Startups
Security and Compliance for Startups
Practical security and compliance support for startups, scoped around your customer requirements, systems and available team. SecureRoot helps you work out what your customers are actually asking for, then delivers only that, with every fee shown separately.
Budget control
How the cost stays proportionate
A startup’s budget is controlled through scope and responsibility, not by dropping requirements. The framework asks the same of a ten-person company as of a large one, and the independent assessor checks the same things.
Scope to what was asked for
Start from the customer or regulator requirement in front of you: which report, certificate or test, covering which systems. A narrower, correct scope costs less than a broad one, and nothing required is left out.
Fix in order of risk
Remediation is prioritised, so the findings that matter to the requirement and to an attacker are closed first and lower-risk items are scheduled rather than rushed.
Reuse the tools you already have
Where your cloud provider, identity platform or ticketing system can produce the evidence a framework needs, the programme uses it rather than adding software.
Agree who does what
Your team owns the controls and produces evidence from normal work; SecureRoot designs, reviews and tests. Writing that split down at the start is what keeps the effort predictable.
Share evidence across compatible programmes
Where two frameworks ask for the same control, one piece of evidence can serve both. Each framework's own requirements and its independent assessment still stand.
See every fee separately
Consulting, testing, any tooling and the independent assessor's fee (CPA firm, certification body or QSA) are shown as separate lines. The assessor contracts with you directly.
Ways to engage
Three engagement models
Each is scoped and priced in writing after a scoping call. For the published indicative bands, see pricing.
Startup Assessment
A founder or CTO who has been asked for SOC 2, ISO/IEC 27001, a penetration test or a privacy answer and needs to know what is actually required.
You receive
- A written scope: which requirement, which systems, which framework or test
- A focused gap review against that requirement
- A prioritised list of what to do first
- An estimate for the next stage, with each fee component shown separately
Not included
- Implementing the controls
- Any independent audit, certification or attestation
Depends on
- A person on your side who can answer questions about the systems in scope
Startup Implementation
A team that has agreed which framework it is preparing for and wants help building the controls and the evidence.
You receive
- Implementation support for the agreed framework
- An evidence tracker your team keeps current
- A readiness review before the independent assessor arrives
Not included
- The independent assessor's work and fee
- Operating your controls for you
- Software licences, unless separately agreed
Depends on
- Named control owners on your side
- Time from your engineers to make changes
- An independent assessor chosen by you
Combined Startup Programme
A startup whose customers ask for more than one thing, for example SOC 2 and ISO/IEC 27001, or a framework plus a penetration test.
You receive
- One plan across the requirements, with shared evidence where the frameworks genuinely overlap
- Separate deliverables and assessor boundaries for each framework and report
Not included
- Treating one framework's certificate or report as a substitute for another
- The independent assessors' fees
Depends on
- The same as Startup Implementation, for each framework in the programme
Before you call
Work out what you are being asked for
Most startup security work starts with one request from one customer. Find yours below, read the guide first, then look at the service that scopes it.
| If you are asked | Read first | What we scope |
|---|---|---|
| A customer wants a SOC 2 report | SOC 2 Type 1 vs Type 2 | SOC 2 readiness |
| A customer or tender asks for ISO/IEC 27001 certification | Scoping an ISO programme | ISO/IEC 27001 implementation |
| A customer asks for a recent penetration test report | Penetration testing cost in India | Web application penetration testing |
| You build AI features and are asked about AI governance | ISO/IEC 42001 for AI startups | ISO/IEC 42001 |
| You have EU or UK users and are asked about GDPR | GDPR readiness for SaaS | Scoping a privacy assessment |
| You process personal data of people in India | Scoping a privacy assessment | DPDP Act compliance |
| You sell to US healthcare providers | HIPAA readiness for health-tech | HIPAA compliance |
| An enterprise buyer sent a security questionnaire | Responding to enterprise customer security requirements | Choosing a framework or report |
More help
If your request is not listed above, start with these. They cover how to choose between frameworks and reports, how to answer an enterprise buyer, and the checklists we use when scoping a piece of work.
Questions
Common startup questions
Should a startup do SOC 2 or ISO 27001 first?
Start from the request in front of you, not from the framework. There is no fixed order: the sequence follows whichever customer or tender is waiting. US enterprise buyers tend towards SOC 2, and a SOC 2 Type 1, which tests the design of your controls on one date, can unblock a waiting US deal. UK, European and many global tenders name ISO/IEC 27001, so certify first there; a running management system then produces most of what a SOC 2 Type 2 observation window needs. Gulf and Australian buyers often accept either, so ask the specific customer. If you will need both, plan them once from one control set, so work done for the first assessment is not redone for the second. A licensed CPA firm issues the SOC 2 report and an accredited certification body issues the ISO certificate; SecureRoot runs the readiness work for both.
Do we need a penetration test for SOC 2?
Not by name. SOC 2 is an attestation against the AICPA Trust Services Criteria, and none of the criteria contains the words "penetration test", unlike PCI DSS, which names one. In practice a recent test is the evidence auditors most commonly accept that your controls operate rather than merely exist on paper, and enterprise customers very often ask for a recent penetration test report before they sign. Scope it to the system your SOC 2 report describes, usually the customer-facing application, the APIs behind it and the cloud infrastructure it runs on. For a Type 2, the test should fall inside the observation window. SecureRoot's published timeline for testing is one to three weeks per surface, plus a retest window after your fixes, and the retest is part of the engagement. The deliverables include a findings report, a verified retest report and an attestation letter.
What does the independent assessor cost, compared with SecureRoot?
It is a separate fee, paid to a separate firm, and it is the same size of job for a startup as for anyone else. For SOC 2, the licensed CPA firm's audit fee is quoted during scoping; our pricing page shows an indicative market range for it beside our own band for readiness and audit support. For ISO/IEC 27001, the published band is a total budget to the certificate, our programme plus the certification body's Stage 1 and Stage 2 audit, which that body prices on audit days. For ISO/IEC 27701, 42001 and 22301, the certification body's two-stage audit is likewise paid by you. In every case the assessor contracts with you directly and invoices you; SecureRoot never collects or marks up that fee. Your estimate shows consulting, testing, any tooling and the assessor's fee as separate lines, so you can see which is which.
Can we start small?
Yes, by scope rather than by dropping requirements. A narrower, correct scope costs less than a broad one: one product and the team that runs it is a common and defensible first boundary, and the certificate or report names it, so customers read exactly what is covered. The Startup Assessment is built for this: it gives you a written scope covering which requirement, which systems and which framework or test, a focused gap review against that requirement, a prioritised list of what to do first, and an estimate for the next stage with each fee shown separately. If a deal is waiting, a penetration test of the product the customer will use is usually the fastest independent evidence you can add. What does not shrink is the framework itself: it asks the same of a ten-person company as of a large one, and the independent assessor checks the same things.
How long does it take?
SecureRoot's published timelines: a penetration test takes one to three weeks of testing per web application, mobile application, API or network, plus a retest window after your fixes. A SOC 2 Type 1 takes eight to twelve weeks; a first Type 2 takes six to nine months, assuming a three-month observation window. ISO/IEC 27001 takes four to seven months to a first certificate, and ISO/IEC 27701, 42001 and 22301 four to six months each. HIPAA readiness takes two to four months. The independent assessor's own work sits within or after those dates and is contracted by you. SecureRoot does not publish a single figure for a combined programme, because the overlap depends on your scope. Dates are committed after the gap assessment, and they depend on your engineers having time to make changes and on named control owners producing evidence.
Request a startup budget estimate
Tell us which customer or requirement prompted this, what you run, and when you need it. You get a written scope and an estimate with each fee shown separately.
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