Scaleway offers up to €36,000 in credits (about $41,000); up to €42,000 (about $48,000) for new NVIDIA Inception members. Euro amounts are authoritative.
No equity, no fees. No referral needed; apply directly.
Stage fit: Pre-seed to Series A. Difficulty: moderate.
Scaleway at a glance
- Max value
- Up to €36,000 (about $41,000); up to €42,000 (about $48,000) for new NVIDIA Inception members. Euro amounts are authoritative.
- Stage fit
- Pre-seed to Series A
- Takes equity
- No
- Who files it
- You (no code needed)
- Geography
- Not stated as a restriction on Scaleway's program pages.
- Referral needed
- No
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Review time
- Scaleway's own pages disagree
- Credits expire
- Fixed window, not renewable for Founders and Early Stage: the Founders voucher is valid 12 months, Early Stage runs 6 months, Growth Stage runs 12 months as 12 monthly vouchers (Scaleway calls it a one-year limited collaboration).
What Scaleway actually gives you
- Founders ProgramOne-time €1,000 voucher, valid 12 months; self-serve support only (no customer success manager); not renewableYoung projects or startups migrating to Scaleway or doing an initial build; the entry step before the Early Stage or Growth Stage programs
- Early Stage Program€1,500 a month for 6 months = €9,000 total; CSM on request; not renewablePre-seed to seed startups going to market after validating a proof of concept; the Early Stage page lists a minimum cloud consumption threshold of €500 a month
- Growth Stage Program€3,000 a month for 12 months = up to €36,000 total, delivered as 12 monthly vouchers; dedicated CSM, technical support, events, VC community accessSeed to Series A startups; described as mature startups with demanding AI workloads looking to serve enterprise customers. The main-page FAQ mentions consumption starting at €1,500 a month, which the Growth page itself does not repeat
- NVIDIA Inception membersUp to €42,000 in cloud credits (versus €36,000 for regular members), plus 12 months of Advanced Support (about €700 a year in value), one Scaleway Foundation Certification, invitations to community events and one social media mention. The page does not state how long the extra credits lastNew Startup Program members who also meet NVIDIA Inception requirements; the main-page FAQ says conditions are similar to Growth Stage; benefits are not available to existing Scaleway Startup Program members
Who qualifies
You likely qualify if
- Company is less than 5 years old
- Company has fewer than 50 employees
- Company is not yet a Scaleway client (Scaleway does not define the term; the application still asks for a Scaleway organization ID, so a free account is needed first). Founders Program members may move up to a later program
- The FAQ says startups must tick at least these three boxes, so the committee may apply further judgement beyond them
- Identity verification is mandatory, and only applications with verified identities are reviewed by the committee
- Early Stage: pre-seed to seed, with a minimum cloud consumption threshold of €500 a month stated on the Early Stage page
- Growth Stage: seed to Series A; the main-page FAQ mentions consumption starting at €1,500 a month, but the Growth page states no minimum
- Any vertical can apply; Scaleway says any startup going to market is welcome, especially those tackling the EU market
- NVIDIA Inception uplift (up to €42,000): must satisfy both the NVIDIA Inception requirements (per Scaleway's Inception page: at least one developer, a working website, officially incorporated, under 10 years old) and the Scaleway criteria, and be a new Startup Program member
You won't qualify if
- Existing Scaleway customers (stated exception: Founders Program members moving up to the next program)
- Companies that are 5 or more years old
- Companies with 50 or more employees
- Existing Scaleway Startup Program members cannot claim the NVIDIA Inception uplift (new members only)
- Early Stage participants cannot move into the Growth Stage Program (Scaleway states this is not possible)
- Founders Program participants get no customer success manager; support is self-serve (documentation, AI helper, community Slack)
- Applicants who do not complete identity verification are not reviewed
Geography. Not stated as a restriction on Scaleway's program pages. The application form's registered-in and operates-from country dropdowns list every country, but the form asks for both, and Scaleway says it especially welcomes startups tackling the EU market. Better Stack (updated 2026-09-10) says EU or associated-country incorporation is a hard gate, but no Scaleway page confirms this and the admission terms could not be opened. Treat non-EU eligibility as unconfirmed and ask startup-program@scaleway.com.
How to apply to Scaleway Startup Program
- 01Confirm the three gates: company under 5 years old, fewer than 50 employees, not yet a Scaleway client.
- 02Create a Scaleway account first. The application form's first field asks for your Scaleway organization ID.
- 03Pick your track before applying: Founders (€1,000, migrating or first build), Early Stage (pre-seed to seed, at least €500 a month cloud consumption) or Growth Stage (seed to Series A). You cannot move from Early Stage to Growth Stage later; Founders members can move on to either.
- 04Complete the single application form on the Startup Program page, which serves all tracks. Identity verification comes first. The form then asks for contact and company details (countries of registration and operation, headcount, founding date, stage, ARR, current and 12-month expected cloud spend, share of spend for Scaleway, current cloud providers, a pitch) and acceptance of the Startup Programs Admission Terms and Conditions. NVIDIA Inception members should use the form on the Inception members page for the up to €42,000 uplift.
- 05Note that the admission terms PDF linked from the form (images-www.scaleway.com) did not resolve on 2026-10-09. Email startup-program@scaleway.com to ask for the binding terms before relying on assumptions about geography or unused credits.
- 06Wait for the admission committee. Scaleway's pages disagree on timing (weekly, monthly, under 21 business days, or 14 days on its Inception page), so plan for up to about 21 business days.
- 07If accepted, attend the collective onboarding session. The program clock of 6 or 12 months starts from credit activation per the main page, or from your invitation per the tier-page FAQs.
- 08Watch your consumption: spend above your vouchers is billed to you. Founders and Early Stage credits are stated as non-renewable.
Review time: Scaleway's own pages disagree. The main page and the NVIDIA Inception members page say the admission committee reviews weekly on a rolling basis. The Founders, Early Stage and Growth Stage page FAQs say monthly. The Founders and Early Stage pages say applications are reviewed in under 21 business days. Scaleway's Inception page promises an answer within 14 days. Plan for up to about 21 business days.. Apply at www.scaleway.com/en/startup-program.
What changed in 2025 and 2026
Scaleway's page metadata shows recent edits: the main Startup Program page on 2026-09-23, the Founders, Early Stage and Growth Stage pages on 2026-10-01, and the NVIDIA Inception members page on 2026-10-08. The edits are not described, so what changed is unknown; the record matches the live pages fetched on 2026-10-09. The pages are not fully consistent with each other on review cadence, program clock start and example end dates. A legacy page (www.scaleway.com/en/startups-programs-signup/) is still live and shows Early Stage at €3,600; ignore it, as the current program pages say €9,000. The Scaleway and NVIDIA Inception tie-up dates from NVIDIA's blog post of 2023-11-17.
Hold these alongside Scaleway
Scaleway credits and your AWS bill
Scaleway is a competing French and EU cloud. Credits spend only on Scaleway products (GPU instances, Generative APIs and the rest of its catalogue), not on AWS or Amazon Bedrock. The program pages do not mention any restriction on holding AWS Activate credits too, but the binding admission terms could not be read. The application asks which cloud providers you use and what share of your cloud spend you will dedicate to Scaleway, so the committee may weigh multi-cloud intent. A common pattern is to keep the core stack on AWS and place EU data residency or GPU workloads on Scaleway.
Scaleway startup credits, answered
How much does Scaleway give startups?
Scaleway offers up to €36,000 in credits (about $41,000); up to €42,000 (about $48,000) for new NVIDIA Inception members. Euro amounts are authoritative. There are 4 tiers: Founders Program: One-time €1,000 voucher, valid 12 months; Early Stage Program: €1,500 a month for 6 months = €9,000 total; Growth Stage Program: €3,000 a month for 12 months = up to €36,000 total, delivered as 12 monthly vouchers; NVIDIA Inception members: Up to €42,000 in cloud credits (versus €36,000 for regular members), plus 12 months of Advanced Support (about €700 a year in value), one Scaleway Foundation Certification, invitations to community events and one social media mention.
Does Scaleway take equity?
No. Scaleway Startup Program is a credits program, not an investment; you keep 100% of your company. No referral needed; apply directly.
Who qualifies for Scaleway Startup Program?
Stage fit: Pre-seed to Series A. You usually qualify if: company is less than 5 years old; company has fewer than 50 employees; company is not yet a Scaleway client (Scaleway does not define the term; the application still asks for a Scaleway organization ID, so a free account is needed first). Founders Program members may move up to a later program. You will not qualify if: existing Scaleway customers (stated exception: Founders Program members moving up to the next program); companies that are 5 or more years old.
How long does Scaleway take to approve credits?
Scaleway's own pages disagree. The main page and the NVIDIA Inception members page say the admission committee reviews weekly on a rolling basis. The Founders, Early Stage and Growth Stage page FAQs say monthly. The Founders and Early Stage pages say applications are reviewed in under 21 business days. Scaleway's Inception page promises an answer within 14 days. Plan for up to about 21 business days. Difficulty: moderate, a real application and usually some back and forth.
When do Scaleway credits expire?
Fixed window, not renewable for Founders and Early Stage: the Founders voucher is valid 12 months, Early Stage runs 6 months, Growth Stage runs 12 months as 12 monthly vouchers (Scaleway calls it a one-year limited collaboration). The main-page FAQ says the end date is exactly 6 or 12 months after credits activation; the tier-page FAQs say after Scaleway invites you in.
Can I combine Scaleway credits with AWS credits?
Scaleway is a competing French and EU cloud. Credits spend only on Scaleway products (GPU instances, Generative APIs and the rest of its catalogue), not on AWS or Amazon Bedrock. On AWS, CloudRoute matches you for free with a vetted partner who can file MAP, POC or IW funding when the workload qualifies and AWS approves it. The Scaleway application you submit yourself.
