We raised a $3M Seed round for ByteChek

Nervous. Scared. Excited. Prepared. Confident.?

These are the feelings I had at Fort Benning, Georgia, in the Fall of 2011. In the final week of the U.S. Army Airborne school, also known as "jump week." Jump week is the culmination of your airborne training and when you make your first of five jumps out of a perfectly good airplane. I remember being on the plane for my first jump and thinking, "Are you really about to do this?" There was no going back. I was jumping out of that plane. I was going to do it again and again and again.?

I felt these same emotions on March 1, 2020, which was my first official day as the Founder & CEO of ByteChek. Ten days later, the sports world was shocked by the suspension of the NBA season due to the coronavirus, and the impending global pandemic became real and tangible to a lot of people. I quickly realized that the uncertainty and risk of launching a startup increased exponentially. At that moment, I thought about the fact that I had just walked away from a job that was paying me more money than I ever dreamed of making, working with people I love, and doing something I enjoyed. You'd think the uncertainty would have discouraged me or made me question whether or not I should be starting a company. Nope.?

I didn't flinch.?

I knew that I had a higher calling, a bigger purpose than a well-paid, safe corporate job. I believed in the vision of what ByteChek would become and how we would change the compliance industry for the better. My vision for ByteChek since March 1 of 2020 has always been about simplifying the compliance process for B2B companies so they can get back to building big successful businesses. I spent years watching companies go through time-consuming, painful audits and knew there had to be a better way. During this time, I led and oversaw over 500 SOC 2 examinations along with hundreds of other combined ISO, HIPAA, and PCI audits.?

This insight and experience taught me that compliance really sucks. The cybersecurity compliance industry is ready for an all-in-one solution. ByteChek helps companies of all sizes build their cybersecurity program, continuously manage their cybersecurity program, and ultimately complete their SOC 2, ISO 27001, and HIPAA assessments - all from a single platform. In short:

ByteChek makes compliance suck less.?

I know we are building an incredible product solving a significant problem, but I have a second purpose here beyond SOC 2 compliance. I knew I had an opportunity to build a company that focuses on its people and creates a culture where people can bring their whole selves to work every day.?

Startups are hard, this journey is difficult, but that doesn't mean that growth and success have to come at the expense of people. I believe that culture scales, and I know my purpose in building ByteChek is to build a company where underrepresented groups are given a fair shot, uniqueness is celebrated, and everyone's voice is heard.?

This purpose-driven approach to building ByteChek is what sustained me over the last 18 months through a ridiculous amount of ups and downs. It's what I tapped into to successfully raise an oversubscribed $3M Seed round of funding from primarily Black-led venture capital funds and Black angel investors.?

Raising venture capital is challenging. It is especially tough to raise venture capital when you are a Black, first-time founder without a traditional software engineering background. But I did that shit.?

The fun part??

We are just getting started. With this new funding round, we will double the size of our team and enhance our SOC 2, ISO 27001, and HIPAA software solutions. ByteChek is positioned to rapidly grow in a market that is only getting bigger by the day. We've developed a platform that eliminates the hard part of cybersecurity compliance, and I'm excited to continue to challenge the status quo in the compliance industry.?

Thank you to all the ByteChekians that have been a part of this journey so far. You all have helped us make history, and you should be proud of your contributions. None of this is possible without you all, and I am excited to continue to grow the ByteChek family.?

Thank you to our early customers for believing in us from the beginning. Your feedback, public praise, and continued support is the only reason we're here today, and as you all know, we are obsessed with your success and helping you achieve your compliance goals.?

Thank you to our many investors, including Authentic Ventures, who led our seed round, with additional participation from Concrete Rose Capital, Level Up Ventures (Hearst), Black Venture Capital Consortium, Miami Angels, Black Angels Miami, as well as notable angel investors including Nick Caldwell, Kimberly Marshall, Tom Stocky, Omri Dahan, Malcolm Robinson, Corey Quinn, Greg Waldorf, DeVaris Brown, Ted Lucas, Frank Kim, and Mandy Howard. Authentic Ventures Managing Partner Lindsay Lee also joined ByteChek's Board of Directors.?

The Marathon Continues?