Funding for AI startups
AI founders can stack free model and cloud credits, non-dilutive grants, cash prizes and top accelerators — most open to pre-funding, solo builders. Bursary reads what you are building and ranks the funding you actually qualify for.
Check what you qualify for →Start here · fastest to claim
No company needed, rolling deadlines, low effort — the quickest wins on this list.
95 programs · updated 2026-07-12
Startup World Cup 2026 (Regional)
$1,000,000 grand finale + regional cash
Apply remotely to an open regional (deadlines vary; Philadelphia closes Jul 15, Kansas City open through Aug 6); winners advance to the SF $1M finale Nov 6. Legal entity required.
Needs company
Build with Gemini XPRIZE
$500,000 top ($2M pool)
Must be a NEW project started after May 19. The moonshot.
No company needed
Y Combinator
$500K + ~$3.5M credit stack
Takes solo founders. Auto-unlocks the entire portfolio credit stack.
No company needed
Supply Chain Acceleration and Logistics Enablement (SCALE) Program
Up to $500,000
Small Business Administration. Federal grant (opp SB-OIIGA-26-001); typically requires SAM.gov registration and an entity. Verify full eligibility on the official page.
Needs company
Kaya AI India Hackathon 2026
$350,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by Kaya — IoT, Machine Learning/AI, Enterprise. 1,435 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
SBIR (America's Seed Fund)
Up to $323,090 Phase I (equity-free)
The largest source of early-stage non-dilutive US funding. Federal agencies (DoD, NSF, NIH, DOE, NASA and more) award equity-free Phase I R&D grants up to $323,090 (2026 cap), with larger Phase II follow-ons. For US for-profit small businesses under 500 employees, over 50% US-owned, building innovative tech. Solicitations are agency-specific on rolling schedules; browse open topics at the link.
Needs company
ARC Prize 2026 — ARC-AGI-2
$700K pool / $275K grand prize
Solo or team, fully remote via Kaggle notebook; hit 85% on the private ARC-AGI-2 eval within compute limits, open-source within 7 days.
No company needed
Google for Startups Cloud Program
Start $2K → up to $250K/yr (AI-first)
Two tracks: self-serve Start ($2K credits; needs an incorporated entity + working site) and the AI-first program — up to $250K Google Cloud credits year 1 (+~$100K year 2) for startups whose core product uses Gemini/Google Cloud AI, raised Pre-seed/Seed within 5 years or Series A within 12 months. Third-party models billed separately. Verified 2026-06-26.
Needs companyNeeds website
Thiel Fellowship
$250,000 over two years
Truly non-dilutive (no equity), but you must be 22 or younger and skip or leave school; about 20-30 spots a year. Award raised to $250K (verified 2026).
No company needed
Entrepreneur First (EF)
Up to $250K + $5M follow-on + $600K credits
Invests in individuals before they have a co-founder or even an idea: equity-free grant during ideation, up to $250K once a company forms, up to $5M follow-on, plus $600K+ in Azure/OpenAI/Anthropic/GitHub credits. Cohorts in London, Bangalore, and San Francisco.
No company needed
Stripe Atlas (perks bundle)
~$220K partner perks
$500 to incorporate a DE C-corp -> unlocks Anthropic $500, AWS $5K, Azure $5K, etc.
No company needed$500 to start
Federal and State Technology (FAST) Partnership Program
Up to $180,000
Small Business Administration. Federal grant (opp SB-OIIFT-26-001); typically requires SAM.gov registration and an entity. Verify full eligibility on the official page.
Needs company
Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub
Up to $150,000 Azure credits + AI model access
Self-serve "Get started" application, no investor or partner referral needed. Up to $150K in Azure credits unlocked in stages, plus access to Azure OpenAI and other AI models and dev tools (verified 2026-06-26). Build a software product and have not exhausted the benefit before; no external funding required and you can start pre-incorporation, though higher tiers verify your startup.
No company needed
Techstars Accelerator
$120K ($20K for ~6% + $100K note)
Three-month mentorship-driven program across 20+ cities; standard deal is $20K for ~6% common plus a $100K convertible note. Accepts very early teams pre-incorporation; rolling deadlines per program.
No company needed
DigitalOcean Hatch
up to $100,000 credits over 12 months
Raised $10M or less; needs a company website with a matching corporate email. Credits issued monthly, no rollover.
Needs companyNeeds website
Datadog for Startups
up to $100,000 credits (1 year free)
Series A or earlier and must be referred through an official VC/accelerator/hyperscaler partner; activate within 30 days.
Needs companyNeeds website
Deepgram Startup Program
Up to $100,000 voice-AI credits (12 months)
Voice/speech-to-text credits (transcription, summarization, sentiment) for NEW Deepgram customers only: company-domain email + live website, under $10M raised (pre-Series A), actively building or launching within 6 months. Credits valid 12 months; review ~1 week, deposited 24-48h after acceptance. $100K is the ceiling tier, actual award is set on acceptance.
No company neededNeeds website
O'Shaughnessy Fellowship
up to $100,000
Equity-free, open worldwide to individuals 13+ with no entity required; annual cycle (2026 round closed Apr 30) so apply when the next opens, expect ~40+ hrs/week.
No company needed
Echoing Green Fellowship
up to $100,000
Seed funding for social entrepreneurs; requires an independent startup-stage venture (2 years or less), full-time commitment, 18+, English proficiency; annual cycle.
Needs company
Antler Residency
~$100K initial + up to $30M follow-on
Backs individual founders from day zero (pre-team / pre-idea OK) on founder potential, not stage; requires full-time focus (no full-time job alongside). Under 0.2% of applicants accepted; equity terms set at the residency.
No company needed
AI Genesis 2026 (lablab.ai)
$60,000+ prize pool
Online build Oct 26 to Nov 2 then optional invite-only onsite in Dubai; solo or team, free to enter.
No company needed
Retool for Startups
100% off Team/Business for 1 year (~$60K) + partner deals
New customers under $10M raised, founded under 10 years ago; upgrade to a paid plan before applying (discount back-applied).
No company needed
Emergent Ventures
$1,000 - $50,000
Mercatus/Tyler Cowen grants + fellowships for ambitious "zero to one" ideas, ages 13+. For-profit OK, a quick path to revenue is a plus. Short written rolling app; dedicated tracks for India, Africa, the Caribbean, and Ukraine.
No company needed
Together AI Startup Accelerator
$15,000 to $50,000 platform credits
Tiered by funding: up to $15K (under $5M raised), $30K, $50K (over $10M); for AI-native app startups.
Needs companyNeeds website
Mixpanel Startup Program
First year free Startup plan (~$50K)
Incorporated under 5 years ago, under $8M funding, never on a paid plan; start sending data within 90 days.
Needs company
Slack Agent Builder Challenge
$42,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by Salesforce — Beginner Friendly, Enterprise, Low/No Code. 4,243 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
Reddit’s Games with a Hook Hackathon
$40,000 in prizes
Online hackathon by reddit — Beginner Friendly, Gaming, Web. 2,764 registered. Verify eligibility (some are region-locked).
No company needed
Baseten AI Startup Program
Up to $27,500 inference + API credits
AI-native startups founded under 5 years ago; must be a brand-new Baseten customer.
No company needed
OpenAI Codex Open-Source Fund
up to $25,000
No entity. You need an active public open-source repo to qualify.
No company neededNeeds repo
Modal Startup Program
up to $25,000 GPU credits
Pre-seed to Series A; use a company-domain email and a real website. Personal Gmail / thin sites are common rejections.
Needs companyNeeds website
Gold House Futures (Gold Art Prize)
Up to $25,000
Applicants must identify as Asian and/or Pacific Islander; cash lives in the Gold Art Prize track, not base membership.
No company needed
ARC Prize 2026 — ARC-AGI-3 Milestone
$25K / $10K / $2.5K
Interactive reasoning benchmark, solo/remote via Kaggle; Sep 30 snapshot awards the live leaderboard top 3. No entity.
No company needed
U.S. Chamber CO-100 Small Business Award
$25,000 top prize ($2,000 to honorees)
Open now; has a $300 entry fee; for-profit, 1+ year operating, under 250 employees, under $20M revenue.
Needs company
VentureWell E-Team Program
up to $25,000
Students only: requires a team of 2+ currently enrolled at a US institution plus a faculty advisor, for science/engineering inventions with commercial intent; no fee.
No company needed
Amplitude Startup Scholarship
1 year free Growth plan (~$24K)
No entity required; under $10M funding and under 20 employees; about 96% approval in 2 business days.
No company needed
GitLab for Startups
Free Ultimate (up to 20 seats) for 1 year (~$24K)
Externally-funded only (self-funded excluded); seed under $5M or Series A/B under $20M, must show funding proof.
No company needed
Startup World Cup — Philadelphia
$20,000 equity-free
Equity-free pitch cash. Deck + onsite pitch Sep 18 in Philly.
No company needed
Warrior Rising Business Shower
up to $20,000
Veterans only: must be a US military veteran or immediate family and complete the free Warrior University program to pitch for the non-dilutive grant; rolling.
No company needed
Verizon Small Business Digital Ready
$10,000
No revenue gate. Finish 2 free courses to unlock the application.
No company needed
Cloudflare for Startups
$10,000 credits (up to $250K partner-gated)
Self-serve $10K tier for bootstrapped/under-$1M startups under 10 years old; needs a public website + active social/GitHub. Approval ~48h.
Needs companyNeeds website
Find the ones you qualify for
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Find my money →Frequently asked questions
Who qualifies for ai startup funding?
AI founders can stack free model and cloud credits, non-dilutive grants, cash prizes and top accelerators — most open to pre-funding, solo builders. Bursary reads what you are building and ranks the funding you actually qualify for.
How do AI startups get free compute and model credits?
Cloud and model providers hand early AI builders credits, usually for a working product or a domain email, and they stack with grants and prizes. Bursary matches the credits your AI project qualifies for.
How much funding is available?
Programs on this list go up to $1,000,000. Bursary ranks them by what you actually qualify for.
How many programs are on this list?
95 verified programs, re-checked continuously.
Is it free to apply?
Most are free to apply. Bursary reads the fine print and flags any program that charges a fee before you start.
Do I need a registered company?
Not for all of them. Bursary matches programs to your situation and tells you which require a registered entity and which accept individuals.