Make Startup Credibility Verifiable, and Capital Accountable.
Early-stage investment still runs on introductions and self-reported decks. We think credibility should be independently reviewed, portable and checkable, and that capital should release against verified progress rather than optimism.
Pursuing DFSA Innovation Testing Licence · DIFC, Dubai
Why now
The Diligence Gap Is Measurable
Capital keeps growing while first-pass diligence stays manual, slow and inconsistent across markets.
$425B
US venture investment, 2025 (Crunchbase)
$3.8B
MENA startup funding 2025, +74% YoY (MAGNiTT)
197K+
DPIIT-registered startups, India
3 to 6 mo
Typical manual due-diligence cycle
Capital Should Follow Evidence.
Our mission is simple: make credibility independently verifiable, and make capital release against progress that has actually been checked.
See How It WorksTeam
Who Is Behind This
Ujjwal Sahay
Founder & CEO
Building the scoring methodology, the escrow design and the regulatory path from DIFC, Dubai.
Hiring after our raise
We’re a founding team of one, hiring across engineering, compliance and business development after our raise. Our expert panel is being recruited ahead of the Q4 2026 launch, and an advisory group is being formed. We’ll name people here only once they have actually joined.
Building the Team
The Roles We Are Hiring For
No invented advisors, no logos we have not earned. These are the seats we are actively trying to fill before and immediately after launch.
Pre-launch
Head of Compliance
Owns the DFSA Innovation Testing Licence application and the DIFC operating model end to end.
Pre-launch
Founding Engineer, Escrow
Smart-contract escrow, multisig release logic and the external audit relationship.
Pre-launch
Expert Panel Lead
Recruits and calibrates the reviewer pool, and owns inter-rater agreement as a measured number.
At launch
Founding Engineer, Product
Deal rooms, milestone tooling and the founder and investor surfaces.
At launch
Business Development, GCC
Accelerators, funds and programme-commissioned cohorts across DIFC and the wider Gulf.
Post-raise
Advisory Group
Being formed across venture, ratings methodology and financial regulation. Nobody is named here until they have signed.
Interested in one of these? Write to careers@foundergrade.ai. We will name people on this page once they have actually joined, and not before.
Values
What We Hold To
Verification over vibes
A score means nothing unless the method behind it is published and the reviewers are accountable. We publish the rubric and we pay for judgment.
Capital with accountability
Money should move against delivered progress. Milestone escrow is the default, not an upsell.
Privacy by default
Founders decide when a score becomes public. Reviewers never see identity. We store outcomes, not more data than we need.
Get involved
Build the Credibility Layer with Us.
Founders, experts, investors and accelerators: we're onboarding the first cohort now.
Pursuing DFSA Innovation Testing Licence · DIFC, Dubai