Belgian Cybersecurity Startup Radar 2026

Key takeaways from the radar

A curated cohort of 40 cybersecurity companies (34 startups, 5 scale-ups and 1 unicorn) forms the basis for analyzing Belgium’s innovation landscape.
Startup creation has stabilized, with 8 new startups in 2025, matching the level of 2024.
68% of startups already sell outside Belgium, making Europe the natural first expansion market.
31 of 40 companies integrate artificial intelligence into their products or services.
Funding remains concentrated: six players raised a combined €88.6 million, with Aikido alone accounting for €74 million.

A first look at Belgium’s evolving cybersecurity innovation landscape

The Belgian Cybersecurity Startup Radar 2026 marks the first edition of Wavestone’s initiative to map and monitor the country’s cybersecurity innovation ecosystem. Beyond providing a snapshot of the market today, the ambition is to establish a long-term observatory that tracks the evolution of Belgian cybersecurity startups, emerging technology trends and ecosystem maturity over time.

This inaugural edition identifies 40 cybersecurity companies, including 34 startups, 5 scale-ups and 1 unicorn. While the pace of new company creation has stabilized compared to previous years, innovation remains strong and the ecosystem continues to mature, reflecting a market entering a stabilization phase while continuing to attract entrepreneurial talent.

Beyond the numbers, this year’s radar highlights several structural trends: the growing role of artificial intelligence, an increase in international ambitions, the emergence of strong innovation clusters across the country and the gradual maturation of a still predominantly early-stage ecosystem.

Discover the radar (EN only)

Infographic titled **“The 2026 Belgian Cybersecurity Innovation Radar”**, created by Wavestone. A radial chart centred on a purple **“By Wavestone”** circle groups Belgian cybersecurity companies into the following areas:

**Network Security:** Yoomy and Adeya

**Data Security:** Shield AI, Enkryptik, and Hybrid Core

**Cloud Security:** StackGuardian and Shadow Phantom

**Application Security:** Aeonics

**Identity and Access Management:** Tenbeo, Talori, Palmki by Perfect-ID, Quasar, and 9ID

**Governance, Risk and Compliance:** companies including Cyfora, Cordata, Ceeyu, CuratedAI, Aidiky, and Arlock

**Incident Response:** one company

Separate circles around the main radar represent additional categories:

**Securing AI:** 8peaks

**Secure Data Exchange:** ChainComply and CrypDefi

**Vulnerabilities:** Erawyps, PentaHub, BlackBird, Dashan, and Nemesis

**Attack Surface Management:** two companies, including LeakIX

**Monitoring:** Disso

**Cryptology:** ThotQuantum and iCrypto

**Endpoints:** XFA

A box at the bottom left identifies five **scale-ups**: OutKept, SimpleBackups, iCure, Phished, and NoCodeX. At the bottom right, **Aikido** is identified as a **unicorn**. The diagram uses shades of purple, green, and blue to distinguish the categories, and the Wavestone logo appears at the bottom centre.

Startup creation stabilizes, the ecosystem matures

After several years of expansion, the Belgian cybersecurity ecosystem has entered a phase of stabilization. 8 new companies were identified in 2025, matching the number recorded in 2024 and maintaining a consistent level of entrepreneurial activity.

This trend reflects a market that is moving beyond its emergence phase. Rather than witnessing explosive growth in the number of new entrants, Belgium is now seeing a more balanced development, where the creation of new startups is accompanied by the progressive maturation of existing players.

The result is an ecosystem that continues to grow while improving its overall maturity. The presence of five scale-ups and one unicorn demonstrates that Belgian cybersecurity companies are increasingly capable of progressing beyond the startup stage and achieving meaningful market traction.

Anchored in Flanders, expanding nationwide

Belgium’s cybersecurity innovation landscape remains geographically concentrated in the Flemish regions, with Antwerp and East Flanders acting as major hubs for entrepreneurship, technology development and investment.

However, the ecosystem is becoming increasingly distributed across the country. Brussels continues to play a central role as a business and institutional hub, while Wallonia is showing encouraging signs of growth, particularly in the province of Hainaut.

This broader geographical distribution contributes to the resilience of the ecosystem by fostering multiple innovation centers and creating stronger links between academia, industry and public stakeholders.

As cybersecurity becomes a strategic concern across all sectors of the economy, the emergence of regional ecosystems represents an important asset for Belgium’s long-term competitiveness.

**Regional distribution of Belgium’s cybersecurity companies, with the strongest concentrations in Antwerp and East Flanders.**

A map of Belgium uses a white-to-bright-green scale to show the relative concentration of cybersecurity companies, with white indicating low concentration and bright green indicating high concentration.

**Highest concentration:** Antwerp and East Flanders

**Relatively high concentration:** Hainaut and Flemish Brabant

**Moderate concentration:** West Flanders, Liège, and Walloon Brabant

**Lower concentration:** Limburg and Brussels

**Lowest concentration:** Namur and Luxembourg

The Wavestone logo appears at the bottom centre against a purple background with concentric circles.

An ecosystem dominated by early-stage companies

Despite its dynamism, the Belgian cybersecurity market remains largely composed of early-stage companies. Only a limited number of startups have reached scale-up status, highlighting both the youth of the ecosystem and the challenges associated with scaling cybersecurity businesses in Europe.

Funding data reflects this situation. Six companies reported a combined €88.6 million in fundraising (with Aikido alone accounting for €74 million), with only a handful of players securing significant investment rounds. While several companies have demonstrated strong growth potential, the overall funding landscape remains relatively modest compared with larger European cybersecurity ecosystems.

Another notable characteristic is the strong presence of domestic investors. Belgian capital continues to play a leading role in supporting local cybersecurity innovation, demonstrating confidence in the ecosystem while also highlighting opportunities to attract a broader international investor base. As companies seek to accelerate growth and expand internationally, access to larger funding rounds will likely become an increasingly important success factor.

**Fundraising among Belgian cybersecurity companies is highly concentrated, with Aikido accounting for €74 million of the funding reported as of May 2026.**

A horizontal bar chart titled **“Fundraising distribution – As of May 2026”** compares the funding raised by six Belgian cybersecurity start-ups and scale-ups:

**Aikido:** €74 million

**Phished:** €9 million

**XFA:** €2.7 million

**Nemesis:** €1.8 million

**ChainComply:** €570,000

**OutKept:** €500,000

Aikido’s bar is substantially longer than all the others, illustrating a strong concentration of funding in the company. Small flags and symbols beside the bars indicate the companies’ geographic funding sources. The graphic is based on data provided by the cybersecurity start-ups and scale-ups. The Wavestone logo appears at the bottom centre.

Looking beyond national borders – Europe first

International expansion has become a defining characteristic of the Belgian cybersecurity ecosystem. According to our analysis, 68% of startups already commercialize their solutions outside Belgium, while only 32% focus exclusively on the domestic market.

Europe remains by far the primary destination for expansion. Geographic proximity, regulatory alignment and market accessibility make European countries the natural first step for Belgian cybersecurity companies seeking growth. The Americas generally represent a second phase of internationalization, targeted once a stronger commercial foundation has been established. Expansion into Asia-Pacific remains comparatively limited, reflecting the complexity and resource requirements associated with entering these markets.

This international orientation demonstrates the ambition of Belgian cybersecurity entrepreneurs and highlights the necessity of addressing larger markets in order to achieve meaningful scale.

**International reach of Belgian cybersecurity companies: 68% export their products, with Europe, the Middle East and Africa representing the strongest regional presence.**

An infographic uses a purple world map and green markers to show the international market presence of Belgian cybersecurity companies:

**Europe, Middle East and Africa:** 27

**Americas:** 13

**Asia-Pacific:** 6

Two circles on the right summarise the overall export activity:

**68%** export their products outside Belgium.

**32%** sell exclusively to clients in Belgium.

The Wavestone logo appears at the bottom centre.

Four domains lead Belgian cyber innovation

The 2026 Belgian Cybersecurity Startup Radar shows the breadth of innovation currently taking place across the ecosystem. Several cybersecurity domains are emerging as particularly promising areas of innovation within the Belgian ecosystem.

Future-proofing cryptography and data protection

The growing importance of data sovereignty, privacy regulations and quantum-resilient security mechanisms is driving innovation in cryptography and data protection technologies.

Automating vulnerability management

The expanding attack surface created by cloud adoption, connected devices and software complexity is increasing the need for automated vulnerability identification and remediation, while recent advances in AI are creating new opportunities to deliver these capabilities more effectively and at scale.

Strengthening identity and access management

As organisations operate across increasingly distributed environments, identity has become the new security perimeter. Belgian startups are developing innovative solutions to secure access while improving user experience and operational efficiency.

Streamlining governance, risk and compliance

Organisations continue to face increasing regulatory pressure. As a result, automation and intelligence-driven compliance solutions are becoming strategic priorities, creating strong opportunities for innovation in governance and risk management.

Artificial intelligence becomes a standard capability

Artificial intelligence is now firmly embedded within the Belgian cybersecurity ecosystem. 31 of the 40 companies included in this year’s radar integrate AI into their products or services, confirming that AI has become a mainstream capability rather than a differentiating feature. More importantly, the nature of AI adoption is evolving.

While many organizations initially leveraged AI to enhance operational efficiency and automate specific tasks, the ecosystem is increasingly moving toward more impactful and strategic applications. Startups are using AI to strengthen threat detection capabilities, automate incident response, improve risk analysis and develop innovative approaches to offensive security. Among AI-enabled startups, two distinct groups emerge:

The first consists of companies for which AI is a supporting capability used to accelerate and enhance cybersecurity processes. This category represents nearly two-thirds of AI-enabled startups.
The second group includes companies where AI constitutes the core technological foundation of the solution. For these organizations, the product itself would not exist without advanced AI capabilities. These players are particularly active in areas such as autonomous threat response, attack simulation and AI governance.

Generative AI currently dominates usage patterns, accounting for approximately 75% of observed implementations. However, hybrid approaches combining generative and predictive AI are beginning to emerge, signaling a gradual shift toward more sophisticated architectures. As AI adoption accelerates, the challenge for cybersecurity companies will be to maximize its value while simultaneously addressing the new security, governance and trust risks it introduces.

AI plays a significant role in Belgium’s cybersecurity ecosystem: it is fundamental to 27% of the assessed scope and supports products in a further 50%, highlighting both its growing potential and associated risks.

An infographic explains how Belgian cybersecurity companies integrate artificial intelligence into their products:

**AI as core — 27% of the scope, or 11 companies:** AI is fundamental to the product, and the solution would not exist without it. Applications include human risk and identity management, autonomous defence and attack simulation, and AI security and automated governance.

**AI as support — 50% of the scope, or 20 companies:** AI accelerates and enhances the value of cybersecurity activities. Of these companies, **75% use generative AI exclusively**, while **25% combine generative and predictive AI**.

A diagram groups companies by AI-related cybersecurity application:

**AI Security and Governance:** Airlock and 8peaks

**Infrastructure and Network Security:** Cyberwall, Yoomity, and Nemesis

**Identity and Biometrics:** Tenbeo and 9ID

**Data Security and Privacy:** Shield AI and CuratedAI

**Monitoring and Awareness:** Disso and Phished

The accompanying text describes AI as both an opportunity and a risk. It notes that AI is widely used for automation, detection, and decision-making, while more advanced applications are taking increasingly strategic roles. It also emphasises the need to manage new risks introduced by AI. The figures are based on public sources and company interviews. A Wavestone logo appears at the bottom.

Looking ahead

The Belgian cybersecurity ecosystem enters 2026 with solid foundations and encouraging momentum. The pace of startup creation remains stable; innovation continues across a broad range of cybersecurity domains and international ambitions are growing. Artificial intelligence is increasingly reshaping product strategies, while several specialized segments are emerging as centers of excellence.

At the same time, the ecosystem remains relatively young. Access to larger funding rounds, the emergence of additional scale-ups and continued international expansion will be critical factors in determining the next stage of development.

Belgium may not yet rival Europe’s largest cybersecurity hubs in terms of scale, but it is steadily building a diverse and innovative ecosystem capable of addressing some of the most pressing cybersecurity challenges of the digital economy.

Contribute to future editions

As this is the first edition of the Belgian Cybersecurity Startup Radar, we welcome feedback from the ecosystem. If you believe your company should be considered for future editions, or if you would like to discuss the findings of this study, please do not hesitate to contact the authors.

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Belgian Cybersecurity Startup Radar 2026 (EN only)

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Methodology

The Belgian Cybersecurity Startup Radar 2026 is based on Wavestone’s continuous monitoring of the cybersecurity and digital trust ecosystem. More than 100 Belgian cybersecurity companies were screened through market research, direct exchanges with founders and an annual interview campaign.
The radar focuses on cybersecurity startups and scale-ups headquartered in Belgium. Startups were included if they were founded within the last seven years, employed fewer than 35 people and generated less than 50% of their activity from consulting services. This selection approach prioritizes early-stage, product-driven companies and excludes mature organizations, consulting-heavy businesses and companies no longer active in the market.

In addition to startups, the radar features a small group of Belgian scale-ups. These are companies that have outgrown the startup criteria but remain product-driven: they employ fewer than 250 people and generate less than 50% of their activity from consulting. To qualify, a scale-up must also demonstrate clear commercial traction, either through a funding round of at least €10 million within the last three years, or through annual revenues above €2.5 million combined with average annual growth of more than 25% over the last three fiscal years.