Startup grants and free credits for student founders in 2026
Short answer: students can get startup money without giving up equity, often before they have a company. The largest is the Thiel Fellowship: $250,000 over two years for people aged 22 or under without a degree (you must leave school to accept). 1517 Medici Project Grants give North American high-school and college students from $1,000, and Emergent Ventures funds people worldwide from age 13. University teams can get stipends from EXIST in Germany or up to $50,000 from NSF I-Corps in the US. For building, the GitHub Student Developer Pack and Azure for Students ($100 a year, no credit card) are free with a school email.
The Grant Index lists 42 open programs that accept students or researchers, each checked against its official page (the date is in the "Verified" column). This guide picks the ones that matter most for student founders, from free tools to university programs. It covers grants, stipends and free credits only: nothing here is a loan or takes equity.
1. Free tools and credits with a student email
These need no company, no pitch and no deadline. Claim them first; they cover most of what you need to build a prototype.
| Program | What you get | Who qualifies | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Student Developer PackGitHub | Bundle of free tools and credits: GitHub Pro, Copilot Student, Codespaces, $100 Azure credit, JetBrains, Heroku $13/mo for 24 months, and more | Verified students. GitHub Pro, Copilot Student, Codespaces, a $100 Azure credit, JetBrains tools, Heroku credit ($13 a month for 24 months) and dozens of partner offers. Some offers have their own age or time limits. | 2026-10-22 |
| Azure for StudentsMicrosoft | $100 Azure credit for 12 months + free services; renewable yearly while a student | Full-time university students; one account per person, no credit card. $100 of credit for 12 months plus free tiers of 20+ services, renewable each year while you study. | 2026-10-22 |
| AMD AI Developer ProgramAMD | $100 in AMD Developer Cloud credits (AMD Instinct GPUs) on joining, plus training and perks | Free membership with $100 in AMD Developer Cloud GPU credits on joining (at AMD's discretion); you do not need AMD hardware. | 2026-10-22 |
| Weights & Biases Academic (free for research)Weights & Biases (CoreWeave) | W&B is free for students, educators and academic researchers. | Weights & Biases is free for students, educators and academic researchers, for non-commercial research and teaching only. | 2026-10-23 |
Once you register a company, startup programs give far more: see our guides to cloud credits, AI credits and GPU credits. Many of those want a company website or email, so student-only offers are the place to start.
2. Grants for young founders (no company needed)
These back people rather than companies. None takes equity, and none needs you to have incorporated.
| Program | What you get | Who qualifies | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thiel FellowshipThiel Foundation | $250,000 grant paid over two years | Anyone aged 22 or under without a university degree. You must leave school if selected; no company or team needed, but show real progress. Rolling applications. | 2026-10-22 |
| 1517 Medici Project grants1517 Fund | Stipend grants starting at $1,000 (no equity, no IP claim) | High-school and college students and dropouts, mainly in North America. From $1,000 paid as a stipend toward a passion project (not schoolwork). Apply by emailing a five-minute video; no ownership of you, your project or your IP. | 2026-10-22 |
| Emergent VenturesMercatus Center (George Mason University) | Grants and fellowships; amounts are not published | Individuals and projects anywhere, aged 13 or over, with scalable "zero to one" ideas. One short form; amounts are not published; AI-written applications are rejected. | 2026-10-22 |
Writing code for open-source projects? Google Summer of Code pays a stipend to students and open-source beginners aged 18+ who complete a 12-week-plus project with a mentoring organisation (online, no travel). In Germany, the Prototype Fund has a 2026 funding line for people under 26, students and IT trainees building open-source software; applications for the current round close on 30 November 2026 at 15:00 CET. See our open-source funding guide.
3. University programs
If your idea comes out of your studies or a research lab, these programs use your university as the route in. Most require the university to apply with you or for you.
| Program | What you get | Who qualifies | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| EXIST Business Start-up Grant (Gründungsstipendium)German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs (BMWE) | 12-month stipends of €3,000/mo (PhD), €2,500 (graduates), €2,000 (vocational), €1,000 (students) + €150/child; team material budget €30,000 (solo up to €10,000) + €5,000 coaching — up to ~€143k for a 3-person PhD team | Teams of up to three from a German university or research institution, which applies on your behalf. Students must be at least halfway through their degree (€1,000 a month); graduates get more. The company must not be founded before funding starts. | 2026-10-22 |
| EXIST WomenGerman Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs (BMWE) | €2,000 material budget per founder + up to 3 months stipend at €1,000–€3,000/month (by qualification) + €150/child, within a 10-month programme | Women students, graduates and researchers in Germany with an early founding idea; apply via a participating university. Material budget of €2,000 per founder, plus a stipend of up to three months for some participants. | 2026-10-22 |
| NSF I-Corps National TeamsU.S. National Science Foundation | Up to $50,000 award for the 7-week program (includes a $10,000 participation fee paid from the award) | US university research teams of 3 to 5, including a technical lead, an entrepreneurial lead and an industry mentor. Up to $50,000, of which $10,000 is a participation fee; at least 100 customer interviews. | 2026-10-30 |
| Cyberport Creative Micro Fund (CCMF)Cyberport | Up to HK$100,000 (~$12.8k) seed grant over a six-month programme | Hong Kong digital-tech projects at idea or prototype stage; up to HK$100,000 over six months. Has a University Partnership sub-programme; the next intake closes 1 Dec 2026. | 2026-10-30 |
In Canada, Mitacs Accelerate works the other way round: a company contributes C$7,500 and Mitacs matches it for a C$15,000 research internship with a registered graduate student or postdoc at a Canadian institution. In Denmark, Innofounder supports founders with at least 120 ECTS of higher education, but no call is open as of October 2026. For the wider German picture, see our Germany startup grants guide.
4. Free compute for student researchers
Graduate students doing research, including research that may become a startup, can get serious compute through research programs. Most need a faculty advisor's support.
| Program | What you get | Who qualifies | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Cloud Credit for ResearchAmazon Web Services | Students up to $5,000; faculty/staff awards uncapped and sized to the proposal | Graduate and PhD students at accredited research institutions, up to $5,000 in credits. Not for startups; review takes 90 to 120 days. | 2026-10-22 |
| NAIRR Pilot — Start-Up ProjectsU.S. National Science Foundation (NAIRR Pilot) | Up to 2,000 GPU-hours (or equivalent) on one national AI resource for 3 months | US researchers at US institutions; graduate students need a faculty advisor's support letter. Up to 2,000 GPU-hours for three months; results must be open. | 2026-10-22 |
| NSF ACCESS AllocationsU.S. National Science Foundation (ACCESS) | Free HPC/GPU allocations: Explore up to 400K, Discover 1.5M, Accelerate 3M ACCESS credits; Maximize larger | Researchers and educators at US institutions (institutional email required). Free allocations on NSF-funded supercomputers and GPU systems for open science and classroom use; graduate students can lead projects with an advisor's letter. Explore requests are decided in about a business day. | 2026-10-22 |
5. Which program fits you
- Any student building anything: claim the GitHub Student Developer Pack and Azure for Students today.
- Under 23, ready to leave school for a big idea: the Thiel Fellowship.
- High-school or college student in North America with a side project: a 1517 Medici Project Grant.
- Anywhere in the world, any age from 13: Emergent Ventures.
- Research idea at a university: EXIST in Germany, NSF I-Corps in the US, plus research compute through AWS, NAIRR or ACCESS.
- Open-source developer: Google Summer of Code, or the Prototype Fund if you live in Germany.
6. Rules students often miss
- Proof of student status. The GitHub pack needs a verified school email or proof of enrolment, Azure for Students needs full-time university status, and benefits generally end when you stop being a student.
- Leaving school. The Thiel Fellowship requires you to leave school if selected, and is only for people without a degree.
- Do not found too early. EXIST requires that the company is not founded before funding starts. Check this before you register anything.
- Advisor letters. NAIRR and ACCESS need a faculty advisor's support letter for graduate students; NSF I-Corps needs an NSF award or a regional I-Corps program first.
- Research credits are not startup credits. AWS Cloud Credit for Research and Weights & Biases Academic are for research and teaching, not for running a commercial product.
Want the full list for your situation? The eligibility checker asks for your country, stage and setup once and gives every program a verdict.
FAQ
Can students get startup grants without a company?
Yes. The Thiel Fellowship, 1517 Medici Project Grants and Emergent Ventures fund individuals with no company needed, and Germany's EXIST Business Start-up Grant actually requires that the company is not founded before funding starts.
What is the biggest grant for student founders?
The Thiel Fellowship: $250,000 paid over two years, with no equity taken, for people aged 22 or under without a degree. You must leave school if selected.
What free credits can students get?
The GitHub Student Developer Pack (GitHub Pro, Copilot Student, Codespaces, a $100 Azure credit, JetBrains tools and more), Azure for Students ($100 a year, renewable while you study, no credit card) and $100 in AMD Developer Cloud GPU credits. Graduate students can also apply for up to $5,000 in AWS research credits.
Are there startup grants for high-school students?
Yes. 1517 Medici Project Grants are open to high-school and college students in North America (from $1,000), and Emergent Ventures accepts applicants from age 13 anywhere in the world.
Can international students apply?
For many programs, yes: Emergent Ventures and the Thiel Fellowship are open worldwide, and the GitHub pack and Google Summer of Code are global (GSoC excludes US-embargoed countries). University programs such as EXIST and NSF I-Corps depend on your institution being in Germany or the US.
Do student startup grants take equity?
None of the programs in this guide takes equity. 1517 states it takes no ownership of you, your project, IP or future equity, and the Thiel Fellowship takes no equity in your company.
Program terms change often. Every program page linked above shows its official source and the date we last verified it; confirm on the provider's page before you apply. Spotted something out of date? Report a correction.
Related guides
Browse the full lists: Research & student founder programs · Equity-free accelerators & incubators