- Best for
- Early-stage, self-funded startups not yet affiliated with an Activate provider.
- What AWS gives you
- AWS promotional credits, technical resources and training to build your first production workloads.
- How Celestibia helps
- We check your eligibility, help you apply, and design an architecture that makes the credits last.
AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner
AWS Activate credits and MAP funding, applied for and put to work.
Celestibia checks which AWS startup and migration programs you qualify for, prepares the application with you, then builds and runs the AWS platform the funding pays for.
- Startups
- Activate Founders · Activate Portfolio · Generative AI Accelerator · Global Startup Program
- Migrations
- MAP · Migration Evaluator · OLA · POC funding · Well-Architected Review
An AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner, Google Cloud Partner and OpenAI Select Partner.
The short answer
What are AWS funding programs?
AWS funding programs are offers from Amazon Web Services that lower the cost or risk of building on AWS. Startups get promotional credits, mentorship and go-to-market help through AWS Activate and the AWS accelerators. Companies moving to AWS get free assessments and funding that offsets part of a migration through the Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) and partner-led proof-of-concept funding.
- Who they are for
- Startups building their first production workloads, and companies migrating or modernizing workloads on AWS.
- What they cost you
- Applying is free. Credits pay for eligible AWS usage; migration funding can offset part of the project cost.
- Who decides
- AWS sets eligibility, amounts and terms. No partner can award or guarantee credits or funding.
- Where Celestibia fits
- As an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner we check eligibility, apply for partner-led funding with you and build the platform.
Find the AWS program that fits your stage
10 AWS programs in two tracks. Pick a track, then a program, to see who it is for, what AWS provides and what Celestibia does.
Credits, mentorship and go-to-market help for startups building their first production workloads on AWS.
- Best for
- Startups backed by an Activate provider: accelerators, incubators, VCs and other startup organizations.
- What AWS gives you
- Larger AWS credit packages than Founders, plus access to AWS technical support and resources.
- How Celestibia helps
- We prepare your environment so credits fund production-grade infrastructure, not experiments left running.
- Best for
- Startups building generative AI products and foundation-model applications.
- What AWS gives you
- A cohort program with AWS credits, mentorship and specialist technical guidance.
- How Celestibia helps
- We build the secure AI platform behind your application: Amazon Bedrock or SageMaker, GPUs, RAG and guardrails.
- Best for
- Venture-backed startups selling to enterprises, by invitation.
- What AWS gives you
- Go-to-market support, including co-selling with AWS, partner management and AWS Marketplace guidance.
- How Celestibia helps
- We make your platform enterprise-ready: security reviews, SOC 2-aligned controls and Well-Architected reviews.
AWS Activate Founders
- Best for
- Early-stage, self-funded startups not yet affiliated with an Activate provider.
- What AWS gives you
- AWS promotional credits, technical resources and training to build your first production workloads.
- How Celestibia helps
- We check your eligibility, help you apply, and design an architecture that makes the credits last.
Not sure which program fits?
- Free eligibility check
- Application prepared with you
- Architecture that makes credits last
AWS sets eligibility, credit amounts and program terms, and may change them at any time. Celestibia Solutions does not award or guarantee credits or funding. As an AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner we help you qualify, apply and make good use of them.
All 10 AWS programs at a glance
Some programs you apply for directly with AWS. Others, such as MAP and proof-of-concept funding, are requested through an AWS partner like Celestibia.
| Program | Track | Best for | How you apply |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Activate Founders (opens aws.amazon.com) | startup | Early-stage, self-funded startups not yet affiliated with an Activate provider. | Directly with AWS |
| AWS Activate Portfolio (opens aws.amazon.com) | startup | Startups backed by an Activate provider: accelerators, incubators, VCs and other startup organizations. | Directly with AWS |
| AWS Generative AI Accelerator (opens aws.amazon.com) | startup | Startups building generative AI products and foundation-model applications. | Directly with AWS |
| AWS Global Startup Program (opens aws.amazon.com) | startup | Venture-backed startups selling to enterprises, by invitation. | Directly with AWS |
| AWS Migration Evaluator (opens aws.amazon.com) | migration | Companies with on-premises or co-located servers considering a move to AWS. | Directly with AWS |
| AWS Optimization and Licensing Assessment (OLA) (opens aws.amazon.com) | migration | Organizations running Microsoft Windows Server, SQL Server or other commercial licenses. | Directly with AWS |
| AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP) (opens aws.amazon.com) | migration | Migrations and modernizations of meaningful scale moving to AWS from on-premises or other clouds. | Through a partner |
| Partner-led Proof of Concept funding (opens aws.amazon.com) | migration | Teams that want to validate a new AWS workload, such as AI, data or containers, before committing. | Through a partner |
| AWS Well-Architected Framework Review (opens aws.amazon.com) | migration | Existing AWS workloads that need a security, reliability or cost health check. | Through a partner |
| Modernization funding (via MAP) (opens aws.amazon.com) | migration | Workloads already on AWS moving to containers, serverless or managed databases. | Through a partner |
Migration Acceleration Program
How MAP funding works
MAP runs in three phases. AWS funding can apply at each phase for eligible migrations, and we deliver the work in all three.
Assess
- What happens
- Measure migration readiness and build the business case, often with AWS Migration Evaluator and a Migration Readiness Assessment.
- What Celestibia does
- We run discovery on your servers, databases and licences, then turn the data into a costed migration plan.
Mobilize
- What happens
- Close the gaps the assessment found: landing zone, security baseline, skills and operating model, plus a first pilot migration.
- What Celestibia does
- We build the AWS landing zone with Terraform, set up guardrails and migrate the pilot workloads.
Migrate and modernize
- What happens
- Move the remaining workloads in planned waves, then modernize them toward containers, serverless and managed databases.
- What Celestibia does
- We migrate wave by wave with rollback plans, then hand over to managed operations and FinOps.
From eligibility check to a running platform
One team takes you from the first eligibility check to the AWS platform the funding pays for, and runs it afterwards.
01
Check eligibility
A short survey and a call to see which AWS programs fit your stage, workloads and plans.
02
Apply
We prepare the application with you and submit partner-led requests such as MAP and POC funding.
03
Build
Landing zone, migration or new platform, designed so the credits and funding go as far as possible.
04
Run and optimize
Managed operations, security and FinOps keep the platform healthy after the credits are spent.
AWS funding questions, answered
The questions founders and CTOs ask us most before they apply.
Does Celestibia guarantee AWS credits or MAP funding?
No. AWS decides eligibility, credit amounts and funding for every program. Celestibia checks which programs you are likely to qualify for, prepares the application with you and, for partner-led programs such as MAP and POC funding, submits the request as your AWS Advanced Tier Services Partner.
What is the AWS Migration Acceleration Program (MAP)?
MAP is an AWS program for migrations and modernizations of meaningful scale. It combines a three-phase method (assess, mobilize, migrate and modernize) with AWS funding that can offset part of the migration cost. MAP funding is requested through an AWS Partner or your AWS account team.
What is the difference between AWS Activate Founders and Activate Portfolio?
Activate Founders is for self-funded, early-stage startups that are not affiliated with an Activate provider. Activate Portfolio is for startups backed by an Activate provider such as an accelerator, incubator or venture capital firm, and usually comes with a larger credit package. AWS publishes the current amounts on its Activate page.
Can AWS credits pay for Celestibia’s services?
AWS promotional credits apply to eligible AWS service usage on your AWS bill, not to partner fees. Partner-led funding such as MAP or proof-of-concept funding is different: when AWS approves it, it can offset part of the cost of the project Celestibia delivers.
Do AWS credits expire?
Yes. Every AWS credit has an expiry date and terms set by AWS. You can see the remaining balance and expiry of your credits in the AWS Billing and Cost Management console under Credits. We design the architecture so the credits fund production workloads before they expire.
Which AWS program fits a generative AI startup?
Most generative AI startups start with AWS Activate credits. Those building foundation-model products can apply to the AWS Generative AI Accelerator. If you already run on AWS and want to validate a new AI workload, for example on Amazon Bedrock, partner-led proof-of-concept funding may apply.
How much does the eligibility check cost?
The eligibility check is free. You answer a short Cloud Readiness Survey, a Celestibia engineer reviews it within one business day, and we tell you which AWS programs you are likely to qualify for. Implementation work is scoped and quoted after a discovery call.
What the funding pays for
- AWS Consulting ServicesArchitecture, landing zones, Well-Architected reviews and hands-on AWS implementation.
- AWS Cloud Migration ServicesDiscovery, wave planning and low-downtime moves to AWS from data centers or other clouds.
- AWS Cost Optimization & FinOps ServicesCost audits, rightsizing, commitment planning and a FinOps practice for AWS.
- Generative AI & Enterprise AI SolutionsSecure LLM platforms, RAG, Amazon Bedrock, AI agents and AI governance.
Cloud Readiness Survey
Help us understand your cloud setup
Answer a few quick questions so we can tailor our recommendations to your infrastructure, budget, and goals. It takes less than three minutes.