Bootstrapped AI Product

Solo or small team, no VC, building an AI-first product

$15K–$50K in immediate credits 10 programs · apply in order

Order matters. Incorporate first to unlock downstream perks, join NVIDIA Inception before AWS (it improves your AI terms), then layer the big-3 cloud and an AI provider. None of this needs a VC referral.

  1. 1
    Stripe Atlas Stripe Atlas $2,500 Stripe credits + partner perks

    Incorporate as a Delaware C-Corp first — it unlocks Stripe, AWS, and a stack of partner perks you can’t get without an entity.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  2. 2
    NVIDIA Inception NVIDIA Inception Free program + hardware pricing

    Free to join. Do this before AWS — Inception membership materially improves your downstream AI/cloud terms.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  3. 3
    Microsoft Microsoft Up to $150,000 Azure credits

    The easiest big-cloud entry with no VC needed: $200 at signup, $5,000 after business verification, then up to $150,000 as your Azure usage grows. An investor referral code gives $1,000 to start and a review for up to $150,000.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  4. 4
    AWS AWS Up to $100,000 ($300K for AI)

    Founders tier is open to self-funded startups. Apply with a professional domain email, not Gmail.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  5. 5
    Ramp Ramp $350,000+ in partner perks

    Corporate card + a rewards marketplace with OpenAI, AWS, and Notion credits you can stack on top.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  6. 6
    Anthropic Anthropic 1 year of Claude Team + $1K API credits

    No VC needed: founded in the last 5 years or funded in the last 2. A partner VC can add up to $100K more in API credits.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  7. 7
    Cloudflare Cloudflare Up to $350,000 in credits

    Edge, R2, and AI gateway credits — cheap egress and inference plumbing for an AI app.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  8. 8
    MongoDB MongoDB $500–$5,000 Atlas credits + Voyage AI

    Atlas credits plus Voyage AI tokens for embeddings/RAG — the data layer for your AI features.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  9. 9
    Notion Notion Up to $12,000 (6 months)

    Free Business plan + Notion AI to run the company while you build.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  10. 10
    Figma Figma Free Organization plan (24 months)

    Skip if you have no accelerator — Figma’s startup tier usually requires a partner affiliation.

    Eligibility & how to apply
A note: This is an editorial suggestion, not a guarantee. We're an independent startup ecosystem and aren't affiliated with these programs — eligibility, amounts, and terms change, so confirm each on the program's own page. Apply only to what genuinely fits your startup.

Other playbooks

Seed-Funded B2B SaaS

$500K+ in effective value

Seed-stage B2B SaaS with institutional funding

AI-First Seed (Series A-track)

$1M+ in cloud + AI credits

Compute-heavy AI startup, seed heading into early Series A

International (Non-US) Founder

$200K+ in credits + a Delaware C-Corp

Founder building a US entity from outside the US

Compliance-First (Enterprise Sales)

$500K+ in value + audit readiness

B2B SaaS selling into enterprise that requires SOC 2 / ISO / HIPAA