Aikido Security just moved fast into the global spotlight. The Belgian startup from Ghent jumped to a $1 billion valuation after closing a $60 million Series B round led by DST Global.
Deal snapshot: $60M to push “no bullsh*t security”
The new funding round lifts Aikido to unicorn status only about three years after launch, making it one of Europe’s first fresh unicorns of 2026 and its fastest‑ever cybersecurity unicorn. The round is led by tech‑focused investor DST Global, joined by PSG, Singular, Notion Capital and other backers already tracking the team from earlier stages.
Key points from the deal:
- Round size: $60 million Series B.
- Valuation: About $1 billion post‑money.
- Lead investor: DST Global, led by Tom Stafford.
- HQ: Ghent, Belgium, with growing US push.
- Tagline: “No bullsh*t security” for modern dev teams.
For Europe’s venture scene, this puts another mark on the board for deep tech and cloud security, at a time when software supply‑chain risk and AI‑powered apps are scaling faster than security budgets.
What Aikido’s platform really does
Aikido aims to be a single security control room for engineers, bundling multiple scanners into one developer‑first platform. Instead of pushing alerts into yet another security dashboard, the tools drop directly into repos, CI/CD and developer workflows.
Core capabilities include:
- Static code analysis (SAST) across repos, now even free inside IDEs for many users.
- Container, cloud and infrastructure scanning under one pane.
- Credential leak detection and exposure checks.
- AI‑powered autofix suggestions inside pull requests for common issues.
- “Smart” triage that filters noise and keeps only reachable, exploitable risks on top.
The team pushes the view that security should feel like another engineering tool, not a compliance burden, which is part of why developer adoption accelerated in both Europe and the US.
Why investors rushed in now
The timing of the Series B lines up with three big shifts: AI adoption, attack surface sprawl, and a shortfall of security talent. As more teams ship AI‑centric apps, microservices and APIs, traditional point tools struggle to keep coverage and context.
Investor interest centers on a few themes:
- Growth curve: Aikido is cited as one of the fastest cybersecurity unicorns globally and the fastest in Europe.
- US demand: The company is now scaling a North America push, with early customers and leadership focusing on that market.
- Automation: AI‑driven auto‑fix and triage promise lower mean‑time‑to‑remediation and reduced alert fatigue for lean security teams.
- Platform angle: Bundling repo, cloud and container security means more wallet share and stickiness than a single‑feature scanner.
For DST Global and co‑investors, the bet is that developer‑centric platforms will own security budgets as software teams demand faster, automated defense.
How the $60M will likely be used
Aikido has flagged this round as fuel for both product expansion and geographic growth. The roadmap orbits around “self‑securing” software, where code is constantly scanned, prioritized and patched with minimal human back‑and‑forth.
Expected priority areas:
- Product: Deeper AI‑assisted remediation, broader language and framework coverage, and more automation for cloud and container stacks.
- Go‑to‑market: Bigger sales and customer‑success teams in Europe and the US, plus stronger partner channels.
- Community: More work with open‑source ecosystems and developer tooling so security sits closer to where code gets written.
If the team executes, Aikido has room to move from “fast unicorn” into a reference name in the global app‑sec platform race.
What this means for European cybersecurity
Aikido’s jump says a lot about how the European cybersecurity map is changing. Ghent, a city of roughly 270,000 people, now counts Aikido as its fourth unicorn, signalling that high‑growth security and SaaS companies no longer have to be born only in the US or a handful of mega‑hubs.
For founders and teams in the region, some signals stand out:
- Investors will back deep, technical, developer‑centric tools from secondary cities if traction is clear.
- Focused execution over just a few years can still break through noise in a crowded security market.
- With AI and software supply‑chain risk rising, demand for opinionated, integrated security platforms is opening new lanes.
If Europe keeps stacking exits and unicorn rounds like this, the next wave of app‑sec platforms may look much more geographically diverse.
(Source: techfundingnews, finimize)
