• Aikido raises $17M Series A led by Singular.vc to bring its 'no BS' security platform for developers to SMEs worldwide

• The round comes just 6 months after Aikido's $5.3M seed funding, making it the fastest capitalized startup in Belgian history

• Founded by serial entrepreneur and CTO Willem Delbare, Aikido was created out of frustration with clunky, legacy security tools that "waste developers' time"

• Aikido centralizes all necessary code and cloud security scanners to make security simple for SMEs and doable for developers without industry jargon or red tape

• Launched in April 2023, Aikido is already used by over 3,000 organizations and 6,000 developers

Ghent-based Aikido, the get-it-done security platform for developers and SMEs, has raised $17M in fresh Series A funds from Singular.vc, joined by Notion Capital and Connect Ventures. The round comes a mere 6 months after Aikido raised $5.3M seed funding, making Aikido the fastest capitalized startup in Belgian history. The funds will be used to expand the platform and push Aikido onto the international stage to make security simple for SMEs and doable for developers.

Aikido was founded because developers have a problem. "Security, like compliance, used to be for the big guys" notes co-founder Willem Delbare, "now security is a growing requirement for all companies. It is critical for SMEs to win customers and grow upmarket." Delbare is referencing the number of compliance standards such as SOC2, ISO 27001, CIS, HIPAA, and the upcoming European NIS 2 Directive that have now become baseline requirements for software companies, especially for companies selling to the enterprise segment or dealing with sensitive data, like the health and fintech sectors. But growing compliance requirements and security work falls onto developers' shoulders, who are now expected to function as security experts.

Aikido simplifies security for developers with an all-in-one platform that brings together all necessary code and cloud security scanners in one place. It has a simple UI with a freemium self-service model so developers can help themselves. Henri Tilloy, who led the round at Singular.vc, notes "Aikido has an incredibly pragmatic and unique approach to security. It's simple, leverages open-source, it's easy to set up and use for developers; yet it ticks off the boxes of their company compliance and security requirements in one go."

An outsider in an established industry

They are an outsider challenger in the established tight-knit security industry. Security has long since been dominated by US and Israeli enterprises led by industry veterans. This industry ingroup can be seen in the "Checkpoint Mafia" for example, the security sector's own version of the "PayPal Mafia" (link). While an outsider, Delbare has years of experience working with legacy security tools as a long-time CTO and serial founder. He is building Aikido from the experience of an unsatisfied customer and a frustrated developer,

"I wasted countless hours on irrelevant security alerts as a CTO. These legacy security platforms eat up developer time and honestly, they make you feel dumb. Developers are so swamped with complexity and false alerts, that they stop checking them all together. All I want is to get the fix, make sure we are safe, and get back to my code. I had to become a security expert instead."

The company has experienced record growth since their seed round last November. Live for under 1 year, Aikido is used by 3k organizations and 6k individual developers, growing at 10 new organizations per day. Aikido's rapid growth includes a recent win with Visma, which chose Aikido to secure its portfolio of 175+ companies. With 30% of its customers in the US, Aikido aims for further international expansion to help developers get security done.

About Aikido: Aikido is the get-it-done security platform for developers and SMEs. Founded by Willem Delbare, Roeland Delrue, and Felix Garriau, Aikido has raised over $22.5M from Singular.vc, Notion Capital, Connect Ventures, and notable angels including Vanta CEO & Co-Founder, Christina Cacioppo. Get your web app secured in no time today: https://www.aikido.dev/

"Aikido centralizes all necessary code and cloud security scanners in one place. Created by pragmatic engineers, we put open-source solutions and the developer experience first in what we build and how we build it. We focus on finding what matters, so you aren't bothered by what doesn't. Win customers, grow up-market, and ace compliance. Aikido makes security simple for SMEs and doable for developers without industry jargon, red tape, and frankly, BS."

About Singular VC: Singular is a European venture firm partnering with remarkable founders building transformative companies. https://singular.vc/