CrowdStrike, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and NVIDIA have selected 35 startups for their third annual Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator. The initiative aims to fast-track the next generation of AI-driven cloud security innovation by providing mentorship, technical resources, and potential funding opportunities.
Selected from hundreds of global applicants, the cohort will participate in an eight-week program running from today until 3 March 2026. The curriculum is designed to support startups building cloud- and identity-first defenses, critical in an era where security teams face increasingly sophisticated AI-emboldened adversaries.
Participants will receive mentorship, technical expertise, and go-to-market support, alongside access to the partner ecosystems of three of the biggest names in tech.
Daniel Bernard, chief business officer at CrowdStrike, commented: “This year’s cohort reflects a global movement: founders building cloud- and identity-first defenses that put security teams ahead of the speed and scale of AI-emboldened adversaries. With AWS and NVIDIA, we’re creating community and growing ‘the crowd,’ giving these startups the opportunity to turn breakthrough ideas into market-shaping technologies.”
The path to funding
The program will conclude with a final pitch day for five finalists at the RSA Conference in San Francisco on 24 March 2026. An expert panel will select one innovation award winner, who may receive investment from the CrowdStrike Falcon Fund.
The accelerator leverages the combined strengths of its partners: CrowdStrike’s cybersecurity expertise, AWS’s cloud infrastructure, and NVIDIA’s dominance in AI computing.
“AI is reshaping cybersecurity at every level, demanding new approaches that can operate at cloud scale and defender speed,” said Bartley Richardson, senior director of agentic AI and cybersecurity engineering at NVIDIA. “Through the accelerator, NVIDIA, AWS, and CrowdStrike are empowering startups with the compute, frameworks and guidance they need to advance agentic AI.”
The 2026 Cohort
The selected startups (excluding those in stealth) include companies such as Averlon, Capsule Security, Drift Security, Hush Security, Nano Corp, Simbian AI, and Synqly, among others. The full list spans a diverse range of innovations tailored to address modern digital threats.
