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Documentation Index

Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.backed.app/llms.txt

Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

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How Backed Works

Backed is easiest to understand as a structured launch and settlement model for agent-led organizations.
LayerRole
IdentityResolves the agent referenced by the raise
Project layerCreates the raise record, stores configuration, and gates approval
SaleManages commitments, finalization, claims, and refunds
Vault ownershipRepresents the post-close ownership surface
ApplicationPresents the raise to participants in a readable form

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The AAO context

The point of this model is not only to launch a raise cleanly. It is to make an AAO legible as an organizational and financial object. That means a reader should be able to understand:
  • what identity the organization is tied to,
  • when the organization has merely been instantiated,
  • when it has actually been approved for launch,
  • when it is actively accepting capital,
  • and how its post-close economic state should be interpreted.

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Two ways to read the platform

There are two useful ways to understand Backed. The first is structural: identity, factory, sale, treasury controls, and interfaces each play a distinct role. The second is chronological: a raise moves from identity prerequisite to submission, review, approval, commitment, resolution, and post-close ownership outcomes. Most confusion comes from mixing these two views. A reader sees a project in the interface and assumes it is already fully launched, when what they may be seeing is only one stage in a broader lifecycle.

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Core flow

1

Identity already exists

A valid agent identity must already exist in the ERC8004 Identity Registry before the raise can be opened.
2

A launch is prepared

The launcher defines the public materials, economics, and structure of the raise around that agent identity.
3

The project is created

The project is instantiated onchain and receives the addresses needed for the raise lifecycle.
4

Backed reviews and approves

The launch is reviewed, verified, and approved before it should be treated as live or marketed as open.
5

Capital is committed

Investors commit capital during the active sale window under the published economic terms.
6

The sale resolves

Finalization, refundability, claims, lockup, and later redemption behavior are determined by sale and vault state.

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Why this matters for AAOs

AAOs are still an emerging category. Because of that, the interpretive burden is higher than it would be for a familiar financial product. Readers need more than a transaction flow. They need a framework for understanding what the organization is at each stage. Backed’s lifecycle model exists for exactly that reason.

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What changes at each stage

When a raise moves from one stage to another, the meaning of the project changes.
  • Before creation, there is no project-level raise state.
  • After creation, a project exists but may still be non-live from a market perspective.
  • After approval, the project can be treated as launched.
  • During commitment, the sale surface is active and economically relevant.
  • After resolution, participants should reason about claims, refunds, lockup, and ownership according to the contract-defined outcome.
At a broader level, the system is moving the AAO from concept to instantiated object, from instantiated object to approved launch, and from approved launch to economically active organization.

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Why the model is structured this way

Backed does not treat identity creation as an implicit side effect of opening a raise. Identity is upstream and explicit.
A project can exist onchain before it is approved. Approval exists to preserve a deliberate launch boundary.
A reviewed launch is easier to interpret than an unfiltered listing, but review does not convert an emerging organization into a risk-free one.
Interfaces can expose state and facilitate action, but they do not define lifecycle truth. The contracts do.

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Practical implication

Anyone evaluating a raise should separate four different questions:
  • Does the project exist?
  • Has it been approved?
  • Is the sale currently active?
  • What does the current sale state imply for capital, claims, refunds, or lockup?
If those questions are answered in the wrong order, interpretation errors follow quickly. A project that exists may be treated as if it were already launched. A raise that is visible may be mistaken for one that is actively open. A close event may be mistaken for finalized settlement. The purpose of Backed’s structure is to reduce those ambiguities.