Verification tiers
Last updated
Verification is Hockystick's trust layer: badges that tell an investor how much of your profile has actually been checked, and by what. It is free at every tier and never gates platform access — an unverified account can use everything, it just carries no badge.
The five tiers
| Tier | Badge | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Joined | Account exists. No badge shown — verification signals trust, it doesn't gatekeep. |
| 1 | Hockystick Checked | Automated checks passed — instant and free. |
| 2 | Document Verified | Specific claims backed by matching evidence. One document never satisfies multiple unrelated claims. |
| 3 | Operationally Verified | Three independent documents proving real operations: financial activity, customer/contract evidence, team evidence. |
| 4 | Hockystick Verified | All prior evidence reviewed and confirmed by a human. The badge that means the most. |
Tier 1: automated checks
- Business email domain — MX records confirm the domain actually receives mail.
- Website — a live HTTP check confirms it exists and responds.
- LinkedIn URL — format validation only; we do not scrape LinkedIn.
- Company registration — registry document check.
Checks run on demand from the verification page and can be re-run any time.
Tier 3: operational evidence
Founders submit three independent documents: proof of financial activity (for example a bank or revenue statement), customer or contract evidence, and team evidence. Each document is classified by AI against the specific criterion it must satisfy — a bank statement can't double as customer evidence. Investors have a parallel Tier 3 path (Capital Verified) with fund formation and committed-capital documents.
Principles
- Verification is never paid. There is no way to buy a badge.
- Investors see what was confirmed and what wasn't — badges state their scope precisely.
- Evidence documents are used for verification only; they don't enter any deal room unless you put them there.