Anthropic is offering startups a free year of Claude Team and $1,000 in credits to kickstart their AI journey

• Claude Startup is open to startups up to five years old
• Successful applicants get $1k API credits and free Claude Teams
• Office hours, marketplace access and more networking are also benefits

Anthropic has confirmed plans to expand its Claude Startups program, which will now cover more startup types than before.

Companies can be considered if they were founded within the past five years, or if they received funding within the past two years, because Anthropic says AI will ultimately help more startups to “bring society faster scientific discoveries, entirely new categories of products and more capable businesses.”

Under the scheme, successful applicants get up to $7,000 worth of Claude products and credits, split across a one-time API credit of $1,000 and a free year of Claude Team comprising up to five Premium seats.

Claude Startups becomes even more attractive for applicants

The Claude-maker said every approved startup gets $1,000 in API credits which are available as soon as the company is approved and expire six months later. Five Premium seats are also up for grabs only if the company is new to Claude Teams.

More broadly, the entire Claude Startups program carries a lot more weight, because applicants can also get up to $45,000 worth of partner offers plus up to $100,000 in additional API credits through their VC where applicable.

But beyond benefits of monetary value, Anthropic will also give members office hours with its Applied AI team to discuss the practical use cases and technical limitations of AI for their exact business needs.

Anthropic also says that startups can tap into the reach of its marketplace to reach bigger audiences with connectors and plugins, effectively acting as a jumpstart for any relevant products. Other in-person events, like hackathons and meet-ups, put founders in contact with peers, too.

“Many fast-growing AI-native companies have joined the program, and in this next phase we’re opening it up to more,” the company concluded.