The eight-week program supports early-stage startups developing artificial intelligence-driven cybersecurity tools.
CrowdStrike, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and NVIDIA announced they selected 35 startups to participate in the 2026 Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator, a program focused on artificial intelligence-enabled security technologies.
The accelerator, run through NVIDIA’s Inception program, is a free, eight-week initiative running from January 5 through March 3, 2026. It provides participating startups with mentorship, technical guidance, and access to cloud and computing infrastructure to support the development of artificial intelligence-based cybersecurity products. According to the companies, the program is designed for early-stage startups applying AI to areas such as threat detection, identity security, cloud protection, and automated defense.
The selected startups were chosen from hundreds of global applicants based on their innovation strength, market potential, and the caliber of their founders. Participants receive access to CrowdStrike cybersecurity experts, AWS cloud services and go-to-market resources, and accelerated computing and AI development support from NVIDIA.
Daniel Bernard, chief business officer at CrowdStrike, said the accelerator is intended to support startups addressing the growing use of AI by cyber adversaries. “This year’s cohort reflects founders building AI-driven security capabilities designed to operate at cloud scale,” Bernard said in a statement.
Chris Grusz, managing director of technology partnerships at AWS, said the program is designed to help startups move artificial intelligence-powered security tools from development to deployment. “By combining cloud infrastructure, cybersecurity expertise, and accelerated computing, the accelerator is intended to help startups strengthen and scale their AI-based platforms,” Grusz said.
The program is scheduled to conclude with a pitch event during the RSA Conference in San Francisco on March 24, 2026. Five finalist startups will present their technologies to an expert panel, who will select the recipient of the innovation award. The selected company may receive investment from the CrowdStrike Falcon Fund.