Modal for Startups — free GPU credit grant
Seed-to-Series A startups new to Modal can apply for a one-time grant of free GPU credits plus engineering support.
- Deadline
- Rolling
- Access
- Application
Opens modal.com in a new tab. May be a referral link — we may earn a bonus, at no cost to you. How this works
Checked on the provider’s page
Who qualifies
Seed to Series A startups new to Modal that raised VC from a Modal partner fund or over $1M from any fund
The catch
One-time grant per tier; you can't reapply once you receive credits. Exact dollar amounts are not published. Larger custom credits only for Series B+ or partner-VC companies.
What you get
- Credits described as 'thousands of free GPU credits'
- Direct access to Modal engineers
- Community of founders
At a glance
- Offer
- Thousands in GPU credits
- Type
- Startup program
- Provider
- Modal
- Access
- Application
- Eligibility
- Seed to Series A startups new to Modal that raised VC from a Modal partner fund or over $1M from any fund
- Deadline
- Rolling / no deadline given
- Last checked
- Sun, 25 Oct 2026
More like this
All startup programs →Google for Startups Cloud Program — AI tier
VC-backed startups building on Gemini can get up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits over two years.
- Startups that raised Pre-Seed/Seed within 5 years (or Series A within 12 months), founded within 5 years, built on Gemini, with under $5,000 in prior Google Cloud credits
- Credits over 2 years
- Catch: Eligibility is at Google's discretion. Third-party models (e.g. Claude on Vertex) are billed directly and not covered by credits. Credits are tied to actual spend, not paid upfront.
Modal Starter — $30/month free compute
Modal's Starter plan includes $30 of free compute credit every month for serverless GPUs, CPUs and sandboxes.
- Anyone with a Modal account
- Resets monthly
- Catch: Usage beyond the $30 is pay-as-you-go. As of Sept 1, 2026 Shared Endpoint tokens are billed from the first request and are not covered by the included credit. Cloud credits from AWS/GCP/Azure cannot be applied to Modal.
Microsoft for Startups — up to $150K in credits
Microsoft for Startups offers Azure credits of up to $150,000, AI tools and technical support to eligible startups.
- Startups; exact criteria are set in the application
- Catch: 'Up to' $150,000: most startups start with a much smaller grant that scales through milestones. The landing page does not list the full eligibility rules or credit expiry; read them in the sign-up flow.
AWS Activate — up to $200K in credits
AWS Activate gives startups $1,000-$5,000 (self-funded) or up to $200,000 (via an Activate Provider) in AWS credits, usable on Bedrock.
- Pre-Series B startups founded in the last 10 years, on a paid-tier AWS account, new to Activate credits
- Catch: The Portfolio tier needs an Org ID from an Activate Provider (accelerator, angel or VC). AWS accounts on the Free plan are not eligible for promotional credits. Credits are subject to AWS promotional credit terms.