Why European Companies Choose a Local Cybersecurity Partner
Cybersecurity was about ticking boxes. Today it’s a matter of compliance, resilience, and trust. For European companies facing NIS2, GDPR, the Cyber Resilience Act and DORA, “is this secure?” is now being followed up with “is this European?”
That point is also reflected at the highest levels: French President Emmanuel Macron requested to meet with Aikido Security, because the tech industry is controlled by international players and he believes in the need for sovereign European champions in areas like security, defense, and cloud.
With 100 team members and more than 1,200 customers, Aikido is showing that European-built security can scale globally. Security is different from areas like streaming or gaming. Trust, compliance, and sovereignty are part of the product itself. Aikido was started in Europe and is built to scale globally, showing that you can be European-led and still compete worldwide.
Customer Stories: European Trust, Compliance & Sovereignty
David Van den Brande, CTO at Athumi, an Aikido customer, explains why a software security company ‘being European’ matters as much as technical strength:
“Aikido is a dynamic partner that shows up with the right focus exactly when you need it most: amidst high security standards, legislation and geopolitics.”
He continues:
“It matters more than you’d think. Security is strategic. Supporting European innovation aligns with our values around economic resilience, sovereignty, trust and compliance with the evolving European regulatory framework. Having a European (and, in our case, Belgian) partner who gets our context is a big advantage.”
Michael Haupt, Product & Tech SVP at Quandoo, adds that one of the key reasons the company chose Aikido was because it is a European company.
“It meant we had no concerns about data privacy, because companies originating from Europe have a better understanding of the implications of GDPR and other relevant regulations”.
Athumi and Quandoo are just two of a number of companies that have selected Aikido partly because it is a European organization. This includes high-profile government agencies and departments.
The European Cybersecurity Context: Why Local Providers Matter
Europe’s challenge is clear: too much of our digital infrastructure still depends on non-European providers. AI, cloud, data, and cybersecurity are already woven into critical supply chains, government, healthcare, and financial services. That level of dependence raises real risks for sovereignty and resilience.
Municipalities in Denmark, for example, have already moved away from U.S. cloud giants over sovereignty concerns. The same logic applies to cybersecurity. Your security provider holds sensitive data and plays a direct role in compliance. Working with a European partner means accountability, proximity, and a shared legal framework.
Europe’s diversity is often seen as fragmentation. In security, it is an advantage. Aikido operates across multiple legal frameworks and industries, which makes our solutions more adaptable for customers in Europe and abroad.
Aikido’s Advantage: Protecting Code, Cloud, Runtime & Quality
Aikido helps companies protect and improve every layer of their environment:
- Code security: scanning applications and dependencies for vulnerabilities before they ship
- Code quality: catching issues early so developers deliver cleaner, more reliable software
- Cloud security: checking infrastructure and configurations against compliance standards
- Runtime protection: monitoring workloads and containers to detect and block threats in production
Instead of juggling point solutions, companies get coverage across the areas that matter most, with GDPR and NIS2 built in, and support for Cyber Resilience Act and DORA compliance.
Here is a full list of the reports Aikido covers in its platform:
- ISO 27001:2022 Compliance
- SOC2 Compliance
- OWASP Top 10 Compliance
- CIS Compliance
- NIS2 Compliance
- NIST 800-53 Compliance
- PCI Compliance
- HIPAA Compliance
- DORA Compliance
- HITRUST LVL3 Compliance
- ENS Compliance
- GDPR
Strengthening Europe's Cybersecurity Resilience and Sovereignty
Europe is at a turning point. The EU has said it must seize this opportunity to build a secure and sovereign digital future. That means sovereignty through innovation: developing and controlling the technologies we depend on. It also means security by design: resilience and transparency must be built into the stack.
Winning outside of Europe matters too; sovereignty is not about turning away from global markets. It is about making sure Europe also has its own strong players in critical areas like security.
Aikido is part of that effort. By choosing Aikido, companies aren’t just protecting their systems, they are supporting European innovation and resilience at a time when it matters most.
Choosing Aikido Security: The Trusted EU Cybersecurity Partner
For European businesses, Aikido delivers complete protection across code, quality, cloud, and runtime, and the reassurance of a partner that understands the European context.
If you need security that meets EU regulations and comes from a team that knows your environment, Aikido is the straightforward choice.
Protect your company with a European partner. Book a demo with Aikido Security.
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