October 2026
AWS copy corrected and a "Who files it" column added
Every directory page now says who files each program. Founders apply for AWS Activate themselves, including Portfolio with an Org ID from their investor or accelerator. A matched AWS partner files MAP, POC or IW funding when the workload qualifies and AWS approves it. Earlier copy wrongly said a partner could file Activate Portfolio. Pages that offer a match now say how CloudRoute is paid.
Claude for Startups re-checked after the expansion
Anthropic's program page now leads with the Claude Startup Stack (partner offers worth up to $45,000) and office hours with its Applied AI team. Its FAQ says Anthropic is over capacity on the free Claude Team year and the $1,000 API credit, and will re-review all applications. Unchanged: startups backed by a VC in Anthropic's partner network may get up to $100K in API credits, claimed through the VC, and program credits cannot be used on Amazon Bedrock.
Directory published with 62 programs
68 programs were researched from official pages, and each was checked a second time, independently. 62 are published. 6 are left out because no official source confirmed a current program: 1Password, Heroku, Hugging Face, Mistral AI, Replicate and Twilio Segment.
Groq's startup program is gone
The program and application pages now redirect to groq.com, with no announcement. A third-party tracker reported the page unpublished on 5 Aug 2026. The directory keeps the page and marks it closed.
Perplexity's startup application is closed
The application form is switched to closed and perplexity.ai/startups redirects. By March 2026 the free Enterprise Pro term had already been cut from 6 months to 3; the $5,000 API credit was unchanged.
Redis for Startups: English page redirects
The English program URLs now redirect to the Redis homepage. The localized pages (German, French, Spanish, Italian, Korean) are still live, and the German one shows the current 6-month term. Redis has not said whether this is a pause.
Lambda cut its Inception credit to $1,000
Lambda's page now offers $1,000 to NVIDIA Inception members only. It earlier offered $7,500 to Inception and Connect members, and some guides still show that. The page was republished on 8 Oct 2026; Lambda did not announce the change.
Anthropic expanded Claude for Startups
Anthropic announced a free year of Claude Team (up to five Premium seats, for companies new to Team), a one-time $1,000 API credit and the Claude Startup Stack. Startups founded in the last five years or funded in the last two can apply. No VC is needed.
August 2026
Vercel moved startup credits to Flex Commit terms
Startups accepted on or after 6 Aug 2026 get their credits as a Flexible Commitment Amount under Vercel's Enterprise terms, with a 50% monthly cap on AI Gateway. Founders accepted earlier keep the terms in their acceptance email.
June 2026
AWS Activate Portfolio ceiling doubled to $200,000
Between 31 May and 14 June 2026 the AWS credits page raised Portfolio to up to $200,000, added AWS Credits for AI Startups ($200,000 or more, by invitation) and changed Founders to $1,000 to start, up to $5,000. Founders still apply for both tiers themselves. Several guides still show the old ceiling.
May 2026
Microsoft for Startups moved onboarding to the Azure portal
New applicants now activate credits in the Azure portal instead of the Microsoft for Startups portal. Microsoft's June 2026 benefits page says startups backed by its Investor Network may unlock up to $200,000.
DigitalOcean Hatch became the DigitalOcean Startups Program
The Hatch brand was retired and its pages redirect to the new program, which no longer publishes a dollar ceiling. On 13 May 2026 GPU Droplets and serverless inference were taken out of core credits.
Modal removed its published credit amounts
Between 1 April and 1 May 2026 Modal dropped the dollar figures and the bootstrapped tier from its startup page. It now takes startups backed by a partner VC or with more than $1M raised, and sets amounts case by case.
January 2026
Capital One agreed to acquire Brex
Capital One announced the deal on 22 Jan 2026. Brex has stated no change to its startup perks.
How this log is kept
Every program in the directory was read from its official page, then checked a second time, independently. When we re-check a program and something moved, the program page gets the new terms and a new verified date, and the change is added here. Spot a change we missed? Email hello@cloudroutehq.com.