For years, security compliance followed a predictable — and painfully inefficient — script. If a company wanted to achieve certifications like ISO 27001, the process was slow, expensive, and largely disconnected from how the business actually operated.
Consultants would step in, deliver a stack of documents, guide teams through months of manual work, and eventually hand over a certificate.
And then they would leave.
“The knowledge walked out the door with them,” recalls the team behind Secfix. “Nothing was connected to your tools, your workflows, or your day-to-day operations. The next audit cycle, you’d start from scratch.”
For startups and mid-sized companies, this wasn’t just inefficient — it was exclusionary. Without a dedicated security team or significant budget, compliance remained out of reach. At the same time, larger enterprise deals increasingly required certifications as a baseline.
This disconnect became the starting point for Secfix.
A Broken System — Hiding in Plain Sight
Ironically, the problem was never the regulation itself.
Frameworks like ISO 27001 are well-designed. They force companies to think seriously about risk, access control, and incident response. But the implementation layer — the way companies actually achieve and maintain compliance — was fundamentally broken.
It relied on manual processes, scattered spreadsheets, and consultant-driven workflows that didn’t scale.
And while enterprise-grade GRC tools existed, they were built for companies that already had compliance departments. US-based solutions focused on SOC 2, leaving European frameworks like ISO 27001, TISAX, or NIS2 underserved.
“The backbone of the European economy — SMBs and mid-market companies — were simply left out.”
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Three Perspectives, One Problem
The founding team came together through Munich’s startup ecosystem — each approaching the same problem from a different angle.
Fabiola Munguia brought the commercial lens. With experience at Siemens and BMW, she understood how critical security certifications are in enterprise sales — and how often deals are lost without them.
Grigory Emelianov contributed the product and engineering mindset. Having built scalable systems at Amazon and MAN, he saw compliance not as a process to manage, but as a system to redesign.
Branko Džakula brought deep security expertise, with over 15 years of experience guiding companies through certifications. He knew exactly where human judgment was essential — and where automation could eliminate inefficiencies.
That combination — sales, engineering, and security — became the foundation of Secfix’s approach.
The “Aha” Moment
The turning point didn’t come from compliance — it came from a different product entirely.
While running a marketplace for ethical hackers, the founders expected companies to struggle with finding penetration testers. But again and again, customers asked a different question:
“Now that we’ve done the pentest… how do we get ISO 27001?”
Companies didn’t know where to start. They couldn’t afford consultants. And without certification, they were losing enterprise deals.
Then came the pandemic — accelerating digital transformation and increasing pressure to meet compliance requirements faster than ever.
That’s when it became clear: this wasn’t a niche problem. It was a structural bottleneck holding back growth across Europe.
Turning Compliance into a Growth Engine
Traditionally, compliance has been viewed as a cost center — a necessary but painful obligation.
Secfix reframed it entirely.
“When done right, compliance becomes one of the most powerful sales tools a company has.”
The impact is immediate and measurable. Companies that once spent months responding to security questionnaires can now resolve them in hours. Sales cycles shrink dramatically. Deals that were previously out of reach suddenly become attainable.
One customer reduced questionnaire handling by over 20 hours per week. Others saw sales cycles accelerate by up to three times.
The shift is not just operational — it’s strategic.
Compliance becomes a trust signal. A visible, verifiable asset that strengthens relationships with customers, partners, and regulators.
From Certification to Continuous Compliance
One of the biggest misconceptions companies have is treating compliance as a one-time project.
“It’s not a finish line,” the founders emphasize. “It’s an ongoing system.”
Achieving certification is only the beginning. Maintaining compliance requires continuous monitoring, regular updates, and coordination across teams — from engineering and HR to legal and finance.
Secfix was built to embed compliance into everyday operations.
Rather than relying on periodic audits and manual updates, the platform integrates directly into company systems, automating evidence collection, policy management, and risk assessment in real time.
The result is a living system — not a static document.
Building the Infrastructure for Trust
As customer needs evolved, so did Secfix.
What began as a GRC automation tool quickly expanded into a broader platform addressing the full lifecycle of security compliance. Customers needed more than certification — they needed ongoing support.
How do you handle vendor risk at scale?
How do you respond to incidents?
How do you manage increasingly complex regulatory requirements?
At the same time, advances in AI created new possibilities.
Secfix introduced CISO AI, a virtual security advisor capable of providing contextual guidance, identifying gaps, and supporting decision-making in real time. Combined with human CISO-as-a-Service, the platform blends automation with expertise.
This hybrid model reflects a core belief: technology alone isn’t enough. But when combined with human judgment, it becomes transformative.
A New Compliance Standard
The results speak for themselves.
Companies reduce compliance workload by up to 90%. Certification timelines shrink from over a year to a matter of weeks. Audit success rates reach 100%.
But the deeper impact is cultural.
Companies begin to think differently. Security becomes proactive rather than reactive. Compliance becomes embedded in hiring, tooling, and decision-making processes.
Instead of being a barrier, it becomes part of how companies grow.
Scaling Trust Across Europe
With $17 million in funding and expansion underway, Secfix is scaling across European markets — each with its own regulatory nuances and expectations.
But the core challenge remains consistent: trust.
“In security and compliance, trust is the product.”
Each new market requires credibility — with auditors, regulators, and customers alike. And while frameworks like ISO 27001 are global, their implementation varies across regions.
At the same time, the regulatory landscape is intensifying.
With NIS2, DORA, and the EU AI Act, compliance is no longer optional. It’s becoming mandatory at scale, affecting tens of thousands of companies across industries.
This creates a massive wave of demand — particularly among companies with no prior compliance infrastructure.
The Future: Compliance as a Continuous System
Looking ahead, the founders see a fundamental shift.
Compliance will no longer revolve around annual audits. Instead, it will become a continuous, real-time process — powered by AI.
Controls will self-verify. Gaps will be identified instantly. Regulatory updates will automatically trigger necessary changes.
The role of human experts will evolve — focusing on strategy and complex decision-making, while routine tasks are handled by intelligent systems.
Secfix aims to be at the center of that transformation.
“Our goal is to become the operating system for trust in European companies.”
A platform that doesn’t just help companies comply — but helps them grow faster, operate more securely, and build lasting credibility.
Redefining Access to Security
At its core, Secfix is not just about compliance.
It’s about access.
Access to security expertise.
Access to enterprise opportunities.
Access to growth.
By transforming a fragmented, consultant-driven process into a scalable, software-first system, the company is democratizing something that was once reserved for large enterprises.
And in doing so, it’s turning compliance from a bottleneck into one of the most powerful levers for growth in modern business.
