Frequently Asked Questions

Go to upforge.in/submit and fill in your startup details — name, founder, industry, description, and founding year are required. The form takes under 5 minutes. Once submitted, our team reviews and verifies your profile within 3–7 business days. Listing is completely free and always will be.

Yes — 100% free, forever. There are no hidden fees, no freemium traps, no pay-to-rank mechanics. UpForge is an independent public registry, not a marketplace or media platform. Our mission is to document the world's emerging founders, not monetise their visibility.

Required: startup name, founder name, founding year, industry/sector, and a one-line description. Optional but recommended: website URL, co-founder names, city, team size, funding stage, logo, and a detailed description. The more you provide, the more complete your public profile.

Yes. Email [email protected] with your startup name and UFRN and the changes you'd like made. We'll update the profile within 48 hours. For major updates — new funding round, rebranding, new product — we recommend re-requesting full verification.

Typically 3–7 business days. Our team manually reviews every submission for accuracy and completeness before publishing. You'll receive a confirmation email when your startup is live.

Yes. If a startup has shut down, or a founder requests removal with valid verification, we will delist the profile. Email [email protected]. We maintain corrections and removals as part of our editorial standards.

The verified badge (✓) means our team has manually confirmed: (1) the startup is real and operating, (2) the founder identity matches public records, (3) the information submitted is accurate to the best of our knowledge. Verified profiles rank higher in search and signal institutional credibility.

We check MCA/ROC registration, founder LinkedIn and public digital presence, website legitimacy, news and media mentions, and any public funding data. For revenue-stage startups, we may also review App Store listings, LinkedIn company pages, or other public traction signals.

Yes — verification is free as part of the standard listing process. We do not charge for the verified badge. Our review is independent and merit-based.

A UpForge Registry Number (UFRN) is a permanent, globally unique identifier assigned to every approved startup — e.g. UF-2026-IND-00042. It's shareable on LinkedIn, investor decks, press kits, and pitch documents. Think of it as your startup's global ID on the open web.

Yes. Pre-incorporation startups can be listed as 'Early Stage' without a verified badge. Once you have an incorporation document or any public registration, you can request verification. We believe in documenting founders from day one.

Yes. If information provided was materially false, or if a verified startup shuts down without notification, we may revoke the badge or update the profile. We maintain an ongoing corrections policy as part of our editorial standards.

The free tool at upforge.in/valuation takes inputs like industry, revenue stage, team size, funding raised, and growth metrics — and applies sector-appropriate multiples benchmarked against real startup deals globally. It gives you a floor, midpoint, and ceiling estimate with methodology explained. No signup required.

ARR multiples (8–25x) for SaaS and subscription businesses, GMV multiples (0.5–3x) for marketplace and commerce platforms, revenue multiples (1–5x) for D2C and product companies, and cost-to-duplicate models for pre-revenue startups.

No. The UpForge valuation is an indicative estimate for strategic use — not a formal valuation for legal, tax, or fundraising documentation. For statutory valuations (ESOP, FEMA compliance, M&A), you need a SEBI-registered valuer or CA.

UpForge is the world's independent, free public startup registry — not a media outlet, not a ranking platform, not an accelerator. We document global startups in a structured, verified, permanently accessible format. Think of us as the public record layer of the startup ecosystem: neutral, open, and built to last.

UpForge is independently owned and operated. We are not affiliated with any VC firm, accelerator, media house, or government body. Our editorial independence is central to our value — we do not accept payments to rank, feature, or promote any startup over another.

UpForge operates as an independent project. We do not run ads, accept sponsored placements, or charge for listings. We're exploring sustainable models that preserve editorial independence — including premium tools, API access for researchers, and enterprise data products. Listings will always be free.

Yes — all startup profiles on UpForge are publicly accessible and indexed by Google and other search engines. This is intentional: we want founders to have a permanently discoverable presence on the open web, separate from any single platform or social network.

We're building API and bulk data access for verified investors, researchers, and institutions. If you're interested in early access, email [email protected] with your use case. Individual profiles are already public and accessible via the registry.

Forge is UpForge's AI assistant — built specifically for the global startup ecosystem. It can answer questions about listing your startup, funding stages, sector trends, valuation methods, UpForge platform features, and more. Access Forge via the chat widget on any UpForge page.

Forge can explain how UpForge works, guide you through the listing process, answer questions about startup funding and sectors, explain valuation concepts, and direct you to the right resources. It's designed to be a sharp, knowledgeable co-founder — not a generic chatbot.

No — Forge is built on GROQ's infrastructure running Llama 3.3 (70B), engineered specifically for UpForge with a custom system prompt covering the global startup ecosystem, UpForge platform knowledge, and startup fundamentals.