Country guide
Startup credits in the United States
A startup registered in United States can apply to 1506 programs we track: 928 credit programs and 578 accelerators. 132 more are restricted to other countries, and they are named below.
A US entity clears the country requirement on essentially every program we track, which makes this the widest list on the site.
That also makes the real question a different one: not what you are allowed to apply for, but which tier you clear and which need a referral. Both are on each program page.
What your entity needs to be
A Delaware C-Corp is the default and the one every programme understands. An LLC is accepted by most credit programs but causes friction with accelerators and investors, who expect a C-Corp. If you are pre-incorporation and intend to raise, the C-Corp saves a conversion later.
Open to US startups
The largest programs with no country restriction blocking you.
- NKFIH Startup Factory Programme$5,000,000,000
National Research, Development and Innovation Office, Hungary
- Fonds de Soutien à l’Innovation$3,000,000,000
DER/FJ, Senegal
- CSI and Startup Flagship Program$1,200,000,000
Ministry of Industry, Commerce & Employment, Bhutan
- Skolkovo Foundation Grants$850,000,000
Skolkovo Foundation
- SME Subsidised Loan Facility$200,000,000
Government of Papua New Guinea, via Bank South Pacific
- Startup Tunisia (Smart Capital)$100,000,000
Smart Capital, Tunisia
Closed to US startups, and why
These set a country allowlist that does not include United States. We list them so you do not spend an evening on an application that cannot succeed.
- R&D Tax Relief for SMEs
Open to United Kingdom.
- Egypt Ventures
Open to Egypt.
- Business Finland Tempo Funding
Open to Finland.
- Shanghai AI Ecosystem Subsidy Program
Open to China.
- ICICI Bank iStartup2.0
Open to India.
- EXIST Gründerstipendium
Open to Germany.
Accelerators based in United States
Questions founders here ask
Looking for accelerators instead?
Credits and accelerator programs are judged on different rules, so they have their own list.
Startup accelerators in the United States