Belgian Cybersecurity Unicorn Aikido Acquires Israeli AI Security Firm Root for $70 Million

Belgian cybersecurity unicorn Aikido Security has acquired the Israeli cybersecurity company Root, which developed an AI-driven platform for securing open-source components. The acquisition will lead to the establishment of an Aikido development center in Israel, absorbing all Root employees and expanding the team. The deal's value was not officially disclosed but is estimated between $70 million and $100 million.

Root, originally founded as Slim.AI, created the open-source Slim Toolkit and was established by Benji Kalman, Miki Gordon, Ian Riepel, and John Amerel. The company employs about 25 people, including 15 at its Tel Aviv development center, and has raised approximately $31 million from venture capital firms such as Insight Partners, Decibel Ventures, Boldstart Ventures, Lama Partners, and TechAviv. Its clients include SiXworks (an IBM subsidiary), DeleteMe, and Relay Networks.

This acquisition follows several others by Aikido in the past year, including AI-based code review firm Trag and autonomous penetration testing companies Allseek and Haicker. Aikido serves over 100,000 teams globally, counting clients like Premier League, Revolut, SoundCloud, and Niantic. Earlier this year, Aikido completed a $60 million Series B funding round, valuing the company at $1 billion, with total funding reaching about $85 million.

Aikido co-founder and CEO Willem Delbare emphasized the need for rapid security fixes in open-source code, highlighting that organizations currently face the difficult choice between risky version upgrades or switching to closed solutions. He explained that Root's technology enables hundreds of verified security patches daily for versions already in use, without requiring version upgrades or code migration, making software supply chain security accessible to all organizations.

Root founders Gordon and Kalman noted the challenge developers face in prioritizing endless security vulnerabilities. They stressed that instead of debating which flaws to fix, organizations should simply patch them in the versions they already use, avoiding complex upgrades or migrations that can break working code. Their goal is to allow organizations to maintain their existing technologies while quickly addressing vulnerabilities without code changes.