Frequently asked questions

Why doesn’t China have its own ranking?

Uback ranks startups that investors can actually back. Non-Chinese investors have practically no access to Chinese startups: capital controls, offshore VIE structures and foreign-investment restrictions keep them out. Publishing a Chinese ranking would be a false promise, and our rule 8 forbids false promises. We still analyse Chinese companies: they serve as valuation comparables and as competitors that can affect the value of the startups we rank. Hong Kong-registered companies operating mainly in mainland China follow the same rule.

How does Uback choose the countries it ranks?

Uback doesn’t choose them: an algorithm does. A country gets a national ranking when at least 15 distinct companies operating there raised at least USD 1M in equity over the last 36 months, with at least two independent public sources. The size of that pool sets the format of the ranking. Below 15, companies still appear in their zone’s regional ranking. Countries under broad EU or US sanctions are excluded. The list is recomputed every year and published on 31 December. A country enters at 15 and leaves only below 10.

Can a ranking be updated before its scheduled date?

Yes. When a major event occurs (a large round, an acquisition, a shutdown), Uback may publish an out-of-cycle update. The scheduled edition is still published on its official date.