CAREER WITH SUKRIT · free guideSukrit Gulati · Founder, Multilingo Global Education
Comment AIHow I built Calbro with AI and got a 33 million credit ElevenLabs grant
I had no coding background. This is how I built the app with AI tools, how the grant works, and how you can apply for it.
The honest version: I don't write code. I direct AI tools, test the result and say what's wrong. It took a lot of time and many mistakes. A grant is not guaranteed, and ElevenLabs decides who gets it.
What the grant gives you
| What | Details (from ElevenLabs) |
|---|---|
| Credits | 33,000,000 credits. That is 3.3 crore credits, not rupees. ElevenLabs values it at $5,500+. |
| Time | 12 months from approval. Unused credits expire. |
| Usage | Over 680 hours of voice agents, or use it for speech, speech to text, voice cloning, sound effects and music. |
| Extras | Founder events and startup support. |
Official page: elevenlabs.io/startup-grants
Part 1: How I built Calbro with AI
Calbro AI is a health app with AI food scanning and calorie tracking. I started in January 2026 and it is live on the App Store, Google Play and calbro.in.
- Pick one real problem. Mine: tracking what you eat is too much work, so scan the food instead.
- Use AI as your developer. I used Claude Code and Google AI Studio. Describe one feature in plain words, run it, then tell the AI exactly what is broken.
- Build one small thing at a time. Get one feature working on your own phone before asking for the next one.
- Let AI explain every service. You don't need to know these in advance. Ask "what does this do, and what does it cost?"
- Get a security review before launch. Ask the AI to check who can see whose data and fix the gaps. Real users trust you with their information.
- Add payments and launch. A product people can pay for matters here, because the grant is for products with a business model.
| Part | What I used | Why |
|---|---|---|
| App | Capacitor | One web codebase becomes iOS + Android apps |
| Backend | Supabase | Login, database and server functions |
| AI | Gemini on Vertex AI | Reads food photos and powers AI features |
| Payments | Razorpay + in-app purchases | Web payments + App Store and Play billing |
Part 2: Have a specific voice idea
ElevenLabs funds voice products, so "I have an app" is not enough. My use case was a Hinglish voice agent that talks to people who asked about Calbro, qualifies them and books them into a paid coaching consultation. I set up a first version in ElevenLabs before I was approved.
Your idea should answer three questions: Who talks to the voice? What does it do for them? How does that make money?
Part 3: Check you qualify
| ElevenLabs' rule | |
|---|---|
| ✅ | A startup with fewer than 25 employees |
| ✅ | A product with a business or monetization plan, meant for the long term |
| ✅ | A valid business email |
| ❌ | Agencies, consulting firms and SMBs |
| ❌ | One-off projects and campaigns |
| ❌ | Products for children aged 18 or under |
| ❌ | Existing enterprise customers, previous grant recipients, more than one application per company |
Freelancer or running a normal business? Client work won't qualify by itself. You need your own voice product, one you plan to sell for the long term.
Part 4: Apply
- Sign up on ElevenLabs with your business email. The credits go on the account you apply with.
- Open the form: elevenlabs.io/grants-application. Read the terms and continue.
- Tell them about your startup, your team and how you expect to grow. Be specific and truthful. The terms require complete and accurate information.
- Wait for the decision. ElevenLabs aims to reply within about a week, and there is no fixed deadline.
Prepare your answers with this prompt in Claude or ChatGPT:
Help me prepare my ElevenLabs Startup Grant application. Use only the facts I give you. Ask me if something is missing, and never invent numbers or users.
Product and website: [ ]
Who it is for: [ ]
How voice is used in it: [ ]
How it makes or will make money: [ ]
Team size: [ ]
Progress so far (live product, users, revenue): [ ]
Plan for the next 12 months: [ ]
Write short, plain answers about the startup, the team, the voice use case and how we expect to grow.
After you're approved
- Read your approval email. Mine asked for an ElevenLabs Grants badge on the website.
- Track your credits. In my tests a voice agent used about 800 credits per minute, so plan your usage on real numbers.
- Save credits for what lasts. Generated audio files stay with you. Live agent minutes are gone once they are spoken.
- Mark the end date. The plan drops to Free after 12 months, or when only 10,000 credits are left.
- Never sell your credits. Reselling ends the grant immediately.
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Links and facts checked on 9 Nov 2026. Rules change: always confirm on the official site before you apply. Follow @careerwithsukrit for more free resources.