How CrowdStrike, Nvidia & AWS Power Cybersecurity Startups

In the age of AI-powered cyber threats, established tech giants are accelerating cybersecurity innovation by paving the way for new companies. 

CrowdStrike, Nvidia and AWS selected 35 startups for the third annual Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator programme. 

With a mission to empower seed stage global startups, supporting them with partnership, mentorship and investment opportunities, the 2026 Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator can give viable businesses a strong launch pad to success. 

Chosen from hundreds of applicants, the 35 finalists showcased their team strength, innovative ideas and the potential to make valuable impact in the field of AI-driven cloud security innovation.

“The Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator has become a launchpad for the next era of AI-driven security innovators,” says Daniel Bernard, Chief Business Officer at CrowdStrike. 

“This year’s cohort reflects a global movement: founders building cloud and identity-first defences that put security teams ahead of the speed and scale of AI-emboldened adversaries. 

“With AWS and NVIDIA, we’re creating a community and growing 'the crowd', giving these start-ups the opportunity to turn breakthrough ideas into market-shaping technologies and push the industry forward.”

Inside the 2026 Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator Program

The free eight-week accelerator programme, set to run till March 3rd 2026, showers the selected startups with the care, technical expertise and go-to-market support they need to hit the ground running.

The RSA Conference, to be held on March 24th 2026 will be the final day of the programme, where a distinguished panel will select one innovation award winner from five shortlisted finalists.

The innovation award winner stands to receive a potential investment from the CrowdStrike Falcon Fund.

The selected 35 members of the cohort also gain valuable visibility across the partner ecosystems, attracting further innovation opportunities.  

“Startups continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in AI-driven security,” says Chris Grusz, Managing Director, technology partnerships at AWS. 

“The third year of the Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator once again brings together the power and expertise of AWS, CrowdStrike and Nvidia to help these innovators accelerate development, strengthen their platforms and scale their transformative solutions faster.”

Nvidia Inception Program to Support Cybersecurity Startups

Nvidia supports the accelerator through the Nvidia Inception Program, offering candidates the latest developer tools, training and competitive pricing on Nvidia software and hardware. 

With access to Nvidia developer forums, expert-led workshops and technical courses, the participants receive the technical guidance and opportunities to upskill. 

Gaining access to Nvidia VCs and strategic introductions to the widespread Nvidia network, members of the accelerator cohort stand to don their seed-stage businesses in market ready suits. 

“AI is reshaping cybersecurity at every level, demanding new approaches that can operate at cloud scale and defender speed,” says 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 and build the next wave of intelligent, resilient security technologies.”