Bootstrapped AI Product

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

$15K–$50K in immediate credits 11 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. Start at the self-serve Founders Hub tier and verify up.

    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
    Mercury Mercury Banking + partner credits

    Open business banking — it bundles partner perks and investor matching regardless of whether you’ve raised.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  6. 6
    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
  7. 7
    Anthropic Anthropic $1K–$25K+ in Claude credits

    Apply once Claude is clearly central to your product — show real usage, not a side feature.

    Eligibility & how to apply
  8. 8
    Cloudflare Cloudflare Up to $250,000 in credits

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

    Eligibility & how to apply
  9. 9
    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
  10. 10
    Notion Notion Up to $12,000 (6 months)

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

    Eligibility & how to apply
  11. 11
    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 directory 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

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International (Non-US) Founder

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Compliance-First (Enterprise Sales)

$500K+ in value + audit readiness

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