The FounderSeal (FS) is the 0–100 score Madrid Ventures calculates for every project with public rules and verifiable data. Here is the whole formula: what the founder declares, what gets audited, how each proof is audited and how to read a specific score before spending an hour on a project.
The value isn’t the number, it’s knowing exactly what sits under it. A founder can reach 40 points alone; every point above comes from a proof checked by someone who isn’t the founder.
Before opening a deck you know whether there is a product, whether anyone uses it, whether anyone pays, whether a third party has validated it and whether the project is still alive this week. The first call starts where it usually ends.
No committees, no connections, no payment: the founder’s plan adds zero points. The rules are public, code applies them, and this page reads the same catalogue as the platform, so if they change, it changes.
Three blocks adding up to 100. The founder declares the first two, which together reach 40 at most. The third only fills with audited proof.
One point for each of the 10 profile fields filled in (tagline, description, problem, solution, traction, business model, team, use of funds, logo and image), 5 for linking the website or a demo video and 5 for having set up the financial Cockpit.
That the profile is complete enough to analyse. It doesn’t say what it claims is true: that is the Evidence block’s job.
2 points for each week, out of the last 10, in which the founder saved their cash figures in the Cockpit (each week counts once). Recalculated daily: every week without an update takes off 2, with no cliffs, and coming back recovers it.
That the project is alive and its founder looks at the numbers every week. An abandoned project loses these points by itself and, below 40, leaves your dealflow without anyone removing it.
A ladder of 100 rungs across 10 proof families. Each rung asks for a specific proof (a working demo, a signed pilot, real charges, an incorporated company, a closed round…), starts as pending and adds nothing until it is audited and approved. Each family contributes up to its cap, and the whole block up to 60.
What the project has proven, of what kind and since when. Because every family is capped, a high score can’t be reached by piling up easy proofs of the same kind.
Because self-declared points add up to 40 at most, any FounderSeal above 40 carries at least the difference in audited evidence. And because each family is capped, more evidence needs more distinct kinds of proof. It’s arithmetic, not an opinion:
| FounderSeal | Tier | Audited evidence, at least | Distinct families, at least |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below 40 | Not in your dealflow | — | — |
| 40 | 🌱 Seed tier | May have none | — |
| 50 | 🌱 Seed tier | 10 pts | 1 |
| 60 | 📈 Growth tier | 20 pts | 1 |
| 70 | 📈 Growth tier | 30 pts | 2 |
| 80 | 📈 Growth tier | 40 pts | 2 |
| 90 | 📈 Growth tier | 50 pts | 3 |
| 100 | 📈 Growth tier | 60 pts | 4 |
It’s a floor, not the exact value: a 52 may have 12 evidence points, or 40 with a half-finished profile. That’s why every card in your dealflow shows its evidence in points and families next to the score, plus the approved rungs and their dates.
40 is exactly the self-declared ceiling, and that’s where the Seed tier starts: a project in that tier may not have a single approved rung yet. We show it to you early, and labelled, so you see it before anyone else without mistaking it for something proven. In the Growth tier at least 20 points are audited proof, and filling the 60 evidence points takes proof from at least 4 different families.
A project with an almost complete profile, the Cockpit up to date seven of the last ten weeks and approved rungs in three families. Look at the first one: whatever goes over its cap doesn’t count.
📈 Growth tier: at least 40 of its points are audited evidence, and here it’s 48.
The 100 rungs are grouped into 10 families and each contributes up to its cap. Here they are sorted by the five questions that also order what’s been verified in the data room. Each family has its own page with its rungs and the proof each one asks for.
A rung doesn’t count because someone asks for it. This is what happens between the founder claiming it and you seeing it approved:
Never a bare FounderSeal: the score-and-tier pair is what tells you how much evidence is behind it.
For example “38 of 60 pts · 4 of 10 families”, calculated with the same function as the founder’s block, plus which rungs are approved and since when.
The FounderSeal is snapshotted daily: you see whether it’s going up or down, and over how long.
If you say what you look for, including the proof you care about (“Someone pays”), each card tells you what it meets and what it lacks. It sorts, it never hides.
How many the project has published in its data room and, inside, each one with its source and date, sorted by the five questions.
If the founder consents, their cash, revenue and months of runway in your portfolio. They can withdraw it at any time, and it never includes itemised expenses or personal figures.
It doesn’t score market size, competition or whether the idea is good. It measures what the project has proven, not what it promises.
The profile says who is behind it; the seal doesn’t score their experience or talent. You judge that in the conversation.
The amount sought, equity offered and minimum ticket are declared by the founder. The FounderSeal doesn’t say whether the valuation is reasonable.
The first 40 points say the profile is complete and the Cockpit up to date, not that its figures are true. That’s why the tier always sits next to the score.
We check that the proof shows what it says, on the date it says. Stripe proves there were charges, not who paid or why: that’s also why those rungs aren’t approved automatically on connecting it.
It describes how much evidence sits behind a project; it doesn’t say whether it’s a good investment. The analysis and the decision are always yours.
The platform, in code, with no manual input: a database function recalculates it whenever something in the project changes and a daily job updates it so Consistency decays over time. No person adds or removes points by hand; what a person can do is review and revoke a rung. The formula is public: Fundamentals (max 20) + Consistency (max 20) + Verified evidence (max 60), with a cap per proof family inside Evidence.
Fundamentals and Consistency, 40 points at most together, are declared by the founder: they say the profile is complete and cash figures are saved weekly, not that they are true. The 60 Evidence points are only earned with audited rungs. So a FounderSeal of N carries at least N − 40 audited evidence points: a 60 carries at least 20.
The founder claims the rung with a checkable text and up to 3 screenshots; the platform adds what it already knows (read-only Stripe or RevenueCat figures, customers confirmed by both sides on Mercado MV, the demo address). The next day an AI model with vision gives a verdict: sufficient with no odd signs is approved; insufficient is rejected with a letter explaining what’s missing; doubtful goes back to the founder to fix and is re-audited; and any sign of foul play is reviewed by a person. Any approved rung can be revoked.
No review system is infallible, and we won’t claim otherwise. What makes trying costly: the strongest proof comes from a third party, not the founder (Stripe, RevenueCat, the other side of a deal on Mercado MV); any sign of tampering, including an instruction hidden in an image, goes to a person; a false proof voids the rung and its points and may get the account closed; and every verified fact in the data room says where it comes from, so you know what rests on a connected system and what on a screenshot.
No. No plan adds points. On the free plan a founder sends one rung a month to audit, on Founder Pro as many as they have: Pro is faster, but the bar and the audit are the same. Nobody pays to appear in your dealflow.
Because Consistency expires on purpose: only weeks with up-to-date cash figures within the last 10 count. Each week without an update takes off 2 points, with no cliffs, and if the project drops below 40 it leaves your dealflow by itself. It also drops if a rung is revoked. Approved evidence doesn’t expire, but you see each rung’s date, and in the data room sales and user figures older than 90 days are flagged as old.
The screenshots and documents that get audited aren’t published: they usually contain customer and third-party data. What you see is what was proven, as fact cards with the figure, period, date and source. Those the founder keeps for level 2 you see once they grant you access, and if they want to show you a document, they upload it to their data room.
No. The stage (pre-seed, seed, Series A) is declared by the founder and describes their round. The tier is earned with the FounderSeal and describes their evidence: 🌱 Seed tier from 40 to 59, 📈 Growth tier from 60. That’s why the platform always says “Seed tier”.
Madrid Ventures tunes the rung catalogue with what it learns from investors, and this page reads the same catalogue as the platform, so it always states today’s rules. The 60-point cap on Evidence doesn’t move, and the only operation that takes away points already earned is lowering a family’s cap.
No. It’s an objective first screen that saves you time. Madrid Ventures is not a crowdfunding platform or an investment firm: it doesn’t hold funds, doesn’t intermediate and doesn’t recommend. The analysis and the decision are always yours.
Open the dealflow with the first screen already done: every score, with what sits under it.
See the dealflow →Madrid Ventures is not a crowdfunding platform or an investment services firm. It does not hold funds, does not intermediate in transactions and does not provide financial advice. The FounderSeal is an informational screening tool and never an investment recommendation.