Unicorns and Code: Inside Aikido Security’s $60 Million Power Play

It’s not every day a European cybersecurity startup bags a unicorn crown and a war chest of $60 million, but Aikido Security’s latest funding round is more than just a headline. Behind the flashy valuation, there’s a story of how the breakneck speed of modern software development is outpacing the very tools meant to protect it - and how one company aims to flip the script on the industry’s aging defenses.

Fast Facts

• Aikido Security raised $60 million in Series B funding, reaching a $1 billion valuation.
• The round was led by DST Global, with PSG Equity, Notion Capital, and Singular joining in.
• Aikido’s platform secures the entire software development lifecycle, serving over 100,000 teams.
• Total funding now exceeds $84 million for the Belgium-based company.
• Cybersecurity startups globally pulled in nearly $14 billion in 2025, highlighting fierce competition.

Founded in Belgium, Aikido Security has quietly amassed a following among developers frustrated with security tools that feel stuck in the past. As app-building cycles shrink from months to mere minutes, the risks multiply: vulnerabilities slip through, attackers move faster, and traditional security gates often fail to keep up. “How software is built today looks nothing like it did even a few years ago, but most security tooling is still anchored to the past,” says CEO Willem Delbare. His pitch? Security must become as dynamic and automated as the code it protects.

Aikido’s platform is designed to weave security into every stitch of the software lifecycle. It combines code scanning, cloud visibility, offensive security testing (think: simulated attacks to find weak spots before hackers do), and in-app runtime defenses that can spot and block threats while software is actually running. This all-in-one approach aims to break the old pattern of security as a slow, after-the-fact hurdle - and instead make it a continuous, adaptive process.

The $60 million infusion, led by heavyweight investor DST Global, is both a bet on Aikido’s technology and a signal of the escalating arms race in cyber defense. The company’s claim of serving over 100,000 teams is bold, but with global cyberattacks rising and the VC money flowing - nearly $14 billion poured into cybersecurity startups in 2025 alone - the stakes have never been higher.

What sets Aikido apart? Insiders point to its focus on developer experience: security tools that don’t slow down progress or drown teams in false alarms. By automating detection and response across the software pipeline, Aikido hopes to make security frictionless, even as threats grow more sophisticated. But with rivals raising mega-rounds and the threat landscape evolving by the hour, the real test will be whether Aikido’s continuous defense can keep pace with the industry’s relentless speed.

As the cybersecurity gold rush accelerates, Aikido Security’s unicorn leap is more than a funding milestone - it’s a wake-up call for an industry racing to secure tomorrow’s code, today. Whether Aikido’s vision will set a new standard or be outpaced by the next wave remains to be seen, but one thing is clear: in the battle for safer software, standing still is not an option.

WIKICROOK

• Unicorn: A unicorn is a privately owned startup valued at over $1 billion, recognized for its rapid growth and significant innovation in its industry.
• Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC): The Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) is the step-by-step process of planning, designing, building, testing, and deploying software applications.
• Code Scanning: Code scanning automatically checks code for security flaws and bugs, helping developers find and fix issues early in the software development process.
• Runtime Defense: Runtime defense is the practice of monitoring and protecting applications in real time, detecting and stopping threats as they occur during execution.
• Offensive Security Testing: Offensive security testing uses simulated attacks to uncover and fix vulnerabilities in systems, helping organizations strengthen their cybersecurity defenses.