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From Ghent to Silicon Valley, the journey of a Belgian unicorn
Belgium is home to many ambitious technology companies. But turning a strong technical idea into a global success story takes more than technology alone.
It takes the right talent, the right connections, and an environment where companies can develop, test ideas and build partnerships.
Founded in Ghent in 2022, Aikido Security has grown from a Belgian start-up into a global unicorn in just a few years. Its journey offers a compelling example of how a technology company can grow from Belgium while aiming for an international market from the start.
Solving a clear problem
Cybersecurity teams often rely on multiple tools to monitor code, cloud infrastructure, applications and dependencies. With so many solutions working separately, it can be difficult to understand which risks really matter and where to focus first.
Aikido brings these different layers together on a single platform, helping teams see vulnerabilities in context and act on them faster.
The goal is not simply to detect more problems, but to make security clearer, more relevant and easier to act on.
From Belgian start-up to unicorn
In January 2026, Aikido Security announced a $60 million Series B funding round, bringing its valuation to $1 billion.
In just three years, the company had reached unicorn status and accelerated its international expansion.
Today, the company serves more than 100,000 teams and has offices in San Francisco, London and Chicago, while keeping its roots in Ghent. Its story is a reminder that building for a global market does not necessarily mean starting somewhere else.
The importance of ecosystems
Aikido's story also highlights another factor behind the growth of technology companies, the ecosystem around them.
Start-ups need more than funding to grow. They need access to researchers, engineers, industrial partners, investors, talent and specialized infrastructure. They also need opportunities to test ideas, develop partnerships, validate technologies and connect with potential customers.
This is where ecosystems can make a real difference.
At A6K, start-ups, industrial companies, research centers, universities and training organizations work side by side. Bringing these different communities together creates opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration and access to the skills and expertise companies need to move forward.
And sometimes, the right connection can be just as important as the right technology.
Beyond providing a place to work, we aim to create the conditions for these connections to happen, helping technology projects move from an idea to a solution with real industrial impact.
Belgian story, global perspective
Aikido Security's success shows what can happen when a clear technological problem meets strong talent, an ambitious solution and the willingness to look beyond the local market.
Born in Belgium. Built for a global market.
Stories like Aikido's illustrate why bringing different parts of the technology ecosystem closer together matters. When start-ups, industry, research and talent have more opportunities to connect, ideas can move faster and new collaborations can emerge.
Hear the story directly from the people building it
On September 25, Roeland Delrue, co-founder and CEO of Aikido Security, will be our guest at A6K for our next Brown paperbag session.
Join us to go beyond the success story and hear directly from the people building one of Belgium's most ambitious cybersecurity companies.
