Founders tier no accelerator or certification from startup enabler is required.
Portfolio Tier: Get Up to $100,000 in AWS Credits
It differs from the Founders Tier offered in the Activate program because here startup needs to be affiliated with an AWS Activate Provider, meaning some kind of seed/VC firm, accelerator, incubator, or other startup-enabling institutions.
Who is this for?
- Early stage startups officially incorporated
- Early MVP builders
- Startups who maintain a working website
- Startups affiliated to some kind of seed/VC firm, accelerator, incubator, or other startup-enabling institutions
What you get?
- Up to $100,000 in AWS credits
- Valid for core AWS services and technical support
- Enough to build, test, and deploy production ready application with 2 years initial validity of the credits.
AWS Credits via NVIDIA Inception Program (Global)
The NVIDIA Inception Program is one of the best global opportunities for startups, including Indian startups. You can read more about the program here.
Minimum requirements
- You need to provide unique contact information for one developer and one business executive
- Email aliases (e.g., info@domain.com) and generic domains (e.g., gmail.com) are not accepted. If your NVIDIA account uses one of these email types, you’ll need to create a new one with the business email that you want to use for your program application
- To qualify for membership, your company needs to employ at least one developer
- The company needs to maintain a working website
- The company should be officially incorporated
- The company should be be less than 10 years old
The following types of organizations do not qualify for membership, consulting and outsourced development firms, companies associated with cryptocurrency, cloud service providers, resellers and distributors, public companies.
Once you apply to this program it usually takes 2-5 working days to get a confirmation on selection or rejection.
Once selected, you can apply for AWS credits by navigating to the Benefits section and choosing the credit tier based on your eligibility. Simply select the appropriate credit range and click Request Benefit to submit your application.
To claim AWS credits, make sure you are not using a personal or Gmail account. The email address used for your AWS Builder ID or AWS account must match the same official business email used during your NVIDIA Inception program registration. Mismatched or personal emails may lead to rejection or delays in credit approval
Fill in the additional details required in the application form and once approved the credits will be credited to your linked AWS Account.
Based on my experience, claiming AWS Activate credits is not just about filling out an application it’s about clarity and intent.
The first and most important thing is to be precise about how you plan to use AWS. Any cloud provider(there are others as well in Nvidia Inception Program) wants startups to genuinely build on their platform, not just claim credits and leave. So before applying, make sure you’ve clearly decided that AWS is the cloud you want to build on.
From my personal journey, I’ve been using AWS for the last six years, and today our entire workload runs on AWS. This long-term commitment matters, and it should reflect strongly in your application.
When applying for AWS credits through Nvidia Inception, it’s important to clearly explain:
- Which AWS services you plan to use?
- How your product depends on these services?
- How you plan to scale your usage over time?
- How AWS fits into your long-term architecture?
- Nvidia libraries, models, services you are more likely to use on AWS.
These questions may appear directly in the application form, or during a review. The more accurately you answer, the stronger is your chance to unlock higher credit tiers.
If you are applying for AWS credits for the first time and have not received any credits before, I strongly recommend starting with a $10,000 credit tier. Once you have an active workload and usage history, you can later apply for a higher credit tier.
These are my personal views and learnings, but they’ve worked well for us. Feel free to reach out if you need any help with setting up AWS, want to collaborate, or just exchange ideas and learnings.
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