Aikido Security
Unified security platform detecting and blocking threats from code to runtime.
Website: https://www.aikido.dev
Cover Block
PUBLIC
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Name | Aikido Security |
| Tagline | Unified security platform detecting and blocking threats from code to runtime |
| Headquarters | Ghent, Belgium |
| Founded | 2022 |
| Stage | Series B |
| Business Model | SaaS |
| Industry | Cybersecurity |
| Technology Type | AI / Machine Learning |
| Geography | Western Europe |
| Growth Profile | Venture Scale |
| Funding Label | $50M+ |
| Total Disclosed | ~$85M across four rounds [BankInfoSecurity] |
Links
PUBLIC
- Website: https://www.aikido.dev
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aikido-security/
- Pricing: https://www.aikido.dev/pricing
- Docs: https://help.aikido.dev/
- Careers: https://aikidosecurity.recruitee.com/
Executive Summary
PUBLIC
Aikido Security is a Ghent-based application security company that consolidates code, cloud, and runtime scanning into a single developer-facing platform, and it has just become one of Europe's first new unicorns of 2026 [Reuters, Jan 2026]. Founded in 2022 by a team that includes Willem Delbare, Roeland Delrue, and Felix Garriau, the company built its product around a thesis that existing AppSec tooling was too noisy, too expensive, and too hostile to the engineers actually expected to fix vulnerabilities [TechCrunch, May 2024]. The differentiation rests less on any single scanner and more on the bundling: SAST, DAST, cloud posture, container scanning, secrets detection, and an AI-driven AutoFix workflow served from one console with transparent seat-based pricing [Aikido Security Pricing]. A $60 million Series B led by DST Global in January 2026 valued the company at $1 billion and brought total disclosed funding to roughly $85 million [Reuters, Jan 2026] [BankInfoSecurity]. Reported revenue sits near $13 million against a team that public sources variously place between 118 and 210 employees, suggesting both rapid hiring and the usual lag in third-party headcount data [GetLatka] [BankInfoSecurity]. Customers cited in press include CertifID, Lighthouse, Zus Health, Henchman, Secure Code Warrior, and Oliva Health, with workflow-automation vendor n8n highlighted in an Aikido-published case study claiming a 92% reduction in security alert noise [Tech.eu, Nov 2023] [Aikido Security]. Over the next 12 to 18 months the questions worth tracking are whether Aikido can convert mid-market traction into Fortune 500 logo wins against Wiz and Snyk, and whether the new autonomous pen-testing capability funded by the Series B becomes a true second product line.
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Reuters, TechCrunch, BankInfoSecurity, and the company's own disclosures.
Taxonomy Snapshot
| Axis | Value |
|---|---|
| Stage | Series B (unicorn, Jan 2026) |
| Business Model | SaaS, seat-based |
| Industry / Vertical | Cybersecurity / AppSec / CNAPP |
| Technology Type | AI / Machine Learning |
| Geography | Western Europe (HQ Belgium), expanding US |
| Growth Profile | Venture scale |
| Funding | ~$85M disclosed across four rounds |
Company Overview
PUBLIC
Aikido Security was incorporated in Ghent, Belgium in 2022 by a founding group that included serial entrepreneur Willem Delbare (previously a co-founder of Teamleader), Roeland Delrue, Felix Garriau, Felix Kerger, Wouter Delbaere, and Amber Rucker [Aikido Security] [TechCrunch, May 2024]. The founding pitch, repeated across early press, was a frustration with incumbent application security tools that the founders described as "slow, confusing, overpriced and noisy" [Aikido Security About]. Rather than build a new scanner from scratch, the team initially stitched together best-of-breed open-source engines under a single dashboard and triage layer, then progressively added proprietary detection, AI remediation, and runtime components.
The company's funding history maps cleanly onto its product expansion. A €2 million pre-seed in 2022 from angel investors funded the initial platform build [Aikido Security Blog]. A €5 million seed in November 2023 led by Notion Capital and Connect Ventures supported the move into noise-reduced scanning for SaaS companies [PRNewswire, Nov 2023]. A $17 million Series A in May 2024 led by Singular.vc, with participation from Notion and Inovia Capital, took the company into broader cloud and container coverage [TechCrunch, May 2024]. The $60 million Series B in January 2026, led by DST Global with PSG Equity participating, is earmarked for scaling the company's automated AI penetration testing capability and US go-to-market expansion [Reuters, Jan 2026] [BankInfoSecurity].
Key product milestones include the launch of AutoFix one-click remediation, the Zen in-app firewall for runtime protection, and most recently the rollout of Aikido Endpoint Protection for developer devices in response to escalating software supply chain attacks [KnowledgeNile] [Aikido Docs]. Customer growth has been described as "over 1,000 total installs in just one year" as of late 2023, a figure that has not been publicly refreshed at the time of the Series B announcement [Tech.eu, Nov 2023].
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Reuters, TechCrunch, PRNewswire, and the company's blog.
Product and Technology
MIXED
Aikido positions itself as a unified application and cloud security platform spanning the full software lifecycle from source code to running workloads [Aikido Security]. The product surface, as described on the company's documentation site, includes static application security testing, software composition analysis with reachability filtering, infrastructure-as-code scanning, container image scanning, secrets detection, cloud security posture management, dynamic testing, an AI-powered AutoFix workflow that opens remediation pull requests, and the Zen in-app firewall for runtime protection [Aikido Docs] [Aikido Product]. The Series B announcement emphasized investment in autonomous AI-driven penetration testing as a forthcoming differentiator [BankInfoSecurity].
The commercial wrapper is unusual for the category. Aikido publishes seat-based pricing on its website, including a free tier, with a clear flat-fee promise and "no hidden charges" [Aikido Security Pricing]. This contrasts with the resource-metered or negotiated enterprise pricing that dominates the cloud-native application protection (CNAPP) segment. The product is documented as enterprise-ready with SSO, RBAC, audit logging, and SOC 2 controls [Aikido Enterprise]. Customer-published outcomes include n8n's claim of a 92% reduction in alert noise after consolidating onto Aikido, and Pathful's claim of a 60% reduction in security issues within two weeks of adoption [Aikido Security customer stories]. These figures are vendor-published and should be read as directional rather than benchmarked.
Under the hood, several of Aikido's scanners wrap or extend well-known open-source engines (a pattern the company has acknowledged in past press) while the AutoFix, reachability, and triage layers appear to be proprietary (inferred from product documentation and press). The competitive bet is that orchestration, noise reduction, and developer experience matter more than owning every detection engine, particularly for the mid-market buyers who lack a dedicated AppSec team to operate point tools.
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Confirmed by Aikido's documentation, TechCrunch, and BankInfoSecurity, with vendor-published customer metrics noted as such.
Market Research and Opportunity
PUBLIC
Application and cloud security is consolidating from a fragmented tool sprawl into platform suites, and that consolidation is the single biggest tailwind underneath Aikido's funding trajectory.
The broader cloud-native application protection platform category, which encompasses code scanning, cloud posture, container security, and runtime protection, has been the most active subsector of cybersecurity venture funding for three years running, exemplified by Wiz's reported $32 billion acquisition by Google announced in 2025 and Snyk's prior late-stage rounds (industry context, multiple outlets). Adjacent to that, the penetration testing as a service (PTaaS) market is projected to reach $1.98 billion by 2031 according to a syndicated research report cited in trade press [PRNewswire]. Aikido's January 2026 Series B explicitly earmarks capital for autonomous AI pen testing, placing the company at the intersection of two growing categories rather than only one [BankInfoSecurity].
| Sizing claim | Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| PTaaS market by 2031 | $1.98B | [PRNewswire] |
| Aikido total funding raised | ~$85M | [BankInfoSecurity] |
| Aikido post-money valuation (Jan 2026) | $1B | [Reuters, Jan 2026] |
| Aikido reported revenue | ~$13M | [GetLatka] |
The demand drivers are concrete. Software supply chain attacks (SolarWinds, MOVEit, the npm ecosystem incidents of 2024 and 2025) have pushed code-level provenance and runtime monitoring from optional to board-level concern, a dynamic that Aikido cited directly when it launched its endpoint protection product for developer devices [KnowledgeNile]. Regulatory pressure is reinforcing the same pull: the EU Cyber Resilience Act, NIS2, and the US SEC cyber disclosure rules each create documentation and remediation burdens that mid-market companies cannot meet with a patchwork of point tools. Aikido's positioning as a single console with transparent pricing maps directly onto the buyer who needs compliance evidence without a six-figure consulting engagement.
The relevant substitutes and adjacencies are worth naming. At the high end, full-suite CNAPP vendors (Wiz, Palo Alto Prisma Cloud, CrowdStrike Falcon Cloud Security) compete on breadth and incumbency. In code-centric AppSec, Snyk and Semgrep compete on developer mindshare. In runtime, Sysdig and Aqua compete on container depth. PTaaS specialists such as Cobalt and HackerOne compete on the human-in-the-loop pen test. Aikido's wager is that mid-market and upper-mid-market buyers will prefer a single bundled platform over assembling four vendors, and the unicorn round suggests at least one tier-one investor agrees the wager is sized to win.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- PTaaS sizing from a single syndicated report; CNAPP market context from public press; revenue figure from a single secondary database.
Competitive Landscape
MIXED
Aikido competes in arguably the most heavily funded subsector of enterprise software, and its edge depends on a deliberate refusal to compete on the same axes as the largest incumbents.
| Company | Positioning | Stage / Funding | Notable Differentiator | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aikido Security | Unified code-to-runtime AppSec for mid-market and enterprise | Series B, ~$85M raised, $1B valuation | Bundled platform with transparent seat-based pricing and AI AutoFix | [Reuters, Jan 2026] [Aikido Security] |
| Wiz | Agentless CNAPP for large enterprise cloud estates | Reported $32B Google acquisition (2025) | Category-defining cloud graph and Fortune 500 distribution | Public press |
| Snyk | Developer-first SAST, SCA, container, IaC | Late-stage private, multi-billion valuation | Deep IDE and CI integrations, large free-tier funnel | Public press |
| Semgrep | Open-source-rooted SAST and secrets scanning | Series D | Custom rule engine and open-source community | Public press |
| Orca Security | Agentless CNAPP via SideScanning | Late-stage private | Patented snapshot-based scanning architecture | Public press |
The segment splits into three groupings. Wiz and Orca anchor the agentless CNAPP segment that won the large-enterprise cloud-security budget cycle of 2022 to 2025; their distribution into the Global 2000 is the single largest barrier any new entrant faces. Snyk and Semgrep anchor the developer-first AppSec segment that owns mindshare inside engineering organizations but has historically struggled to bundle cleanly with cloud and runtime. PTaaS players such as Cobalt sit adjacent. Aikido's strategic insight is that no single incumbent has yet stitched these three segments together at a price point and onboarding speed that fits a 200 to 5,000 employee software company. That gap is the lane the Series B is funding.
The defensible edge today rests on three things. First, product breadth at a price point well below assembling Wiz plus Snyk plus a PTaaS vendor, supported by transparent published pricing that shortens sales cycles. Second, a developer experience designed around remediation rather than reporting, evidenced by the AutoFix workflow and customer-cited noise reductions [Aikido Security customer stories]. Third, European headquarters and EU-native compliance positioning at a moment when EU buyers are actively diversifying away from sole reliance on US security vendors. The perishable part of that edge is pricing transparency, which any competitor can copy, and product breadth, which the larger incumbents can close with acquisitions.
The most acute exposure is to Wiz at the top of the market and Snyk in the middle. Wiz's distribution inside the Fortune 500 means Aikido is unlikely to displace it in accounts that already standardized on the Wiz cloud graph. Snyk's IDE and CI integrations have a multi-year head start with developer teams that have already built workflows around Snyk's APIs. Aikido has no obvious answer in either of those entrenched footholds; its realistic field of play is greenfield mid-market accounts and consolidation plays where a buyer is actively retiring three or four point vendors.
Looking 18 months out, the most plausible scenario is bifurcation: Aikido becomes the default consolidated AppSec platform for the 200 to 5,000 employee software-native company, particularly in Europe, while Wiz retains the Global 2000 cloud-security mandate. Winner if Aikido lands two or three named Fortune 500 design wins on the back of its autonomous pen testing launch; loser if Snyk or a CNAPP incumbent ships a credible AutoFix equivalent at a competitive price before Aikido converts its mid-market base into multi-year enterprise contracts.
Data Accuracy: GREEN -- Subject row confirmed by Reuters and BankInfoSecurity; competitor rows from public press.
Opportunity
PUBLIC
If Aikido executes, the prize is becoming the default application and cloud security platform for the entire tier of software companies that sit beneath the Fortune 500.
The headline opportunity. The single largest outcome Aikido could plausibly become is the consolidator of choice for mid-market AppSec, the way Datadog became the consolidator of choice for mid-market observability. The evidence that this is reachable rather than aspirational sits in three places: the speed at which the company crossed 1,000 installs in its first year [Tech.eu, Nov 2023], the willingness of a tier-one growth investor (DST Global) to underwrite a unicorn valuation on roughly $13 million of reported revenue [Reuters, Jan 2026] [GetLatka], and the structural gap in the market between point-tool sprawl and Fortune-500-only CNAPP suites. The company does not need to beat Wiz at the top of the market to build a multi-billion-dollar business; it needs to own the segment Wiz finds uneconomic to serve.
Growth scenarios.
| Scenario | What happens | Catalyst | Why it's plausible |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-market consolidator | Aikido becomes the standard AppSec platform for 200-5,000 employee software companies globally | Continued vendor consolidation pressure and EU regulatory tailwinds (CRA, NIS2) | Transparent pricing and bundled scope already convert teams retiring 3-4 point tools [Aikido Security] |
| Autonomous pen testing breakout | The Series B-funded AI pen testing module becomes a standalone second product line | PTaaS market projected to reach $1.98B by 2031 [PRNewswire] | Series B explicitly earmarked for this build [BankInfoSecurity] |
| European security champion | Aikido becomes the EU-headquartered alternative of choice as buyers diversify from US-only vendors | EU sovereignty mandates and public-sector procurement preferences | Belgian HQ, EU data residency, and Reuters profile as one of Europe's first 2026 unicorns [Reuters, Jan 2026] |
What compounding looks like. The flywheel that turns one Aikido win into the next is platform breadth multiplied by remediation data. Each scanner added to the suite increases the attach rate inside an existing customer (a team that bought SAST adds container scanning, then cloud posture, then runtime), which is the same expansion motion that powered Snyk and Datadog through their unicorn-to-decacorn transitions. On top of that, every AutoFix pull request and every triaged false positive becomes training data for the AI remediation layer, a data moat that compounds with usage and that point-tool competitors structurally cannot match. The reported 92% noise reduction at n8n and 60% issue reduction at Pathful are early evidence the flywheel is already turning [Aikido Security customer stories].
The size of the win. Comparable scaled outcomes in this category are unusually concrete. Wiz's reported $32 billion acquisition by Google in 2025 set the high-water mark for cloud-security exits (public press). Snyk's prior secondary rounds reportedly valued the company in the high single-digit billions. Even a fraction of those outcomes, applied to the mid-market segment Aikido is targeting, supports a multi-billion-dollar company. If the mid-market consolidator scenario plays out, a $5 billion to $10 billion outcome on a five-year horizon is inside the range of named comparables (scenario, not a forecast). If the autonomous pen testing scenario also lands, the upside band extends further. The downside case, in which Aikido remains a strong mid-market vendor but cannot pierce the enterprise ceiling, is still a credible billion-dollar business given the current valuation and revenue trajectory.
Data Accuracy: YELLOW -- Scenarios anchored to cited funding, customer outcomes, and named comparables; outcome ranges are explicitly labelled as scenarios, not forecasts.
Sources
PUBLIC
[Reuters, Jan 2026] Belgian cybersecurity startup Aikido hits unicorn status with new funding round | https://www.reuters.com/technology/belgian-cybersecurity-startup-aikido-hits-unicorn-status-with-new-funding-round-2026-01-14/
[BankInfoSecurity] Aikido Gets $60M Series B to Scale, Automate AI Pen Testing | https://www.bankinfosecurity.com/aikido-gets-60m-series-b-to-scale-automate-ai-pen-testing-a-30556
[TechCrunch, May 2024] Belgium's Aikido lands $17M Series A for its 'no BS' security platform aimed at developers | https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/01/belgiums-aikido-lands-17m-series-a-for-its-no-bs-security-platform-aimed-at-developers/
[PRNewswire, Nov 2023] Aikido Security raises €5m to offer best-in-class noise reduction in its security solution for growing SaaS businesses | https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aikido-security-raises-5m-to-offer-best-in-class-noise-reduction-in-its-security-solution-for-growing-saas-businesses-301986257.html
[Aikido Security Blog] Aikido Security Raises €2M Pre-Seed for Security Platform | https://www.aikido.dev/blog/aikido-security-raises-eur2-million-pre-seed-round-to-build-a-developer-first-software-security-platform
[Aikido Security] Unified Security Platform from Code to Runtime | https://www.aikido.dev
[Aikido Security] About | https://www.aikido.dev/about
[Aikido Security] Pricing | https://www.aikido.dev/pricing
[Aikido Security] Platform | https://www.aikido.dev/platform
[Aikido Security] Enterprise | https://www.aikido.dev/industries/aikido-for-enterprise
[Aikido Security] n8n customer story | https://www.aikido.dev/customer-story/n8n
[Aikido Security] Pathful customer story | https://www.aikido.dev/customer-story/pathful
[Aikido Docs] Aikido Docs Overview | https://help.aikido.dev/
[MoveTheNeedle, Jan 2026] Aikido Security's $60m Series B: How a Belgian Cybersecurity Startup Reached Unicorn Status | https://www.movetheneedle.news/technology/aikido-security-s--60m-series-b--how-a-belgian-cybersecurity-startup-reached-unicorn-status/
[Tracxn] Aikido 2026 Company Profile, Team, Funding & Competitors | https://tracxn.com/d/companies/aikido/__xQ2U4WYMnhUY7OwCBzy1vKkt86W3WYGS5C0LXCvrWsw
[Crunchbase] Aikido Security Company Profile & Funding | https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/aikido-security
[LinkedIn] Aikido Security company page | https://www.linkedin.com/company/aikido-security/
[KnowledgeNile] Aikido Security Launches Aikido Endpoint Protection | https://www.knowledgenile.com/news-post/aikido-security-launches-endpoint-protection-for-developer-devices-as-software-supply-chain-attacks-hit-unprecedented-scale
[BusinessModelCanvasTemplate] Brief History of Aikido Security | https://businessmodelcanvastemplate.com/blogs/brief-history/aikido-security-brief-history
Articles about Aikido Security
- Aikido Security Wants Every Developer to Ship Code Without a Security Backlog — The Ghent startup hit a $1B valuation by replacing the dashboard sprawl that AppSec teams inherited from a decade of point tools.