Amazon Web Services (AWS) Activate Benefits

AWS Credits – If approved, your startup will receive up to $5,000 in AWS Activate Credits valid for 2 years

Startups can build, grow, and scale on AWS with free AWS credits. AWS credits help cover the cost of eligible AWS services and charges incurred during or following the billing cycle in which the credits are deposited into the startup’s account.

AWS Business Support Credits – If approved, your startup will receive up to 1 year of AWS Business Support for FREE (up to $1,500 limit).

First time Activate applicants will receive 24/7 access to developers and cloud support engineers with a set of free AWS Business Support credits for architectural guidance and technical expertise.

Personalized Content & Offers

Startups can take advantage of discounts, free perks, recommended content, and tools through the AWS Activate Console, where they can also monitor their AWS credits and costs and get realtime updates on the health of their AWS environment.

Learn more about specific AWS Activate benefits

Eligibility Requirements

To apply for AWS Activate Portfolio, Innovation Guelph clients must meet the following eligibility criteria:

• Must be Series A or earlier. Startups can be unfunded or funded, up to and including pre-seed, angel, seed, debt finance, and series A only. Unfortunately, we are unable to grant credits to non-startups (e.g. SMBs, side projects, individual developers) or post-series A startups.
• Must be founded within the last 10 years. Startups that were founded more than 10 years ago are not eligible for Activate.
• Must have an active AWS account. If a startup does not yet have an AWS account, they can open one for free here. 
• Must have an Organization ID (OrgID). Each of our Activate Providers receives a unique, case-sensitive OrgID. Fill out the form below to receive your OrgID code from Innovation Guelph.
• Must have a functioning website. Startups must have a functioning website. “Coming soon” websites are not permissible.
• Must not have already received $100,000 USD in AWS credits. The lifetime maximum amount of AWS credits from Activate is $100,000 USD. Startups that have already received the maximum amount are not eligible. Received includes credits issued but not spent. 

Please note: If your startup is already a member of Activate Portfolio and applying for additional AWS credits, you must be applying for an Activate offer greater than the one already received. While startups can apply for Activate Portfolio more than once, AWS credits are non-cumulative and topped up incrementally. Therefore, you must apply for a greater amount of credits than previously received. If approved, the startup will receive the difference between the two credit offers. The lifetime value limit of AWS credits still applies.