Grafana Labs Startup Program
Up to $100,000 in Grafana Cloud credits for 12 months, then a guaranteed 20% discount off list.
Grafana Labs Startup Program offers Up to $100,000 in Grafana Cloud credits to bootstrapped, pre-seed, seed startups, no VC referral required. Review takes 5–15 business days.
About
Grafana Labs gives early-stage startups up to $100,000 in Grafana Cloud credits, running for 12 months or until your next funding round, whichever comes first. After the credits run out you keep a guaranteed 20% discount off list pricing.
Grafana Cloud covers metrics, logs, traces, and dashboards in one hosted stack, which is the whole observability layer for most early teams. The stated targets are under $10M raised and under 25 employees, but the program page explicitly invites you to apply even if you miss those, so treat them as guidance rather than hard gates.
One condition worth knowing up front: you agree to act as a reference customer. There is no dedicated /startups landing page, the program lives on a blog post, so bookmark the application form itself rather than the post.
Tiers
- Ideally under $10M raised and under 25 employees
Eligibility
- Ideally under $10M raised
- Ideally fewer than 25 employees
- Willing to act as a reference customer
How to apply
- 1Read the program termsThe announcement post is the canonical program page.grafana.com/blog/grafana-labs-startup-program ↗
- 2Submit the application formInclude company stage, headcount, and expected telemetry volume.grafana-labs.typeform.com/to/cSI7ohks ↗
What else you get
- 20% off list pricing after the credit period
- Metrics, logs, traces, and dashboards in one hosted stack
What credits cover (and don't)
- Grafana Cloud
Tactical tips
- Tip 1.Credits end at your next funding round, not just at 12 months, so apply right after a raise rather than right before one.
Frequently asked about Grafana Labs Startup Program
Is Grafana Labs Startup Program free to apply?
Yes. Applying to Grafana Labs Startup Program does not cost anything and does not require giving up equity. Some programs require a payment method on file that activates only after credits are consumed or expire, check the program detail page for specifics.
How long does Grafana Labs Startup Program take to review applications?
Processing times are shown on the program detail page. Most programs reply within 1–3 weeks. Self-serve tiers (like AWS Activate Founders) can approve in 2–7 days; partner-referred tiers (like AWS Activate Portfolio) usually take 5–10 days.
Can I combine Grafana Labs Startup Program with other startup programs?
Most programs stack. The "Stacks well with" section on each detail page lists commonly combined programs. A few important exceptions: if you already claimed AWS credits via Brex or Mercury, your direct AWS Activate amount may be reduced.
What is the most common reason applications to Grafana Labs get rejected?
The top rejection reasons are (1) using a personal Gmail/Outlook address instead of a company domain, (2) having a thin or placeholder website, and (3) mismatched information between the application and Crunchbase/Pitchbook. The tips section on the program page details program-specific factors.
Related programs
GitHub for Startups
$10,000 in flexible GitHub platform credits for 12 months, usable across Enterprise, Copilot, Advanced Security, and Actions.
Datadog for Startups
Up to $100K in Datadog credits over 1 year for funded startups, APM, logs, metrics, RUM, and synthetics on the platform that defines enterprise observability.
Sentry for Startups
Discounted or credited Sentry Team/Business plans, error tracking, performance, and session replay.