Find an AWS partner who can file your funding.

IHow do you find an AWS partner?

There are three routes. Each one ends with a partner you talk to directly.

• AWS Partner Solutions Finder (do it yourself): This is AWS's own directory at partners.amazonaws.com. AWS says you can search "by industry, use case, workload, solution, or AWS Specializations and certifications", and find partners in your region. It is free. You read the listings, shortlist two or three firms and contact each one yourself.
• An AWS Partner specialist: AWS has a contact form where an AWS Partner specialist can help you find a partner that fits your needs. It is free. It suits teams that are already talking to AWS.
• A matching service such as CloudRoute: You describe the work once. CloudRoute picks one vetted AWS consulting partner for it and introduces you. It is free for startups because partners pay CloudRoute. How that works, and what it means for you, is further down this page.

Whichever route you take, two questions matter most. Has this partner done your kind of work? And can it file the AWS funding that fits that work?

AWS describes why partners exist on its work with a partner page: partners bring specialized skills on top of AWS services, in many industries and regions. For a startup, the practical reason is simpler. Some AWS funding only reaches you through a partner.

IIWhat AWS funding can a partner file for a startup?

Three routes. Your partner files them for real work it delivers, and AWS decides.

• MAP (Migration Acceleration Program): You are not on AWS yet and want to migrate. AWS describes MAP as tools, training, expertise from AWS Migration Competency Partners and financial investments that offset initial migration costs (AWS MAP page).
• POC (proof of concept) funding: You want to test something, whether or not you are on AWS today. AWS's partner funding page says partner funds can help partners "explore proof of concepts".
• IW (incremental workload) funding: You are already on AWS and are launching new work: a new AI feature, a new customer or a new contract. More on incremental workload funding.

For a startup, partner-filed funding can be $50K to $150K. Depends on the workload; AWS approves. The range comes from CloudRoute's partner records, and the amount follows the work. Partner funding programs reach about $1M, but that tier is for enterprises such as banks, hospitals and municipalities, not startups.

Compare that with AWS Activate Founders, the credits a self-funded startup applies for alone: $1,000 to start, up to $5,000. For most startups without a VC behind them, the partner route is the larger one.

Why only a partner? Partner funding is an AWS Partner benefit. Partners request it through the AWS Partner Funding Portal in AWS Partner Central, and AWS ties it to work the partner delivers. A startup cannot open that request itself. AWS's partner tier page lists funding for POC and migration work as a benefit at all three partner tiers.

The table shows every route side by side. Partner amounts are from CloudRoute's partner records. Activate amounts are from AWS's credits page. Both checked on October 10, 2026.

IIIHow does CloudRoute pick a partner, and what does it cost?

We read what you are building and pick one vetted AWS consulting partner that fits the work, the stack and the region. Then we introduce you.

We reply within 24 hours; your matched partner reaches out within 5 business days. The partner scopes the work with you and tells you which funding route fits, if any. If the work qualifies, the partner files the request. AWS reviews it and decides. Nothing is promised before AWS approves.

CloudRoute does not file AWS funding, does not apply for Activate on your behalf and does not do the technical work. The partner does the work. Any engagement is between you and the partner.

Startups pay CloudRoute nothing. AWS consulting partners pay CloudRoute a monthly membership plus 10% of AWS-approved funding. So CloudRoute earns more when AWS approves funding for the work. That is the conflict to know about: partners pay us, you do not.

Since January 2026, the CloudRoute team has helped startups secure more than $5M in AWS credits and funding, and has routed 40+ qualified applications to AWS partners. Source: CloudRoute partner records, October 2026.

You can check any partner we introduce on AWS Partner Solutions Finder, the same way you would check a firm you found yourself. The section on checking a partner shows how.

IVWhat do AWS cloud consulting services cover?

Most AWS consulting firms sell the same five kinds of work. Know which one you need before you pick a firm.

• Assessment and planning: A review of what you run today, what it costs and what should change. For a move to AWS this is the Assess phase of MAP (AWS MAP page).
• Migration: Moving apps, data and infrastructure onto AWS from another cloud, a platform like Heroku or your own servers, with AWS migration services such as MGN and DMS. A partner can file MAP funding when the migration qualifies and AWS approves it.
• Building new work: A new product or feature on AWS, such as an AI feature on Amazon Bedrock. Testing it first can be POC funding. New work on an AWS account you already run can be IW funding. Your partner files either one, and AWS decides.
• Security and cost reviews: Account setup, access control, security guardrails, backups and a line-by-line look at your AWS bill.
• Managed services: Running AWS for you after launch: monitoring, patching, backups and incident response. AWS validates firms that do this as AWS Managed Service Provider (MSP) partners (AWS partner types).

AWS also has its own consulting team, AWS Professional Services (ProServe). AWS says ProServe and AWS Partners together "offer you more choice and flexibility" (AWS Professional Services page). For a startup, the practical difference is often funding: an AWS partner can request MAP, POC or IW funding for work it delivers, and AWS decides.

VWhat types of AWS consulting companies are there?

Roughly three. Size is not quality. Pick the firm that has done your kind of work, at your stage.

• Global systems integrators: Large firms that work across many clouds and industries. They fit large, regulated programs with many teams. A seed-stage startup is a small account for them, so ask who would do the work.
• Regional AWS partners: Firms that focus on AWS in one country or region. They suit teams that want people in their time zone and a partner who knows local rules, such as where data must stay.
• Small specialists: Firms that do one kind of work well: migrations off Heroku, data platforms, Kubernetes, or AI on Amazon Bedrock. Check that their AWS validations match that work.

Any of the three can be a Select, Advanced or Premier tier AWS partner, and AWS lists funding for POC and migration work as a benefit at all three tiers (AWS Services Partner Tiers). Look each firm up on AWS Partner Solutions Finder, then use the questions below.

VIHow do you check an AWS partner before you sign?

AWS publishes how it grades partners. Use that first. Then ask the partner a few direct questions.

VIICan you do this without a partner or CloudRoute?

For some of it, yes. Here is the honest split.

• Activate credits: always yourself: Self-funded? Apply for AWS Activate Founders at aws.amazon.com/startups/credits: $1,000 to start, up to $5,000. Backed by a VC, accelerator or angel that is an Activate Provider? Apply for AWS Activate Portfolio, up to $200,000, with the Org ID your provider gives you. AWS says you hear back within 5 to 10 business days.
• Finding a partner: yes, with AWS Partner Solutions Finder: Filter by your region and your kind of work. Shortlist three firms and use the questions above. It costs nothing. Expect to brief each firm separately.
• MAP, POC or IW funding: not alone: Only an AWS partner can request it, for work it delivers. If you find a partner yourself, ask it directly whether it can file for your project.
• When you do not need CloudRoute at all: If Activate credits cover what you need, apply for them and stop there. If there is no migration, test or new workload for a partner to deliver, partner funding does not apply. And if you already work with an AWS partner you trust, ask them first.

VIIIWhat should you have ready before you talk to a partner?

A partner can only check funding against a real plan. A page of plain facts is enough.

• What you run today: Where it runs (Heroku, Google Cloud, Azure, your own servers or AWS), the main services, and roughly what you spend each month.
• What you want to do: Move to AWS, test something, or launch new work on AWS. One paragraph is enough.
• When: The month you want to start. Work with no start date is hard to fund.
• Who owns it on your side: One person who can make decisions and answer technical questions.
• Who backs you, if anyone: Whether a VC, accelerator or angel invested. It decides which Activate tier you apply for yourself.
• Credits you already hold: Tell the partner about Activate or other AWS credits on your account. AWS promotional credits do not pay Savings Plans or Reserved Instance upfront fees.