Startups and credits. The Founders tier is self-serve.
Cloud credits that go further.
Credits go further at Nirvana Labs because the cloud underneath them is purpose-built for high performance: 20,000 sustained IOPS included in the price of the storage rather than billed per provisioned IOPS, so a dollar of credit buys the performance instead of paying it off.
- Founders tier, no investor required
- $1,000
- Agents tier, top of the range
- $50,000
- Most decisions
- 48 hours
Founders tier, no investor required
Agents tier, top of the range
Most decisions
Three tiers
Find your tier
Where you land depends on what you are running and who is backing you. No equity, ever.
Founders tier
Self-serve$1,000
- No investor or accelerator needed
- Pre-Series B, under 10 years old, privately held
- Business email, card on file
- Covers invoices in full until spent
- 12 months to spend it
Portfolio tier
Up to$25,000
- Backed by any credible fund, accelerator, or incubator
- Proof of backing: your investor named, or a current accelerator batch
- No prior Nirvana credits of equal value
- Architecture support from a solutions engineer
- Released monthly: 40% of each invoice, max $2,083/mo
- 24 months to spend it
Agents tier
Up to$50,000
- Agents or retrieval as the core product, not a feature
- Sandbox hours and ABS capacity, not just compute
- Pre-Series B, with proof of backing
- Released monthly: 40% of each invoice, max $4,167/mo
- 24 months to spend it
- Persistent Sandboxes: pause in 1.46 s at p50 against GKE's 9.57 s, and every one of 5,501 checkpoints recovered on a new machine after an ungraceful kill.
- LangChain agent benchmark: 24 to 28% faster end-to-end completion at 100,000 checkpoints against AWS.
Sizing
What decides the amount
Four things set the number, and none of them is how big the round was.
- What you are running. High-IOPS databases, vector search, retrieval, or persistent agent workloads. This is a migration programme, not general cloud credit.
- What you spend today. Credit is sized against your current infrastructure bill, not your ambition.
- How much you are moving. A single workload sits at the bottom of the range. A full migration sits at the top.
- Architecture review. Required above $10,000. A solutions engineer walks the workload with you before the number is set.
What it is worth
More storage performance from every credit dollar
Credits are only as good as what they buy. Ours are spent on storage priced at $94.90 per TB a month with 20,000 sustained IOPS included, not billed per provisioned IOPS.
| 1 TB at 20,000 sustained IOPS | Nirvana | AWS gp3 | AWS io2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capacity | Nirvana · $94.90 | AWS gp3 · $80.00 | AWS io2 · $125.00 |
| IOPS above baseline | Nirvana · Included | AWS gp3 · 17,000 x $0.005 = $85.00 | AWS io2 · 20,000 x $0.065 = $1,300.00 |
| Total per TB-month | Nirvana · $94.90 | AWS gp3 · $165.00 | AWS io2 · $1,425.00 |
| What $1,000 of credit buys | Nirvana · 10.5 TB-months | AWS gp3 · 6.1 TB-months | AWS io2 · 0.7 TB-months |
Nirvana us-sva-2 and AWS us-east-1, September 2026. See the pricing page for full details.
Applying
Four steps, one form
Founders tier needs no investor and no call. Portfolio and Agents are read in more detail, usually within 48 hours.
Step 1
Create an account
Business email and a card on file. Two minutes, no call.
Step 2
Pick your tier
Founders needs nothing. Portfolio and Agents need proof that you are backed.
Step 3
Tell us the workload
What you are running, what you spend today, and how much you are moving. It decides the number.
Step 4
Credits applied
Most decisions within 48 hours. Credits land on the account, not a coupon code.
Eligibility
Who qualifies
The same bar the big programmes use, minus the waiting.
- Pre-Series B. If you have raised, the most recent round should be within the last 12 months.
- Under 10 years old, privately held. Same cutoff as AWS Activate.
- Business email. Not a personal Gmail address. It is how we match your company.
- Card on file. Required before any credit activates, and it has to stay on file while credit remains. On Founders nothing is charged until your $1,000 is spent. On Portfolio and Agents, credit covers up to 40% of each invoice and the rest goes on the card.
- No prior credits of equal value. You can move up a tier, not claim the same one twice.
- Proof of backing. For Portfolio and Agents: name your investor or accelerator batch. A link to the announcement or a note from your partner is enough.
Stacking
More credit for you
Your tier credit and any referral credit sit on the same balance and burn down together.
- 01
$1,000+
Your tier
Founders, or one of the backed tiers. Released against usage once approved, up to 40% of each invoice on the tiers that are capped, rather than handed over as a coupon code.
- 02
$250
Referral credit
Sign up through a referral link and you get $250 on top as soon as your account is running. Whoever referred you gets $250 after three months. How referrals work
A referred founder on the Founders tier starts with $1,500 of credit while the welcome campaign is open — $1,000 of tier credit, $250 on signup and $250 for being referred — and a card that has not been charged.
FAQ
Common questions
We are in a YC or Techstars batch. What do we get?
A batch is not a separate tier, it is a route into Portfolio. Name the accelerator and cohort on your application and we verify it. No partner code, no deals page, no waiting on your accelerator.
What counts as proof of backing?
Whatever is easiest: your investor or accelerator named on the form, a link to the announcement, your Crunchbase entry, or a note from your partner. We verify it on our side rather than asking you to chase a code.
Do we need to be backed by one of your partners?
No. We only run formal partnerships with Crucible and a handful of our own backers, so requiring one would rule out almost everybody. Any credible investor or accelerator counts, and the amounts are the same either way. If your fund wants a standing deal for its portfolio, introduce us.
How is the credit released?
Monthly, against what you actually run. Each month we release the lesser of 40% of that month's invoice and one twelfth of your award, so the credit paces with your migration rather than landing as a lump sum. Unreleased credit stays in your award and is there in later months. To use a $25,000 award in full inside 24 months you would be spending around $2,600 a month; below that, some of it expires.
What counts as an agents team?
Agents or retrieval is the product, not a feature bolted onto something else: sandbox execution, long-running agent state, or a vector and retrieval layer doing real IOPS. The Agents package is weighted to sandbox hours and ABS capacity rather than raw compute, and we do not sell GPU training.
Do you take equity?
No. No equity, no warrant, no exclusivity, and no requirement to stay after the credits run out.
Do I need a credit card?
Yes, on file before any credit activates, and it needs to stay there while you still have credit. It is how we keep one company from opening ten accounts. On Founders nothing is charged until your $1,000 is spent. On Portfolio and Agents the credit covers up to 40% of each invoice and the remaining 60% is charged to your card, so you are a paying customer from the first bill.
How long do the credits last?
Twelve months on Founders, twenty-four months on Portfolio and Agents. Referral credits expire 90 days after they land.
Can I move up a tier later?
Yes. If you raise after taking the Founders tier, apply again with your investor named and we top you up to the Portfolio amount rather than starting over.
How long does a decision take?
Founders applications are reviewed once the account and payment method are verified, with no call. Portfolio and Agents are read by a person, and we aim to decide within 48 hours of a complete application. That is a target rather than a guarantee, and time spent waiting on your reply does not count toward it.
Application
Apply for credits
Founders tier needs no investor and no call. Portfolio and Agents are read in more detail, usually within 48 hours.
$1,000 to start. Up to $50,000 if you are building agents.
Apply in the time it takes to describe your workload. Most answers land within 48 hours.
Credits apply to invoices only, require a valid payment method on file, are limited to one tier per company, and expire 12 months (Founders) or 24 months (Portfolio and Agents) after being applied. Referral credits expire 90 days after being applied. Full terms
Startup Credits, terms and conditions
Last updated 16 September 2026. Applies to credit awarded on or after that date.
1. The programme
1.1Nirvana Labs Startup Credits provides promotional service credit toward Nirvana Labs cloud services to eligible early-stage companies.
1.2The programme is operated by Nirvana Labs ("we", "us").
1.3Credit is promotional. It has no cash value, is not transferable, assignable or refundable, and cannot be exchanged for cash.
1.4We take no equity, warrant, option, board seat or exclusivity in exchange for credit, and you are under no obligation to remain a customer once credit is exhausted.
2. Eligibility
2.1Your company must be privately held and under 10 years old at the date of application.
2.2Your company must be pre-Series B. If you have raised, your most recent round must have closed within 12 months of your application.
2.3You must apply from a business email address on your company's own domain. Personal addresses are not accepted; the domain is how an application is matched to a company.
2.4A valid payment method must be on file before any credit activates, and must remain on file while credit remains. Removing it is grounds for withdrawing unused credit under clause 10.1.
2.5Your company must not have previously received Nirvana Labs credit of equal or greater value. You may move up a tier under clause 6.4; you cannot claim the same tier twice.
2.6One award per company. Companies sharing a payment method, billing entity, parent company or domain are treated as one company.
2.7The Portfolio and Agents tiers additionally require proof of backing under clause 4.
3. Tiers and amounts
3.1Founders: $1,000, valid for 12 months. No investor or accelerator required.
3.2Portfolio: up to $25,000, valid for 24 months. Requires proof of backing.
3.3Agents: up to $50,000, valid for 24 months. Requires proof of backing, and agents or retrieval must be your core product rather than a feature of something else.
3.4The figures above are maximums, not entitlements. The amount awarded is set at our discretion, based on the workload you are moving, your current infrastructure spend, and how much of your estate is moving.
3.5Awards above $10,000 require an architecture review with a Nirvana Labs solutions engineer before the amount is set.
4. Proof of backing
4.1For Portfolio and Agents, name the investor, accelerator or incubator backing your company and provide one of: a link to a funding announcement, a current accelerator batch listing, a Crunchbase entry, or written confirmation from your investor.
4.2We verify backing ourselves. No partner code is required and you do not need to be backed by a Nirvana Labs partner.
4.3We may decline an application where backing cannot be verified.
5. Applications and decisions
5.1Founders applications are reviewed once the account and payment method are verified. There is no call and no investor requirement.
5.2Portfolio and Agents applications are reviewed by a person. We aim to decide within 48 hours of receiving a complete application. This is a target, not a guarantee.
5.3We may ask for further information. Time spent waiting on your reply does not count toward the 48 hours.
5.4We may decline any application at our discretion.
6. How credit is applied
6.1Credit is applied to your Nirvana Labs account balance. There is no coupon code to redeem.
6.2Founders credit is applied in full on approval. Portfolio and Agents credit is released monthly against actual usage rather than deposited up front, so that credit paces with your migration. Each month we release the lesser of 40% of that month's invoice and one twelfth of the award.
6.3Founders credit covers your invoices in full until it is used up. Portfolio and Agents credit covers up to 40% of any single invoice, and the remaining 60% is charged to your payment method.
6.4If you raise after taking the Founders tier, you may apply again with your investor named and be topped up to the Portfolio amount rather than starting over.
6.5Credit applies to Nirvana Labs service charges only: compute, storage, managed Kubernetes and agent sandboxes. It does not apply to taxes, third-party or marketplace charges, professional services, or separately purchased support.
6.6Credit is drawn down before your payment method is charged.
7. Expiry
7.1Founders credit expires 12 months after it is first applied.
7.2Portfolio and Agents credit expires 24 months after it is first applied. Monthly releases not yet made at expiry are forfeited.
7.3Unused credit is not refunded, extended or carried over.
7.4Referral credit expires 90 days after it is applied and is governed by the referral programme terms.
8. Stacking
8.1Tier credit and referral credit sit on the same account balance and draw down together, earliest expiry first.
8.2Credit may be combined with an annual prepayment discount. Where a promotional rate replaces the standing annual discount, the better of the two applies, not both.
9. Your obligations
9.1You must not open multiple accounts to obtain credit more than once.
9.2You must not use credit for cryptocurrency mining, for resale of Nirvana Labs capacity, or for anything prohibited by the Nirvana Labs Acceptable Use Policy.
9.3Information on your application must be accurate, and you must tell us if it changes materially before credit is applied.
10. Withdrawal and reversal
10.1We may withdraw unused credit, and reverse credit already applied, where an application contained inaccurate or misleading information, eligibility was not met, multiple accounts were used to claim credit more than once, or these terms or the Acceptable Use Policy were breached.
10.2Where credit is reversed, the charges it had offset become payable on your next invoice.
10.3We may suspend the programme, change the tiers or amounts, or change these terms at any time. Credit already applied to your account is not affected by a later change, except under clause 10.1.
11. Tax
11.1Credit is applied before tax. You remain responsible for tax on the discounted amount.
11.2You are responsible for determining whether credit must be reported in your jurisdiction.
12. General
12.1The programme is void where prohibited and is not available to companies or individuals subject to applicable sanctions or export controls.
12.2Nothing here creates a partnership, agency or joint venture between us.
12.3These terms sit alongside the Nirvana Labs Terms of Service. Where the two conflict on the subject of credit, these terms apply.
Questions about the programme or a decision: email April at april@nirvanalabs.io or Jeff at jw@nirvanalabs.io.
Nirvana Labs may update these terms. Credit already on your account is not affected by a later change.