The Global Fintech Institute (GFI), alongside industry partners, developed the Startup Investment Credential (SIC) Framework to address critical challenges in the startup investment ecosystem, including transparency gaps, complex due diligence, misaligned incentives, lack of benchmarking data, and ecosystem fragmentation. This whitepaper presents the SIC Framework as a standardized, data-driven approach to enhance trust, efficiency, and sustainability in startup investments. 

Building upon the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Universal Trusted Credentials (UTC) framework, the SIC Framework integrates governance, impact, startup, and industry-specific credentials to streamline due diligence, improve investor decision-making, and establish consistent benchmarks in startup evaluation. 

This whitepaper marks the beginning of a call to action for industry players—investors, startups, regulators, and associations—to provide feedback and participate in focused working groups to establish SIC as an industry-recognized standard. Together, we aim to build a more transparent, efficient, and inclusive investment ecosystem that benefits both startups and investors.