Founders vs Portfolio: which one are you?
| Criterion | Founders tier | Portfolio tier |
|---|---|---|
| Credit amount | $1,000 | Up to $100,000 |
| Validity | 2 years | 2 years |
| Requires partner | No | Yes (approved VC, accelerator, or incubator) |
| Approval time | ~24 hours | 5–10 business days |
| AWS support tier | Developer (free) | Business support included |
Rule of thumb: if you have a YC, Techstars, a16z, or partner-backed accelerator on your cap table, go for Portfolio. Otherwise start with Founders today and upgrade later.
Do you actually qualify?
The hard constraints are simple:
- Company is under 10 years old
- You are not currently a paying AWS customer (or have spent under $5,000 lifetime)
- You have an incorporated entity (LLC, C-Corp, or international equivalent)
- For Portfolio: backed by an approved AWS Activate Provider
Notably absent: any revenue or funding cap. AWS will give a Series A startup the same Founders tier as a pre-seed.
The 5-step application
- Go to aws.amazon.com/activate and click "Apply now."
- Sign in with your AWS account (create one with the email tied to your founder identity, not a Gmail).
- Fill in company name, website, founding year, headcount, and stage.
- For Portfolio: enter your partner-supplied Organization ID code. Your accelerator gives this to you.
- Submit. You'll receive an email within 5–10 days with the credit code.
What can you actually use it on?
AWS Activate credits apply to the full AWS service catalog: EC2, S3, RDS, Lambda, CloudFront, and AI services including Bedrock (Claude, Llama, Mistral) and SageMaker. They do not apply to AWS Marketplace third-party software, Reserved Instances paid upfront, or Support plan fees beyond what's included.
Founders typically burn through $100k of credits in 14 months. The biggest spend categories are: compute (EC2/Fargate), inference (Bedrock), and storage (S3 + RDS).
What to do if your accelerator isn't approved
Three options, ranked by speed:
- Take the Founders $1,000 today and use it as a 90-day runway while you pursue option 2.
- Ask your accelerator to apply for partner status. It's free for them and approval takes ~30 days. AWS actively wants more partners.
- Stack alternatives: Google for Startups ($200k) and DigitalOcean Hatch ($100k) have looser partner requirements.
Frequently asked questions
How much in AWS credits can a startup actually get?
Up to $100,000 via the Activate Portfolio tier (requires an approved accelerator or VC partner). The self-serve Founders tier offers $1,000 with no partner required. Both are valid for 24 months.
How long does AWS Activate approval take?
Founders tier approves within 24 hours. Portfolio tier takes 5–10 business days because AWS verifies your partner code.
Can I use AWS credits for Bedrock, SageMaker, or other AI services?
Yes. Activate credits apply across the full AWS service catalog including Bedrock (Claude, Llama, Mistral), SageMaker, EC2 GPU instances, and all standard infrastructure services.
What if my accelerator isn't an AWS Activate Provider?
Apply for the $1,000 Founders tier today, then ask your accelerator to apply for partner status — it's free and takes ~30 days. In parallel, stack Google for Startups ($200k) and DigitalOcean Hatch ($100k), which have looser partner requirements.
Do AWS credits cover support plan fees?
Portfolio tier includes Business support for the credit duration. Founders tier only covers Developer (basic) support; upgrading to Business is billed separately.