Method and rules of the game
Uback ranks non-listed tech startups in descending order of estimated valuation. The estimate is produced by artificial intelligence models, using the information available: funding rounds, published valuations, business metrics, investors, comparables. Uback publishes the rank and an order of magnitude, never a figure.
The market decides, Uback estimates
A startup’s value only truly exists when an agreement sets it: a funding round, a sale, an IPO. Between two transactions, it keeps moving, like a share price, without anyone observing it.
Uback does not claim to set that value. It estimates it, with the information available, for one purpose only: to rank companies against each other. The exercise is imprecise by nature. That is why Uback publishes ranks and ranges, never a valuation figure.
The amount raised is not the ranking criterion. It is one signal among others. A company that has raised little but grows fast and profitably may be worth more than one that has raised a lot.
Two families of rankings
By country: all sectors, then by sector. A country ranking covers startups whose main operations (team, market) are in that country. It is published every quarter, on the 15th of the month. Each country has its own starting month: Morocco, for example, is published in February, May, August and November. Because countries are staggered, Uback publishes every month. The date of the next edition is shown on the homepage and on each country page.
Global, by segment. A global ranking compares a startup with its direct competitors, wherever they are: carpooling, crypto exchanges, payroll… Segments sit in a public three-level taxonomy (family > sector > segment). These rankings will be published twice a year, on January 1 and July 1. The first ones are in preparation.
The same company can therefore appear in two rankings: its country’s and its segment’s.
Why quarterly and twice-yearly? Between two transactions, the information available on a non-listed company changes little. A slower pace gives the AI models room for deeper analysis at each edition. Between editions, the Radar is updated as funding rounds are announced.
How valuation is estimated
The same data for every AI. For each eligible company, Uback builds a file of dated facts. It includes:
- funding rounds: amount, date, type, investors;
- published valuations;
- known business metrics: revenue, growth, headcount, customers, profitability, licences;
- comparable acquisitions and IPOs in the same segment.
Several independent estimates. Each AI estimates the valuation of each company without knowing the others’ answers.
The consensus. The estimate used is the median of the AI estimates. It determines the rank: number 1 is the company with the highest estimated valuation. The order of magnitude shown is the range containing that median. Rank and range are therefore always consistent.
The confidence index. It is shown for each company and combines two things: agreement between the AI models, and data quality.
- High: estimates converge, and rest on a published valuation or a disclosed round less than 24 months old.
- Medium: estimates diverge moderately, or the data is more than 24 months old.
- Low: estimates diverge sharply, or rest on a single source.
When the AI models disagree, the disagreement is information in itself.
Richer data over time. Each edition adds new sources. Estimates should become more precise from one edition to the next.
Edition 0 (beta). The first editions were produced by a single AI (Claude, Anthropic), from desk research. The confidence index reflects source quality only. A consensus of several AI models will apply soon, in a future edition.
Order of magnitude
Uback shows a range, never a figure:
| Range | Estimated valuation |
|---|---|
| Hundreds of k$ | $100k to $1M |
| Millions | $1M to $10M |
| Tens of millions | $10M to $100M |
| Hundreds of millions | $100M to $1B |
| Unicorn | $1B to $10B |
| Decacorn | over $10B |
Within a range, companies remain ranked by their estimate. When the data does not allow a serious estimate, the company is not ranked. It appears in the Radar.
These estimates are editorial and indicative. They are neither a financial valuation, nor an offer, nor investment advice.
Who is eligible
| Rule | How it applies |
|---|---|
| Tech or innovative startup | The scope is defined by the public sector taxonomy, which evolves. |
| Has raised at least $1M, including one equity round | The threshold is cumulative, equity or debt, and at least one round must have been an equity round. Investors are therefore already on the cap table and have negotiated their rights. A grant is not a funding round. The same threshold applies in every country. |
| Non-listed | Listed companies are shown separately, as benchmarks, and are never ranked. |
| Active | A company that has been acquired, has closed or is in insolvency proceedings leaves the ranking. Its past positions remain in the history. |
| One main activity | Each company belongs to one sector and one segment only. Conglomerates are excluded. |
| Country of operations | The country used is the country of operations, whatever the legal seat. The seat is shown on the company profile. Locally founded companies run from abroad appear in “Born here, based elsewhere”. |
Ranking, Challengers, Radar
- The ranking: up to 20 companies in order of estimated valuation. It is shorter when a market has fewer companies that can be estimated. Nothing in it can be bought.
- Challengers: a paid visibility space, reserved for registered companies raising funds that want to be seen by investors. It is displayed separately, labelled as sponsored, and has no effect on the ranking. A Challenger that becomes eligible and can be estimated enters the ranking on the same terms as any other company.
- The Radar: the other known eligible companies, sorted by date of last funding round. Updated continuously, without estimates.
How human input is taken into account
Uback will open its rankings to analysts’ views. An analyst will be able to publish, under their own name, a critical reading of a ranking: why one company seems underestimated, why another seems overestimated. These pieces will let them showcase their expertise. Readers will be able to rate them as useful or not.
The AI models may take these views into account, but are not bound to. Only the AI models decide the ranking, and they do not have to justify whether or not they took a view into account. No view, vote or payment is binding on them.
The rules by which the AI models consider these views are part of the instructions given to them, and those instructions are public.
Factual corrections are handled differently (see “Corrections”): a wrong amount, date or status is corrected in the data as soon as it is verified.
Rules of the game
- The ranking is never for sale. No payment, from a company, a partner or an investor, influences a rank or a range.
- No human changes the order. A human may exclude a company on eligibility grounds, with a record kept, or re-run the calculation. Never reorder it.
- The method is public. This page and the instructions given to the AI models for each type of ranking (country, segment) are public. Working data and estimate figures are not.
- Uback is not a financial intermediary. Uback holds no mandate, does not negotiate, gives no advice and collects no funds intended for investment. Any transaction is offered by the country’s licensed partner, under its own responsibility.
- Data stays in. Investment intentions are confidential. No data is sold. It is passed only to the country’s licensed partner, with the investor’s consent.
Invest. Uback lets investors declare an investment intention on a company or a sector. How it works is described on the “Invest with Uback” page.
Corrections
Any company mentioned may report inaccurate information (amount, date, sector, status) or dispute its rank, using the correction form. Every request receives a reasoned reply, and every factual correction is recorded.
A company cannot ask not to appear in a ranking. Uback deals with public information about economic actors. Only an eligibility reason can lead to removal.
Sources and limits
Uback relies on each country’s business and tech press, international press, industry reports, public registers and data services. Each country page lists the media and services used.
Uback does not rule out errors of interpretation, or the inadvertent use of inaccurate information published elsewhere. We do our best to keep them out, and we correct them as soon as an error is reported.