Compute Activation

Connect to the Africa Compute Grid and commission your first workload.

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Activation

Activation

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Activation Free - Self-Serve Access

Self-serve access to the Africa Compute Grid.

Activation Free is the self-serve path for teams that can integrate independently. You get access to the Monarch API onboarding path and you run the first workload on your own.

What you get

  • Monarch API documentation and onboarding steps

  • Self-serve access provisioning instructions

  • Standard workflow for submitting a workload

  • Metering visibility so you can see usage once you run

What we need

  • One clear first job you want to run, and how you’ll judge success (one simple metric)

Completion condition

Activation Free is complete when your team runs a first workload end-to-end and you can see metered usage.


Early access

Activation Free is currently rolling out as early access while capacity comes online. Free access is limited and is provisioned in waves as regions open. We prioritize Activation Pro and Activation Plus during constrained capacity windows, and we’ll notify you as soon as Activation Free access is available for your region and use case.

Notes

  • Compute usage is billed separately after you’re connected.

  • Activation Free does not include assisted setup, commissioning, or handover documentation.

$0.00
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Activation Plus - Professional Installation

Installer activation with a commissioned first run.

Activation Plus is for teams that want the first workload commissioned cleanly. We handle the activation with your team, connect your system to the grid, and run the first workload end-to-end so the connection is confirmed in a measurable way.

What you get

  • Everything in Activation Free

  • Assisted setup to connect your system to the grid (in a safe test environment where possible)

  • Commissioning of one first workload end-to-end

  • Activation handover pack:

    • Commissioning output

    • Usage metering summary

    • Next-step runbook (how to run again, what to change, what to scale)

What we need

  • One clear first job to run, and one success metric

  • One owner on your side who can make decisions quickly

  • A way to access the data needed for the first run (sample or controlled access)

  • A place to connect from your side (script, backend, notebook, or pipeline)

Completion condition

Activation Plus is complete when a first workload runs end-to-end on the grid, produces an output, and usage is metered.

Timeline

Typical commissioning window: 5–10 business days after prerequisites are ready.

Notes

  • Activation is a one-time fee for connection-and-commissioning work.

  • Compute usage is billed separately after you’re connected (usage-based or reserved capacity).

  • Activation Plus covers one first commissioning workload; additional workloads are handled as usage and ongoing work.

$999.00
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Activation Pro - Enterprise Installation

Enterprise activation with stronger structure and stakeholder-ready handover.

Activation Pro is for larger organizations that want the first workload commissioned and packaged in a way that fits enterprise environments. It includes deeper onboarding structure, clearer governance expectations, and commissioning/handover designed to survive internal reviews.

What you get

  • Everything in Activation Plus

  • Support for connecting your codebase/pipeline to the grid

  • Clear setup of the first model/workload (training, fine-tune, or inference)

  • A clear plan for using your dataset during commissioning

  • Tighter onboarding structure (roles, controls, audit expectations)

  • Procurement-ready documentation:

    • Scope

    • Responsibilities

    • Acceptance test (what “done” means)

  • Commissioning and handover packaged for internal stakeholders

What we need

  • One clear first job to run, and one success metric

  • One accountable owner on your side

  • A dataset access method appropriate for your environment (sample or controlled access)

  • Any internal requirements that affect onboarding (controls, approvals, audit needs)

Completion condition

Activation Pro is complete when the first workload is commissioned end-to-end with metered usage, and the activation package is delivered in a stakeholder-ready format.

Timeline

Typical commissioning window: 5–20 business days after prerequisites are ready.

Notes

  • Activation is a one-time fee for connection-and-commissioning work.

  • Compute usage is billed separately after you’re connected (usage-based or reserved capacity).

  • Activation Pro is about a clean first commissioning plus enterprise-ready packaging; it is not open-ended advisory.

$9,999.00

Frequently Asked Questions

  • An Activation is the connection step that takes you from not connected to connected on the Africa Compute Grid. It’s complete when a first workload runs end-to-end, produces an output, and usage is metered so you can see what was consumed during the run.

  • To produce AI at scale, you usually need several pieces at once: someone to find and secure GPU capacity, someone to set up the environment and drivers, someone to wire up your training or inference workflow, and someone to keep it stable so you’re not losing days to random failures.

    Activation is the shortcut. Instead of assembling that whole team and spending time and money on setup, you start an Activation, we handle the messy parts and get you connected to working GPU capacity fast.

    It’s like installing an internet connection, but for GPUs.

  • You’re paying for the one-time installation and commissioning work to get your organization connected and to run the first workload cleanly. That includes setup with your team, a commissioned first run, and a clear handover showing what was connected, what ran, what the output was, and how metering looked, so you can continue running without restarting from zero.

  • Typical commissioning time is 5–20 business days after the prerequisites are ready. The main driver of timeline is how quickly the first workload is defined, who owns it on your side, and how the data needed for the first run can be accessed.

  • We need one clear first job to run, one success metric, and one owner on your side who can make decisions quickly. We also need a way to access the data required for the first run, and a place in your own system where the workload will be submitted from, such as a script, backend service, notebook, or pipeline.

  • After Activation, you can keep running workloads on the grid using the same access method. Activation is the one-time installation step; ongoing usage is what you run afterward, either billed by usage or planned through reserved capacity if you need predictable availability.

  • For Activation Plus and Pro, support is focused on finishing the installation and commissioning the first workload end-to-end. During the Activation window, we work directly with your internal owner to unblock setup, confirm prerequisites, run the first workload, and verify metered usage. After Activation, you have a working line and a handover so your team can keep running without restarting the process.

    From there, teams typically route into one of three paths depending on what they need next: the Transition Program if you want implementation help beyond the first run (integration work, productization, operating cadence), Compute Reservations if you need guaranteed capacity and planning certainty, or the Engineer Program if your priority is building internal capability so your team can run and scale workloads independently.