---
title: "KYE™ for Startups™ — AI governance credits for early-stage AI startups"
description: "KYE™ for Startups™ — an early-stage credit program (like AWS Activate / Stripe for Startups) granting qualifying AI startups KYE™ governance credits across three tiers: Seed, Series A, Accelerator."
url: https://kyeprotocol.com/startups/
lang: en
source: "KYE Protocol"
---

> KYE™ for Startups™ — an early-stage credit program (like AWS Activate / Stripe for Startups) granting qualifying AI startups KYE™ governance credits across three tiers: Seed, Series A, Accelerator.

KYE™ for Startups™

# Governance credits for the AI startups building the future.

KYE™ for Startups™ is an early-stage credit program — the same idea as AWS Activate or Stripe for Startups, applied to AI governance. Qualifying AI startups get KYE Protocol™ governance credits so they can prove every consequential AI action from day one: admissibility checks, signed Evidence Packs™, and Replay-Proof™ a regulator can verify from your published keys alone.

[Apply for credits →](https://kyeprotocol.com/pilot-apply/) [See all engagement paths](https://kyeprotocol.com/engage/)

## Three credit tiers

Credit list values and eligibility bands below are the launch defaults and are adjustable by KYE Protocol™. Admission is application-reviewed through the same Universal Engagement Rail every KYE™ engagement uses — meeting the ceilings qualifies you to apply; it does not auto-grant credits.

| Tier | Credit (list value) | Duration | Eligibility |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Seed / Pre-Seed** | 5,000 USD | 12 months | Under 3,000,000 USD raised · under 3 years old · 25 or fewer employees |
| **Series A** | 25,000 USD | 12 months | Under 15,000,000 USD raised · under 5 years old · 100 or fewer employees |
| **Accelerator / Partner-Referred** | 25,000 USD + cohort uplift | 12 months | Partner-gated — admitted via an accredited accelerator or KYE™ partner referral |

## What the credit covers — and what it does not

We are deliberately honest about scope so there are no surprises at renewal.

- **Covered: metered KYE™ governance usage.** Your credit offsets the metered KYE Protocol™ governance you consume — Purpose Permission™ admissibility checks, Evidence Pack™ sealing, Replay-Proof™, and audit-chain WORM appends — throughout the credit term.
- **Not covered: third-party costs.** The credit does not cover costs billed by anyone other than KYE Protocol™ — your own Cloudflare account, Stripe processing fees, or your LLM provider bills. Those stay on your own accounts.
- **Non-transferable.** Credits are bound to the qualifying company. They cannot be sold, assigned, or moved to another entity.
- **Governance-evidence-required.** The program is a dogfooding partnership: while on credits, you run KYE™ the way it is meant to be run — every governed action emits the constitutional evidence family. That is exactly the governance posture the credit exists to seed.
- **No cash value.** Unused credit at the end of the term does not roll over, accrue cash, or convert to a refund. We will remind you before it lapses.

## Why we can be generous

KYE Protocol™ runs edge-native. A governed product costs us roughly 0.71 to 4.55 USD per tenant per month in real edge spend (about 0.000023 USD per governed action). So a generous list-value credit is, in real cost-to-serve terms, a small investment in seeding the next generation of provably-governed AI companies — and an honest one, because the credit is the real governance, not a discount coupon.

## How to apply

One intake surface, the same Universal Engagement Rail every KYE™ engagement uses.

- **1. Apply.** [Start your application →](https://kyeprotocol.com/pilot-apply/) and tell us your stage, capital raised, age, and headcount.
- **2. Review.** We review against the tier eligibility bands and confirm your fit. Accelerator / partner-referred applicants come in through their cohort or referrer.
- **3. Activate.** On approval your credit activates for 12 months and your tenant is provisioned. With your consent, you can be listed as a KYE™ adopter in the public directory.
- [Run an accelerator or fund?](https://kyeprotocol.com/partners/) Talk to us about a partner-referred cohort band for your portfolio.

Canonical KYE™ surfaces referenced on this page: [Evidence Pack™](https://kyeprotocol.com/evidence-pack/) · [KYE Protocol™](https://kyeprotocol.com/) · [Purpose Permission](https://kyeprotocol.com/glossary/) · [Universal Engagement Rail](https://kyeprotocol.com/glossary/).