Credex opens a secondary market for unused cloud and AI credits

Credex is launching a marketplace that lets founders sell unused AWS, GCP, Azure and AI credits for cash while helping startups buy discounted cloud and model credits below list price. The company says the service can cut infrastructure costs by up to 50% and turn expiring credits into usable runway.

Why it matters: - Billions of dollars in cloud and AI credits expire unused each year, leaving founders with stranded value when startups pivot, shut down or outgrow a program. - Startups buying infrastructure and model access below list price can stretch runway without changing code or re-architecting systems. - The marketplace gives credit holders a way to recover cash instead of writing off balances to zero.

What happened: - Credex launched as a cloud credits marketplace for buying and selling unused cloud and AI credits. - The company connects sellers with buyers for AWS, GCP, Azure, Claude, Anthropic, Gemini and OpenAI credits. - Credex says sellers can turn unused credits into cash, while buyers can cut cloud and AI spend by up to 50%. - Aditya Adhana, Credex founder, said the company built a secondary market for credits that had not existed before.

The details: - Credits from programs such as AWS Activate, Google for Startups Cloud and Microsoft for Startups can expire before startups use them. - Cloud providers and AI labs often grant credits worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars to win early customers. - The marketplace also covers seed-to-Series B startups and mid-sized SaaS companies that do not qualify for enterprise discounts. - Buyers can access discounted AWS, GCP and Azure credits, plus AI API credits for Claude, GPT, Gemini, Llama, Grok, DeepSeek and Mistral. - Credex also lists GPU credits for H100 and A100 workloads. - The platform says every listing is verified before transfer and every transaction includes full account ownership transfer. - Sellers list the provider, balance and expiry date, then Credex verifies transferability, matches a buyer and completes payment and ownership transfer. - Credex says the marketplace also includes Cloudflare, DigitalOcean, Lambda Labs, MongoDB Atlas, Supabase, PostHog, Cursor, Deepgram, ElevenLabs, Flux, Ideogram, Recraft, Luma and Kling credits through fal.ai. - The company says its marketplace is built to bring pricing transparency, verification and speed to a market that has relied on direct outreach and informal transfers. - Credex says its service complements cloud cost optimization tools by reducing what teams pay for infrastructure, not just how much they use. - Credex can be accessed at credex.rocks.

Between the lines: - The launch reflects how credits have shifted from a customer-acquisition perk to a tradable asset with real resale value. - For startup buyers, the appeal is leverage: they can get lower pricing without enterprise-scale negotiation power. - For sellers, the value is timing: a pivot or shutdown no longer has to mean forfeiting the remaining credit balance.

What's next: - Credex will try to build liquidity on both sides of the market by matching more expired-or-expiring credits with buyers that can use them. - Founders with unused AWS Activate or AI credits can use the platform to resell balances before expiration. - Buyers looking to lower cloud and model costs can continue sourcing discounted credits through the marketplace.