How we verify

Accuracy is the product. A directory is only worth citing if its data can be trusted, so these are the standards every entry on Space Bandits is held to. When we fall short of them, we would rather show nothing than show a guess.

Funding figures carry sources

Every funding round displayed on a profile links to the reporting or primary announcement that documents it. Company totals are only shown when a documented figure supports them; where public numbers conflict, or a "total raised" would mix equity with debt, government award ceilings or a founder's personal money, we leave the total blank rather than publish a blend. Award ceilings are labeled as ceilings: a contract worth "up to" some amount is not money in the bank, even though aggregators often count it as if it were.

Stages are conservative

A company's stage reflects its last publicly disclosed round as we've verified it, not rumour. When a stage is updated, any older funding amount that no longer describes reality is removed rather than left to mislead. Stale numbers are worse than no numbers.

Statuses come from the public record

Active, acquired, shut down, or graduated to the public markets: a status only changes when the documented record supports it. A dead website alone is a signal, not a verdict; companies in that grey zone sit in an internal review queue rather than being guessed at. When a company is acquired or winds down, the profile says so plainly, in the past tense, with the note explaining what happened.

The catalog is swept, not assumed

We periodically probe every live startup's website (159 at the last sweep): liveness, redirects, page titles, and whether a lapsed domain now serves a parking page or something worse. That sweep is how we catch rebrands, quiet deaths and domain squatters, and it is why we sometimes unlink a website entirely rather than send readers to whatever occupies the domain now.

Records show their age

Every startup profile displays when its record was last updated. An honest old date beats a fake fresh one: if a record has not been touched since the early days, the page says so, and that is your signal to treat it accordingly and ours to get to it.

Curation is never for sale

Listings, stages, statuses and the watchlist cannot be bought. Sponsorships, when they exist, are clearly labeled and buy visibility for the sponsor, never a change to the data.

Corrections

Spotted something wrong or outdated? Email hello@spacebandits.io and we'll fix verified corrections same day. Corrections make the directory better and we treat them as a favour, not a complaint.