KoComplyAgentic Compliance
Startup checklist

The startup security checklistauditors and buyers actually test.

Every first audit fails in the same five places. This is the working checklist we run for seed and Series A teams — grouped by system, written in plain language, with the evidence an auditor expects for each item. Agents can collect most of it for you; the point of the list is knowing what 'done' looks like.

30
Controls that cover a first audit
5
Systems in scope for most startups
2–4 wks
To close the list with agents
0
Spreadsheets required

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Identity and access

Access is the single largest source of audit findings for startups. Enforce it once at the identity provider instead of per-app.

  • SSO and MFA on email, cloud, code and every production system
  • Least privilege roles — no shared admin accounts
  • Offboarding removes access within 24 hours, with a dated record
  • Quarterly access review with an approver named per system

Cloud and infrastructure

Auditors ask what production is, who can change it, and how you would know if it broke. Classify prod vs non-prod first — half of the checklist only applies to prod.

  • Encryption at rest and in transit, no public data stores holding customer data
  • Logging and alerting retained for at least 12 months
  • Backups with a tested, dated restore
  • Infrastructure changes go through review, not console clicks

Codebase and change management

Show that code reaching production was reviewed and scanned. Branch protection plus CI checks satisfies most of this automatically.

  • Protected main branch and mandatory peer review
  • Secret scanning on every push and in history
  • Dependency and container scanning with remediation SLAs
  • Traceable link from ticket to pull request to deploy

People, devices and vendors

The human layer is cheap to fix early and expensive to reconstruct later.

  • Security training at onboarding and annually
  • Policy acknowledgement recorded per employee
  • Disk encryption, screen lock and endpoint protection on every laptop
  • Vendor due diligence and a subprocessor list kept current
  • Annual risk assessment and an incident response plan you have rehearsed

How KoComply gets you there

Week 1

Connect and classify

Connect cloud, code, identity and devices. Agents classify production systems and map controls.

Week 2

Close identity gaps

MFA, least privilege and offboarding evidence — usually the fastest 40% of the list.

Week 3

Harden code and infra

Branch protection, secret scanning, backups, logging and remediation SLAs.

Week 4

People and vendors

Training, acknowledgements, vendor reviews and the risk register — drafted, you approve.

Founders building trust with KoComply

"People tasks got auto-completed, repos were classified automatically, and evidence just appeared. The fastest path to compliance I've seen."
Deepesh JayalFounder
"KoComply gave me AWS and codebase compliance posture in one view with clear steps to fix each issue and auto-added remediation tags. Saved weeks of work figuring out what to fix to be compliant."
HarshSr. Software Engineer
"KoComply turned a confusing compliance project into a clear, agent-driven workflow. We always knew the next step and who owned it."
VitragFounder

Frequently asked questions

How many controls does a startup really need?

A first SOC 2 or ISO 27001 typically lands between 60 and 100 controls, but they collapse into about 30 distinct actions across five systems.

Can we skip a control that does not apply?

Yes, with a documented justification. Agents draft the exception rationale — for example a public bucket holding only marketing assets.

What evidence do auditors accept?

System-generated evidence with dates and owners. Screenshots age badly; continuous exports from your real tools do not.

Does this list cover both SOC 2 and ISO 27001?

Largely yes. ISO 27001 adds the ISMS layer — scope, Statement of Applicability and management review — which agents draft from the same data.

Become compliance ready in 2–4 weeks

One price to KoComply covers everything — agentic GRC and the audit, all inclusive. Qualifying early-stage startups get Startup Access pricing and can pay in stages.