ByteChek
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
ByteChek was a Miami-based cybersecurity compliance startup founded in November 2020 by AJ Yawn (a former US Army Captain and senior information security professional) and Jeff Cook (CFO). It offered an all-in-one automated platform that helped businesses become compliant with SOC 2, HIPAA and ISO 27001 audits - replacing external consultant teams with software that made compliance faster, easier and cheaper. In late 2021 it raised a significantly oversubscribed $3 million seed round led by Authentic Ventures, with 82% of participants Black angel investors or Black-led funds; investors included Concrete Rose Capital, Level Up Ventures (Hearst), Miami Angels and Black Angels Miami. A potential exit fell through in late 2022, and the company closed down in February 2023.
02 / ByteChek FAILURE REASONS
Failure factors supported by the current evidence
On 27 Jan 2023 the Miami SOC 2 compliance startup ByteChek posted that it was no longer operating because the lead investor for its next funding round backed out a few days before closing, forcing a shutdown.
The company wrote it was forced to shut down after the lead investor for the next funding round backed out a few days before closing.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Operations ended
ByteChek's official LinkedIn post on 27 Jan 2023 stated the company was no longer operating and had been forced to shut down. Refresh Miami added an editor's note that ByteChek closed down in February 2023.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
ByteChek was founded in Miami in November 2020 by AJ Yawn and Jeff Cook as an all-in-one compliance automation platform (SOC 2, HIPAA, ISO 27001).
- 02
In late 2021 it raised a significantly oversubscribed $3 million seed round led by Authentic Ventures, with 82% of the round from Black angel investors or Black-led funds.
- 03
A potential exit fell through in late 2022 after a tumultuous few months.
- 04
ByteChek closed down in February 2023.
- 05
No detailed public account of the failure reasons beyond the failed exit has been published; no reliable realized loss figure with clear subject, period and basis has been disclosed - funding raised is not a loss.