Program

AWS Activate Portfolio

The big Activate tier. If your accelerator, angel group or VC is an Activate Provider, their Org ID unlocks up to $200,000.

AWS Activate Portfolio is for pre-Series B startups backed by an Activate Provider (accelerator, angel or VC). Up to $200,000.

Credits: Up to $200,000
Funding stage: Pre-Series B
Company age: Founded in the last 10 years
Needs a provider?: Yes, their Organization ID
AWS account: Paid Tier plan
Cost to apply: Free

At a glance

Credits: Up to $200,000
Decision time: 7-10 business days with an Org ID; 3-5 days with an email invite from the provider (AWS FAQ). The main credits page says 5-10 business days.
Credits last: AWS doesn't publish a fixed term. Its guidance says credits usually expire within 1-2 years depending on the package, and AWS won't extend them. CNBC reported in June 2024 that the then-new USD 200k Series A package would expire after 3 years (AWS confirmed this to CNBC; not on an AWS page).
Access: Open application

Official application page

01 · Overview

A good fit if you are

Startups in an accelerator such as Y Combinator
Teams with an angel or VC investor that is an Activate Provider
Startups whose Founders credits are not enough

Not for

Series B and later companies
Startups with no link to an Activate Provider
Companies that already received this amount or more

Timeline and terms

Application window: Rolling. You must apply within 12 months of your most recent funding date.
Decision time: 7-10 business days with an Org ID; 3-5 days with an email invite from the provider (AWS FAQ). The main credits page says 5-10 business days.
Credit validity: AWS doesn't publish a fixed term. Its guidance says credits usually expire within 1-2 years depending on the package, and AWS won't extend them. CNBC reported in June 2024 that the then-new USD 200k Series A package would expire after 3 years (AWS confirmed this to CNBC; not on an AWS page).
Where: Global, except AWS China Regions (separate AWS Activate China program).

Up to USD 200,000. The amount depends on your Activate Provider's offer (accelerator, angel, VC), your stage and your funding timeframe; providers can have several stage-based offers (AWS's example: USD 25k pre-seed, USD 100k seed). Moving to a bigger offer pays only the difference.

What changed recently

2026-06-03/04
Credits page headline maximum for Portfolio raised from 'Up to $100,000' to 'Up to $200,000'. The invite-only 'AWS Credits for AI Startups' tier (USD 200,000+) was added above it. Source
2026-01-22
Activate Terms updated: AWS may collect public information from the applicant's website automatically to evaluate applications. Source
2026-01-09 to 2026-02-10
Paid-plan AWS account requirement added to the credits page. Source
2025-01 (first seen in snapshot 2025-01-06)
Portfolio criteria reworded to 'Self-funded or pre-Series B (most recent funding round must be within the last 12 months, if applicable)'. The 2023 criterion 'Have not previously redeemed $100,000 total in AWS Activate credits' no longer appears. Source
2024-07-01 (reported 2024-06-28)
CNBC reported, with AWS confirmation, that startups that raised a Series A in the past year became eligible for up to USD 200,000 through Activate (up from USD 100,000), expiring in 3 years instead of 1; seed-stage stayed at USD 100,000. The public credits page kept saying 'Up to $100,000' until June 2026. Source is a news outlet, not an AWS page. Source
2024-04-01
Activate Terms now allow Activate credits for third-party foundation models on Amazon Bedrock (billed via AWS Marketplace). Source

02 · Eligibility

Hard eligibility rules

You must

Associated with an AWS Activate Provider and holding its Organization ID (case-sensitive, confidential, usable once), or an email invite from the provider
Provider must confirm the association by replying to AWS's verification email
Pre-Series B (up to and including Series A); most recent funding round within the last 12 months, if applicable
Founded in the last 10 years
Fully functioning company website
No previous Activate Credits of equal or greater value; the request must exceed earlier awards and stay under the lifetime cap
AWS account on the Paid plan, linked to an AWS Builder ID
Business email on your startup's domain, consistent across application and AWS account

Excluded

Government entities
Startups building on AWS China Regions
Startups funded beyond Series A
Requests for an offer smaller than or equal to an earlier Activate award
Startups whose provider doesn't verify the association
AWS Free account plans (until upgraded)

Have this ready before you apply

Activate Provider Org ID (case-sensitive) or an email invite from the provider
AWS Builder ID and Activate profile
Business email on the startup's domain
Functioning company website
Funding stage and the date of the most recent round
Business information: product, target market, traction
AWS account on the Paid plan, linked and verified
Founding date (within 10 years)

03 · How to apply

How to apply

1
Ask your accelerator, angel network or VC for their AWS Activate Organization ID, or an email invite.
2
Sign in to the AWS Startups site with your AWS Builder ID.
3
Choose the Portfolio tier and enter the Org ID.
4
Fill in your company details, website and funding information.
5
Wait for the decision. The final amount depends on your provider's package.

What catches founders out

"Up to $200,000" is the ceiling. Each provider's package sets your actual amount, and many are lower.
One Org ID gives one award. Being linked to two providers doesn't double your credits.
Your provider may need to confirm you. Ask them before you apply.
Credits expire. Plan your spend so you don't lose most of a large award.

What founders report Show

Summarised from public founder posts. Anecdotal, not official AWS policy.

Why applications get rejected

A generic 'internal requirements' rejection even for accelerator-backed Portfolio applicants; AWS later asked one founder for incorporation documents and a written use case
The provider didn't confirm the association (AWS FAQ names this as a decline reason too)
Email or domain inconsistencies, or a website that isn't functional

Gotchas

Org IDs are case-sensitive and single-use
The 12-month funding clock: apply within 12 months of your latest round
Asking for more than an earlier award only pays the difference

04 · Credits & stacking

What the credits cover

Covered

Over 200 eligible AWS services (AWS's own figure)
Compute, for example Amazon EC2, Amazon ECS, Amazon EKS
Databases, for example Amazon RDS, Amazon DynamoDB
Storage, for example Amazon S3
Networking, for example Amazon CloudFront, Amazon VPC
Amazon Bedrock, including third-party models (OpenAI, Mistral AI, Anthropic, Meta and others)
Data lakes, analytics, IoT (AWS's examples)
AWS Developer, Business and Business Support+ support plans

Not covered

Amazon Mechanical Turk
AWS Managed Services
Ineligible AWS Support: Enterprise Support, Unified Operations, Enterprise On-Ramp, resold support, Partner-Led Support (Activate credits CAN cover Developer, Business and Business Support+ plans)
AWS Marketplace (exception: Activate credits can be used for third-party foundation models on Amazon Bedrock billed via Marketplace)
AWS Professional Services
AWS Training
AWS Certification
Amazon Route 53 domain name registration or transfer
Any services for cryptocurrency mining
Upfront fees for Savings Plans and Reserved Instances (recurring/no-upfront RI and Savings Plan charges are treated like other eligible usage)
Sales, use, gross receipts or similar transaction taxes
Any service not listed as eligible in the AWS Billing and Cost Management console for that credit
Historical bills: credits apply only to charges in or after the billing cycle in which they are applied

Stacking with other credits

Can combine with

Activate Founders before it (you get the difference)
Offers from several Activate Providers, each used once, as long as each new award is bigger than the last and you stay under the lifetime cap
AWS EdStart or other AWS credit programs (FAQ says these don't affect Activate eligibility)
AWS Credits for AI Startups after Portfolio (invite-only, via your account manager)
Activate credits for AWS Business Support

Can't combine with

The same Org ID twice (each Org ID works once)
The same provider offer twice
Two concurrent applications (the smaller one is rejected automatically)
Kiro Startup Credits while you hold current Activate Credits
Other AWS promotional offers unless AWS authorises it (Promotional Credit Terms s.6)

Lifetime cap: AWS says there is a maximum lifetime value of Activate Credits (excluding AWS Support plan credits) but doesn't publish the number. The 2023 credits page implied USD 100,000. Today USD 200,000 is the published Portfolio maximum, with more only through the invite-only AWS Credits for AI Startups. The exact current cap is unverified, so it's not stated as a number.

05 · Alternatives

If this isn't the right program

AWS Activate Founders
No provider yet? Start with $1,000 now.
AWS Credits for AI Startups
Invite-only top-up of $200,000+ for AI startups after Portfolio.
Accelerators and VCs
See the Via section for providers that issue Org IDs.

Sources

Checked October 2026. AWS can change amounts and rules at any time.

Facts on this page checked against official sources on 2026-10-04.

Questions

How much is AWS Activate Portfolio?

Up to $200,000 in Activate credits. The amount you get depends on your Activate Provider's package.

What is an Org ID?

An Organization ID that an Activate Provider (accelerator, angel investor or VC) shares with its startups so they can apply for the Portfolio tier.

Can I use two providers to get more?

No. Being linked to more than one provider doesn't add awards together.

Does Portfolio work for Series B startups?

No. AWS lists the Portfolio tier for pre-Series B startups.

Prices and credit amounts are estimates and may change. Check AWS for current terms.