HomeValuationStandardConsignmentMarketplaceInsuranceEstateAppraisalsB2B DataRICAAboutContact
Home·About
Company

Infrastructure the
Industry Never Had

The RUG Index is a Chicago-based standards body, data platform, and marketplace for the fine rug industry. We're building the GIA for rugs.

The Mission

Close the information
gap. Permanently.

The rug market runs on information asymmetry. Dealers know what rugs are worth. Sellers don't. Insurers guess. Courts accept whatever report is presented.

The RUG Index was built to be the infrastructure layer this market has never had: a published grading standard, a certified appraiser network, a verified sold-price database, and a marketplace that uses all three together.

We are not building another marketplace. We are building the standard that every marketplace, every insurance policy, and every estate filing will eventually reference.

The Three-Layer Business
Layer 1 — Services
Consignment, appraisals, certifications. Generates cash and collects data. Every transaction is a data point.
Layer 2 — Standard & Network
The RUG Index Grading Standard + RICA certified appraiser network. Creates the moat. Makes us unkillable by well-funded competitors.
Layer 3 — Data Business
Sold-price database + pricing API + institutional licensing. The actual exit value. 95% margin. Zero marginal cost per API call.
Comparable Businesses
GIA — $200M+/year. Sets the diamond standard. Every jeweler needs GIA.

CARFAX — acquired $900M. Vehicle history database. Every used car buyer references CARFAX.

PSA Grading — $700M+ valuation. Sports card grading. Created an entirely new market segment.

We are building the rug industry equivalent — with a more defensible standard, a more fragmented market, and a larger total addressable market than any of these comparables in their early years.
9-Year Trajectory

The path to becoming
the GIA for rugs

Year 1 — Foundation
Standard published · 10 attorney relationships · Insurance pilot · 14 RICA appraisers · Break-even approaching
$57K–$120K
Year 2 — Platform
V1 platform · 30+ RICA appraisers · First paid B2B · Insurance carrier renewed · Break-even
$362K–$600K
Year 3 — Data
Data licensing begins · 100+ appraisers · Standard cited officially · 3 carrier contracts
$1.1M–$2.5M
Year 5 — Standard IS the Industry Standard
Decision point: sell $80–150M or continue to GIA equivalent
$5M–$12M
Year 8–9 — GIA Equivalent
$500M–$1B acquisition potential. Every rug transaction references the RUG Index Standard.
$50M–$200M+