PostHog Handbook Library / Marketing

1,659 words. Estimated reading time: 8 min.

# Startup programs and partnerships

Auto TL;DR

## At a Glance

This long page covers these main areas. The list is generated from the article headings, so it updates with every handbook rebuild.

1. PostHog for Startups
2. PostHog for Y Combinator
3. External partnerships
4. Lenny's Product Pass
5. Every.to
6. What happens after companies apply?
7. Reviewing applications
8. Merch

> Want to apply for our startups program? Sign-up here, or apply on Bookface if you're in Y Combinator.

We run two special programs for early-stage teams, plus external partnerships with Lenny's Product Pass and Every.to. The primary place for discussing these is the #project-startups-and-students channel in Slack, where we also discuss PostHog for Students.

| Feature | Startups | Y Combinator | | --------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | | Eligibility | <2 years old, <$5M raised, not acquired, company email domain | Must be in YC, <$25m raised, company email domain | | Credit | $50,000 for 12 months | $50k per year, whilst eligible | | Can use credit for add-ons? | ⚠️ Yes, but cannot use credit for BAA in Boost package | ✅ Yes, and can use credit for BAA in Boost package | | Can use credit for AI tools? | ❌ No, from September 14, 2026 (PostHog Desktop, Replay Vision, PostHog AI, Inbox) | ❌ No, from September 14, 2026 (PostHog Desktop, Replay Vision, PostHog AI, Inbox) | | Founder merch | Welcome pack (max 1) | Different welcome pack (max 4) | | Community | — | Tim's Whatsapp, priority support | | Apply via… | Startup page | Secret YC page |

### PostHog for Startups

Any company that is <2 years old and has raised less than $5M in funding is eligible to apply, from a PostHog account that uses the company's email domain, and claim the following:

- $50,000 in PostHog credits (valid for 12 months)
- One unique welcome pack for founders
- Partner benefits with Speakeasy, Incident.io, and Chroma
- A monthly newsletter for founders

> ❗Credits cannot be used toward a BAA under the Boost plan.

> ❗From September 14, 2026, credits cannot be used toward AI tools such as PostHog Desktop, Replay Vision, PostHog AI, and Inbox, due to the prohibitive and unpredictable nature of token-based pricing. Teams that joined before that date can still pay for usage incurred before the cut-off with credits.

> ⭐ Small open source projects without corporate backing and less than $200k annual revenue can contact support to have the 12-month credit expiry waived.

All applications are automatically approved, then manually reviewed for eligibility.

Applications from free or disposable email domains (gmail.com, outlook.com, and similar) are rejected automatically at submission. This applies to both programs. Founders who don't have a company domain yet can still use the monthly free allowance on every product and apply once they have one.

We track all PostHog for Startups applications in this Zapier table and this Zap.

### PostHog for Y Combinator

This program is similar to our startup program but has some key differences for YC teams. Teams can be in any YC batch, with any amount of funding raised, and can claim the following:

- $50,000 per year - they only need to register once and it will renew automatically while they're eligible (<$25m raised)
- If they previously registered for the old deal and it expired, they need to re-register
- Up to 4 unique founder merch packs (different from the startup program)
- Access to HogPatch for the duration of their time in the batch
- Partner benefits with Speakeasy, Incident.io and Chroma

You can find the copy for the latest deal on Bookface in this doc. To post updates, you need to ask James or Tim to do it.

> This deal is not available to YC alumni, who started another company - if they're eligible, they can apply for PostHog for Startups instead

> This deal is also not available if the YC company has been acquired by a non-YC parent. If an acquisition happens mid-term, existing credits can be honored until expiry but will not auto-renew. The acquiring company can apply for PostHog for Startups if eligible.

> ✅ Credits can be used to claim a BAA under the Boost plan.

YC teams must apply via our secret YC page, from a PostHog account that uses the company's email domain, and we ask for a screenshot from Bookface to prove their eligibility.

We track all PostHog for YC applications in this Zapier table.

### External partnerships

Alongside the two programs above, we run two external partnerships that offer PostHog benefits to partner audiences. See campaigns and coupons for how redemption works.

#### Lenny's Product Pass

Subscribers with Lenny's Newsletter Product Pass who are new paying customers get:

- 2x the free tier limits on all usage-based products
- The Scale add-on for free
- Valid for one year

Product exclusions are the same as for the PostHog for Startups plan, including PostHog Desktop, Inbox, and Replay Vision. See posthog.com/startups for more detail.

#### Every.to

Subscribers to Every get:

- $2,000 in credits for core products (only for new paying customers), with the same exclusions as for the PostHog for Startups program
- $2,000 in credits for AI products, covering products excluded from the PostHog for Startups program

### What happens after companies apply?

1. Application

A company signs up to PostHog, adds billing details, and applies via the startup form.

1. Credit

If they meet the basic criteria, we automatically apply the correct amount of Stripe credit.

1. Welcome + merch

Shortly after, they receive an automated email) from Joe Martin, in which we

- Confirm their acceptance, welcome them and explain perks
- Provide unique code(s) to claim founder kit(s) from the merch store (orders are fulfilled by Micromerch, merch questions can go in the `#merch` Slack channel)

1. Milestones

When teams reach 50%, 75%, or 100% of their credit usage — or when credits expire — they receive milestone emails. These come from Customer.io and are managed by Joe Martin.

1. Post-credit

Once credit is fully used or expired, teams are moved to a standard paid plan automatically. We automatically email users to let them know and offer a one-time $500 credit bonus to help soften the transition.

### Reviewing applications

Applications are automatically enriched with Clearbit and Clay, then approved. We then manually review all emails to ensure eligibility. If there's a mismatch (e.g. on founding date or funding raised), we’ll email the founder. If we don’t hear back in a week or confirm ineligibility, we remove the credits.

### Merch

All merch is fulfilled through the PostHog store by Micromerch.

- Founders receive unique codes via email to claim merch.
- They can request up to 4 merch packs for co-founders during signup.
- If a team has more than 4 founders, they can submit a support ticket to request more.
- Additional merch is occasionally granted at our discretion.

Issues? Reach out in #merch Slack. Founders can also email merch@posthog.com.

### Monthly Newsletter

We send a short, founder-focused newsletter once per month to all program participants. This is handled as a Customer.io broadcast using a prebuilt template.

### Credit usage

Credits can be used for most PostHog tools and add-ons, including platform packages.

- Startups: ❌ Cannot use credits toward a BAA due to legal risk.
- YC teams: ✅ Can use credits for a BAA under the Boost plan.
- AI tools: ❌ From September 14, 2026, credits cannot be used toward AI tools such as PostHog Desktop, Replay Vision, PostHog AI, and Inbox, due to the prohibitive and unpredictable nature of token-based pricing. Usage incurred before the cut-off can still be paid with credits.

Credits are valid are not transferable, and don’t carry over or convert to cash. They are valid for 12 months and that timer begins at application. Once expired or fully used, teams are moved to standard billing.

### Partners

We currently partner with:

- Incident.io — $1,500 off a teams plan
- Speakeasy — 50% off for 6 months
- Chroma - $5,000 of credit

Discount codes are sent in the welcome email after signup.

If users run into issues with redemption, we can help liaise — though all offers are ultimately at partner discretion.

Contacts:

- Incident.io: Zain Mobarik
- Speakeasy: Nolan Di Mare Sullivan
- Chroma: Philip Thomas

We previously offered DigitalOcean credits ($25k) and a Mintlify partnership, but these were retired in Q2 2025.

### Program extensions

We don’t usually extend credits — the 12-month window is intended to be firm and fair. However, we’re open to requests in exceptional cases.

Founders must clearly explain why they couldn’t use the credit in time and provide evidence of recent progress or changes. Requests are reviewed manually by the Customer Success team.

### Reporting

We have a dashboard for this.

### Troubleshooting

If the Slack invite isn't sent or you discover founders did not receive it, you can manually invite users to the #posthog-founders-club channel. Make sure to select that they are "An external organization" when prompted right after adding their email address. A Slack admin will need to approve them before they're fully added to the channel.

If they have trouble ordering their startup program merch or the YC Kit from the merch store:

- If they did not receive the automated coupon email, check the `startup_plan_customer_added` event or Customer.io email history to find which coupon codes were generated or sent, then send those links to the founder.
- For Shopify access, look up the Shopify credentials in the shared 1Password account.
- If there is no `startup_plan_customer_added` event or Customer.io email record, open the Shopify discounts page, pick an active discount for the same merch type, duplicate it, regenerate the coupon code, confirm it is limited to one use, and save it. You'll have to repeat the process for every founder.
- If they have the codes but they no longer work, the most common issue is that the codes expired. Search for each code from the Shopify discounts page. If the codes expired and should still work for this founder, extend the end date on those specific codes, for example by another month. If the codes are missing, already used, or should not be reused, follow the same instructions above to create new ones.

Credentials for Zapier, Shopify, etc. are available in the shared 1Password account.

Canonical URL: https://posthog.com/handbook/marketing/startups

GitHub source: contents/handbook/marketing/startups.md

Content hash: `25c1d743d2a702aa`

Static reader notes

- `MDX_COMPONENT_STATIC_ADAPTER`: Adapted interactive MDX components for static reading: TeamMember.