Every founder eventually runs into it. A large customer wants proof that your company takes security seriously, and suddenly you are staring at pages of questions you were never trained to answer.
For Kevin Barona, that moment revealed a gap that would eventually become the starting point for Cycore.
The call came from a friend trying to close a deal. A security questionnaire from a much larger organization had landed in his inbox, filled with technical requests about data handling, controls, and risk. Barona, who was working at a large consulting firm at the time, agreed to help. He spent a day or two walking through the questions, explaining what they meant and how to respond.
What felt like a small favor quickly turned into something else. The founder shared Barona’s name within his startup community. “Within a week, I had seven inquiries,” Barona told Refresh Miami. “That’s when I knew there was something there.”
Barona had always leaned toward entrepreneurship, even if he did not yet know what shape it would take. What became clear through those early conversations was that startups were hitting the same wall. They were building real products and selling into serious markets, but suddenly being held to enterprise security standards without the staff or budget of an enterprise company.
In late 2023, Barona began freelancing. By early 2024, Cycore was officially launched. Less than two years later, the Miami-based cybersecurity firm has grown to a team of 20, including 11 full-time employees, serving clients across health tech, fintech, SaaS, and other regulated industries.
Cycore focuses on companies in the early and middle stages of growth, typically pre-seed through Series B. “We serve as their fractional security, privacy, and compliance team,” Barona said. “They don’t need a full-time hire yet, but they do need to take this seriously.”
That role is meant to evolve. Cycore helps clients put foundational programs in place, manage ongoing requirements, and prepare for audits or enterprise deals. When companies reach a point where a full-time security leader makes sense, Barona said his team helps guide that transition. “We’re honest when we see they’ve outgrown us,” he said.
Barona’s return to Miami mirrors the city’s own shift. Born and raised in South Florida, he once believed leaving was the only way to build a serious tech career. But coming back after COVID has felt different.
“Before, if you weren’t in medicine, law, or hospitality, you had to leave,” he said. “Now people are staying, and a lot of natives are coming back.”
Cycore has been boostrapped thus far, although Barona signaled his interest in external funding to help supercharge the growth of an internal platform it is starting to offer to clients. The product is still in early development, but the idea is simple: make security information usable across teams, not just engineers. Sales, marketing, and leadership can access accurate, real-time answers without waiting on a specialist.
For founders, the lesson is simple. If a security questionnaire has not landed in your inbox yet, it probably will. And when it does, the difference between momentum and a stalled deal may come down to how ready you are to answer it.
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