Belgium's Aikido buys OutKept and Cyberly to launch worker-security unit Noon
What's the deal? Aikido Security, the Ghent-based cybersecurity unicorn, has acquired Belgian startup OutKeptDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Warsaw-based CyberlyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, folding both teams into Noon, a new workforce-security business. Aikido completed both deals in September 2026 and disclosed them on October 20. Terms were not disclosed.
What each side brings: OutKept, founded in 2020, contributes email security and phishing-awareness training; it served more than 1,000 organisations and 250,000 users across over 100 countries. Cyberly, founded in Warsaw in 2024, brings AI-driven attack simulations and visibility into how staff use AI tools, and had protected more than 300,000 employees across over 200 organisations.
What's the endgame? Noon combines email protection, device security, phishing simulations, training, and AI governance in one platform. The product targets social-engineering attacks that use cloned voices, fake login pages, and deceptive emails — threats AI has made cheaper and easier to scale.
Why now? The move extends Aikido beyond its core code, cloud, and application-security tools, which more than 150,000 teams use, including SoundCloud, Niantic, and Deel. It also opens the door to customers that do not build their own software.
Aikido reached a $1 billion valuation in January after a $60 million Series B, giving the newly minted unicorn capital for the expansion. All four Cyberly co-founders are staying on, and Warsaw becomes one of Noon's development hubs.
"Attackers don't always need to break into software when they can simply trick the people using it," said Alex Horlach, co-founder of Cyberly.
The signal: Cybersecurity providers are increasingly bundling adjacent offerings — NINJIODealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → recently bought SafeStack to add secure-code training to its human-risk platform. Aikido's pivot from protecting code to protecting workers is the sharper strategic bet, wagering that AI-powered impersonation is the next battleground.
Read more: vestbee.com, Business Insider
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