CrowdStrike announced the 35 startups selected for its third annual Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator with Amazon Web Services and NVIDIA through its Inception program, fueling the next generation of AI-driven cloud security innovation. Chosen from hundreds of global applicants, the elite group was selected for the strength of their innovation, potential to make market impact, and caliber of their teams.
The free eight-week program runs from January 5 through March 3, 2026, providing startups with mentorship, technical expertise, funding and go-to-market support, along with access to top cybersecurity experts and global visibility across partner ecosystems. The program will culminate in a final pitch day for five finalists during the RSA Conference in San Francisco on March 24, 2026.
An expert panel will select one innovation award winner with potential for investment from the CrowdStrike Falcon Fund. The accelerator has become a launchpad for the next era of AI-driven security innovators according to Daniel Bernard, chief business officer at CrowdStrike.
This year's cohort reflects a global movement with 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, the companies are creating community and giving startups the opportunity to turn breakthrough ideas into market-shaping technologies and push the industry forward.
Startups continue to push the boundaries of what is possible in AI-driven security according to Chris Grusz, managing director of technology partnerships at AWS. The third year of the Cybersecurity Startup Accelerator brings together the power and expertise of AWS, CrowdStrike, and NVIDIA to help innovators accelerate development, strengthen their platforms, and scale transformative solutions faster.
Artificial intelligence is reshaping cybersecurity at every level, demanding new approaches that can operate at cloud scale and defender speed according to 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.
Selected startups include companies working on detection and response for AI agents, runtime security platforms for non-human identities, and security governance platforms for agentic AI. The cohort represents global innovation with participants from North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia Pacific regions.
Now in its third year, the Accelerator has graduated 59 startups who have collectively raised more than 730 million dollars in funding post their participation and achieved multiple successful acquisitions. Alumni include Onum acquired by CrowdStrike, Remedio formerly GYTPOL winner of the 2023-2024 cohort, and Terra Security winner of the 2024-2025 cohort.
Both Remedio and Terra Security raised accelerated funding rounds following the program, demonstrating the accelerator's impact on participant growth trajectories. The program has established itself as a critical pathway for cybersecurity startups seeking validation, capital, and strategic partnerships.
The expanded global format empowers innovators from around the world to accelerate AI-driven cloud security solutions and connect with top cybersecurity investors and technical experts. Participation provides startups guidance on cloud architecture, AI and agentic system development, and cybersecurity best practices.
The emphasis on agentic AI reflects the industry's recognition that autonomous security systems will be essential to counter increasingly sophisticated AI-powered threats. Traditional security approaches struggle to keep pace with attack velocity and complexity that AI enables for adversaries.
