Award · Anthropic Claude Startups

Scalus accepted into Anthropic's Claude Startups program

· 2 min read · Tim McCartney

Tim McCartney, founder of Scalus, smiling at his laptop on the morning the acceptance email from Anthropic arrived

At 8:05am on Thursday 9 October 2026 an email landed from Anthropic, the company behind Claude. The subject line was four words: "You're in. Welcome to Claude Startups." Scalus is now part of Anthropic's program for early stage companies building on Claude.

What the program is

Claude Startups is Anthropic's program for startups building their products on Claude. Companies apply, Anthropic looks at what they are building and who they are building it for, and the ones accepted get support from Anthropic's team as they grow. Scalus applied on the Wednesday and had the answer the next morning.

Why it matters

Scalus is a small company in Melbourne's east building websites and the systems behind them for trade and service businesses. Being accepted puts that work next to startups from anywhere in the world, and it says the way Scalus builds holds up. That is the part worth marking.

A small Melbourne company, accepted alongside startups from anywhere. Then back to work.

What changes for clients

Nothing you have to think about. Same price, same month to month terms, same person building your site and answering the phone. What it does mean is more capacity to keep building: the systems behind every Scalus site keep getting better, and there is now a direct line to the people who make the tools Scalus is built with.

The photo above is the real moment, a few minutes after the email came in. More soon.

Want a website and the system behind it?

I build the website, the local SEO and the systems that feed it. Live in 4 days, month to month, same price forever.

Get in contact See the work

Questions about this one

What is Claude Startups?
Claude Startups is Anthropic's program for early stage companies building their products on Claude, Anthropic's AI model. Companies apply, Anthropic reviews what they are building, and accepted companies get support from Anthropic's team as they grow. Scalus was accepted on 9 October 2026.
Does this change what Scalus clients pay?
No. It is still $225 a month for the website built, hosted and kept live, the SEO and AI Search work, the Google review system and every change you ask for. Month to month, no build fee, and your price never increases.
What does it mean for my website?
More capacity to keep building. The systems behind every Scalus site keep getting better, and now there is a direct line to the people who make the tools Scalus is built with. The same person still does the work and answers the phone.