# Vinay Mahadik

> Vinay Mahadik is a security engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Securly and served as its founding CEO until August 2020. After roles at Qualys and McAfee and an MBA at Wharton, he helped build cloud-based software for schools and families. He subsequently co-founded Ayraa with Nikita Chikate and is identified by xdge as its co-founder and CEO.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at xdge (Ayraa, Inc.)
- **Organizations:** Securly, Ayraa, Inc. / xdge, Qualys, McAfee, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, MCNC
- **Nationality:** Indian
- **Education:** Bachelor of Engineering, Telecommunications, University of Mumbai, Master of Science, Computer Networking, North Carolina State University, MBA, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Co-founded Securly and led its first seven years as CEO., Named inventor on security and web-filtering patents., Helped expand Securly from filtering into a multi-product platform for schools and families.

## Career timeline

- **2000-2002** — Research assistant at MCNC.
- **2002** — Summer internship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.
- **2002-2005** — Vulnerability engineer at Qualys.
- **2005-2012** — Senior manager at McAfee, working in security research and development.
- **2013** — Securly featured in Wharton’s Winter Watch List; its school web filter launched that year.
- **2016** — Securly announced a $4 million Series A led by Owl Ventures.
- **2017** — Securly made its Chromebook filtering service free for K-12 schools in the US after an international rollout.
- **2018** — Securly announced a $16 million Series B led by Defy Partners.
- **2020-08** — Ended his tenure as Securly CEO.
- **2020-11** — Began his next venture, Ayraa, according to career profiles.
- **2021-03** — Named among selling shareholders in the announced Golden Gate Capital acquisition of Securly.
- **2023** — Ayraa previewed at SXSW and appeared on BetaList.

## Achievements

- Co-founded Securly and led its first seven years as CEO.
- Named inventor on security and web-filtering patents.
- Helped expand Securly from filtering into a multi-product platform for schools and families.
- Co-founded Ayraa, later operating under the xdge brand.

## Latest updates

- **2026-10** — As checked in October 2026, xdge’s official team page lists Mahadik as co-founder and CEO; the site describes workplace search and workflow automation. This is a current-status check, not a dated appointment announcement.
- **2023-07** — Ayraa was featured on BetaList as a workplace knowledge publishing and search platform.
- **2023-06** — A Startup Grind Q&A described Ayraa’s SXSW preview and refinement of its knowledge-management positioning.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinayxmahadik
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/vinayxmahadik
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vinay.mahadik.201121

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/vinay-mahadik
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-22