Aikido Security, the Ghent-based cybersecurity company that became a unicorn in January, has acquired Cyberly, a Warsaw startup that runs AI-driven attack simulations to train employees against phishing and other social-engineering scams. Aikido disclosed the deal on October 20, 2026, when it launched Noon, a new workforce security platform.
Aikido said the acquisition was completed in September. Terms were not disclosed. At the same time, Aikido revealed that it had bought Outkept, a Ghent email-security and phishing-training company, and both teams now form the core of Noon.
Cyberly's four co-founders, Alex Horlach, Evgeny Chamtonau, Pavel Hraznykh and Andrew Labadzinski, continue to build Noon. Warsaw becomes one of Noon's development hubs, and Polish startup outlet mamstartup.pl reported that the team will keep working from Poland and that Aikido plans to grow it gradually.
What Cyberly built
Cyberly's software simulates the kinds of attacks employees now face, using AI to make phishing, voice and messaging scams look realistic, and it also gives companies visibility into how staff are using AI tools at work.
Before the deal, Cyberly protected more than 300,000 employees across more than 200 organisations, according to Aikido's announcement.
Revolut co-founder Vlad Yatsenko backed the company from the start as an adviser and investor, mamstartup.pl reported. Dealroom and mamstartup.pl also list Zone II Ventures, KAYA VC, Andrena and Octopus Ventures among its backers. The size of its funding rounds was not disclosed.
“Attackers don't always need to break into software when they can simply trick the people using it. Yet the security industry has long treated software and workforce security as two separate worlds.”
Why Aikido is buying
Aikido was founded in Ghent in 2022 and built its business on application security, scanning code and cloud setups for vulnerabilities. It says more than 150,000 teams use its products, including SoundCloud, Niantic, Runway, Handshake and Deel. In June it bought Root, another security startup.
With Noon, Aikido is expanding from the software that companies build to the people who build and use it. "AI is making social engineering more convincing and easier to scale, while fundamentally changing how employees work," Willem Delbare, Aikido's chief executive, said in the announcement. "With Noon, we're bringing the same approach to workforce security: one platform, less complexity, and protection for every employee, not just those building software."
Horlach said the security industry has long treated software security and workforce security as separate. "Attackers don't always need to break into software when they can simply trick the people using it," he said.
What Noon does
Noon combines email protection, attack simulations and training, device protection and AI governance in one product, which is sold separately from Aikido's code security tools. Simulations cover deepfake voice calls, SMS, QR codes and multi-step campaigns, and training lessons are delivered inside Slack, Microsoft Teams and Google Chat.
The platform integrates with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack and Teams, and Aikido says it supports audits under SOC 2, ISO 27001, NIS2, DORA, HIPAA and GDPR. It is sold under its own brand at noon.security.
Aikido presented Noon as a business inside the company. Outkept's founders lead its partnerships with managed service providers and its email-security work, while Cyberly's technology supplies the AI-driven simulations and AI-usage visibility.
A crowded field
Security awareness training is a large and established market, with incumbents that sell phishing simulations and training courses to companies of every size. Aikido is betting that generative AI has made older training formats less effective, because scams can now be written, voiced and personalised at scale.
For Cyberly, the deal is an early exit. Its founders will now work inside a company that Aikido describes as the fastest European cybersecurity business to reach unicorn status, rather than raising further rounds on their own. The Warsaw team gives Aikido an engineering base in Poland in addition to its home in Ghent.
Aikido did not say how many Cyberly employees joined, or whether Cyberly's product will continue to be sold under its own name. Its customers are expected to move to Noon, which takes over the simulation and AI-visibility features Cyberly built.
