Fueler Just Crossed 100K Registered Members, Here's What's Next For Us

Hey, myself Riten this side 👋

A few years ago, I was sitting in Agartala, far away from India's usual startup hubs, trying to solve a problem that felt personal to me. I had seen so many talented people get ignored in hiring, not because they lacked skill, but because they did not go to a "big name" college or work at a "big name" company. At the same time, I saw people doing brilliant work every single day that nobody outside their small circle ever got to see.

That gap is why I started Fueler in 2021.

Today, I am proud to share that Fueler has crossed 100,000 members (July 2026). This is a big moment for us, but honestly, it feels like just the beginning. In this article, I want to walk you through how we got here, what we have learned along the way, and most importantly, what we are building next. India is home to 1.46 billion people, making it the world's most populous country. More importantly, around 65% of Indians are under the age of 35, giving the country one of the largest young workforces in the world.

More importantly, India's median age is only around 28-29 years, making it one of the youngest large economies globally

How It All Started

Fueler began as a small idea with a small team, working fully remote, with no outside funding. Everything was built using personal savings. We did not have a big office or a big team. What we had was a strong belief that resumes were not enough anymore, and that people needed a better way to show their real skills to the world.

A picture of team fueler in their early days

Slowly, without spending much on ads, Fueler grew through word of mouth, community support, and genuine value. People started using Fueler to build portfolios that actually showed their work, instead of just listing skills on a page. Designers uploaded real projects. Writers uploaded real articles. Marketers uploaded real campaigns.

If you are just getting started and want a simple way to begin, our student guide to build your first portfolio is a good place to start, especially if you are still in college.

Why Proof of Work Matters More Than Ever

Here is something I think about a lot. Today, AI can write a perfect resume in under a minute. It can write a perfect cover letter too. This sounds helpful, but it has actually made hiring harder for everyone.

When every resume looks equally good, how does a recruiter know who can actually do the job? This is the exact problem we built Fueler to solve.

Instead of asking people to describe their skills, Fueler asks them to show their skills through real work. A portfolio on Fueler is not just a list of past jobs. It shows your actual projects, how you think, what tools you used, and how you solved a real problem.

This is why we always tell our members to focus on quality over quantity. If you want to understand exactly how to do this the right way, our guide on how to build a proof of work portfolio step by step breaks it down in a simple way.

What 100,000 Members Have Taught Us

Reaching 100K members has taught us a lot about what people really need. Here are a few things that stood out to me.

• People do not want a static resume anymore. They want something that grows with them, project by project, year by year.
• Real work builds real trust. A recruiter looking at an actual campaign, design, or article trusts it far more than a bullet point that says "expert in X."
• Students are starting early. More and more students are building their portfolios during college itself, using internships, college projects, and freelance work as their first proof of work.
• Every profession has work worth showing. This is not just for designers. Writers, marketers, product managers, sales professionals, and even recruiters have real work that deserves to be seen.

If you are a designer and want to see how others in your field are showing off their work, our post on how designers build their portfolio on Fueler has some great examples you can learn from.

Achievements, Awards and Funding Received by Fueler

1. Building the world's first Proof of Work hiring platform, enabling companies to hire talent based on demonstrated skills instead of resumes.
2. Built a community of 100,000+ users, onboarded 1,000+ registered companies, and enabled 5,000+ professionals to secure jobs, internships, freelance projects, and other income opportunities through Proof of Work.
3. Generated commercial partnerships with 15+ global technology brands, including Canva, Adobe, Wix, Spotify, HubSpot, Mailchimp, Hostinger, Shutterstock, Veed.io, Synthesia, Elementor, Outgrow, Lambdatest, Hootsuite, Prezi, and Picsart.
4. Raised ₹10 lakh in angel investment, including participation from the Co-founder of Policybazaar.
5. Winner of Escape Velocity Grant by Aakaksha Gaur and Paras Chopra 
6. Founder Riten Debnath was invited as a TEDx Speaker at IIT Guwahati, becoming the first entrepreneur from Tripura to speak on the prestigious platform.
7. Currently incubated at the AIC-SMU Technology Business Incubator.
8. Awarded a Proof of Concept (PoC) Grant by Startup Tripura.
9. Featured by Dice.com (USA), one of the world's leading technology career platforms, trusted by 7.8 million+ technology professionals, 5,000+ hiring companies, and 200,000+ tech jobs every month, owned by DHI Group (NYSE: DHX).
10. Invited as the only startup from Tripura to participate in EMERGE 2025 at IIM Shillong.
11. Invited to the Northeast Investors Summit in New Delhi, attended by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Union Ministers, senior government officials, investors, and dignitaries, representing the startup ecosystem of Northeast India.
12. Invited to represent Fueler at Telangana Northeast Connect in Hyderabad, hosted by the Hon'ble Governor of Telangana alongside investors, government leaders, and industry stakeholders.
13. Invited to represent Tripura at the Northeast Entrepreneurs Summit at NERIST, Arunachal Pradesh.
14. Recipient of the NEB Awards 2026 in the Tech Startup category at the Northeast Entrepreneurs Meet 2026.
15. Recognised among the Top 10 Startups from Northeast India by Backstage with Millionaires (1M+ YouTube subscribers).
16. Recognised as Tripura's Top Startup by Backstage with Millionaires (1M+ YouTube subscribers).
17. Featured among 10 Popular Northeast India's Thriving Startups by Mountain Echo.
18. Founder Riten Debnath featured in The Dynamic Entrepreneurs Shaping the Northeast's Future by Borok Times.
19. Founder invited as a speaker at IITs, IIMs, NITs, premier engineering institutions, startup conferences, and entrepreneurship events across India.
20. Partnered with 1,000+ companies and leading technology organizations to promote skill-first hiring and career development.

What's Next: Experiments. Experiments. Experiments

Now let's talk about what excites me the most.

We have always believed that hiring should be based on real skill, not just a resume. Over the past months, we have been working on some fresh approaches to hiring that go even deeper into this idea. These are currently under trial with a small group of companies and candidates, and we plan to launch them for everyone in the coming weeks.

I do not want to share too many details yet, since we are still testing and improving them. But I can tell you the core idea behind all of it. We want hiring to feel less like a guessing game and more like a fair test of real ability. Instead of judging someone only by their past, we want companies to be able to see what a candidate can actually do, right now, for the role they are hiring for.

If this direction excites you as much as it excites me, keep an eye on our blog and your inbox in the coming weeks. We will share full details as soon as these features are ready for everyone.

Building an Ecosystem, Not Just a Platform

Hiring is a big part of what we do, but it is not the only thing on our mind. As we grow past 100K members, our goal is bigger than just being a portfolio and hiring platform.

We want to build a full ecosystem around Fueler that helps our community members do well in their careers in every way possible. This means three things to us.

• Helping you build in-demand skills. Not just any skills, but the ones that are actually valuable in today's job market, so your work stays relevant.
• Helping you grow your income. Whether that means better job offers, more freelance work, or new opportunities we help bring to you, we want your proof of work to actually translate into better pay.
• Helping you grow in your career. We want Fueler to be a place you keep coming back to, not just when you are job hunting, but throughout your career, as you keep building, learning, and growing.

This is a long term vision, and it will take time to build fully. But every feature we launch from here on will be built with this bigger goal in mind.

If you want a simple framework to follow while building your portfolio the right way, check out our 6 step formula for creating your Fueler portfolio. It is one of our most useful guides for members just getting started.

The Community Behind the Number

100,000 is just a number on its own. What makes it special to me is who those 100,000 people actually are.

Our community includes graphic designers, UI/UX designers, video editors, photographers, writers, copywriters, content creators, performance marketers, product managers, project managers, sales professionals, recruiters, HR professionals, architects, consultants, and students from top colleges across India. We have members from institutions like IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Kharagpur, IIT Guwahati, IIT Roorkee, IIM Ranchi, SRCC, Delhi University, and many more.

Many of our members now work at well known companies like Microsoft, PayPal, GitLab, HackerRank, and Pocket FM. Some of them started with a simple portfolio on Fueler while still in college, and today they are working at companies they once thought were out of reach.

This is exactly why I believe proof of work is so powerful. It does not care where you studied or who you know. It only cares about what you can actually do.

Why This Matters for India, and the World

I often think about the bigger picture here. India has an enormous number of talented people. Designers, writers, marketers, developers, consultants, and so many others are creating great work every single day. But a huge number of them never get discovered, simply because there is no easy way for their work to reach the right people.

This is not just an India problem either. Around the world, the way we hire people is still stuck in the past, built around resumes and degrees, even though real skill and real output matter so much more today.

Our long term goal at Fueler is to build the career infrastructure for 100 million creative and knowledge professionals, not just in India, but everywhere. We want a future where anyone, no matter which college they went to or which city they grew up in, can prove their skill and get the opportunity they deserve.

What's Coming Next for Fueler

As we move toward our next goal of 500,000 members, here is what you can expect from us.

We will keep improving the portfolio experience, making it easier for anyone, from any profession, to showcase their best work.

We will launch new hiring features that are currently under trial, aimed at making hiring fairer and more skill based for both companies and candidates.

We will invest more in helping our community grow their skills and income, not just their visibility.

We will keep listening to our community, since almost everything we have built so far came from real feedback from real users like you.

If you already have a portfolio on Fueler, now is a great time to update it with your latest work. And if you are just getting started, our guide on how to build a career portfolio that actually gets you hired is a great place to begin.

A Personal Thank You

Before I end this, I want to say something directly to our community. None of this 100K milestone would have been possible without you. Every project you uploaded, every portfolio you shared, every friend you told about Fueler, all of it added up to this moment.

We started this journey from Agartala with a small team and no outside funding, believing that real work deserves real recognition. Seeing 100,000 people believe in that same idea means more to me than any number ever could.

Fueler was never built just to create better portfolios. It was built because India is entering one of the biggest workforce transitions in history.

As I mentioned earlier, more than 65% of the country's population is under 35, yet only a small share of young people have received formal vocational training. At the same time, AI is making resumes and cover letters easier than ever to generate, making it harder for employers to distinguish real skill from polished presentation. We believe the future belongs to proof of work, where people are judged by what they can actually build, write, design or ship, not just what they claim on a resume.

Thank you for being part of this journey. The best part is, we are just getting started.

Your friend,

Riten Debnath

Founder, Fueler

Frequently Asked Questions

What is proof of work hiring?

Proof of work hiring means companies hire candidates based on real projects and assignments they have completed, instead of relying only on resumes and interviews. This helps employers see actual skill before making a hiring decision.

How does Fueler help me get hired?

Fueler helps you build a portfolio showing your real work and projects. Companies on Fueler can also invite you to complete short, role based assignments, so you can prove your skills directly instead of just listing them.

Is Fueler free to use?

Yes, you can create a portfolio on Fueler and start showcasing your work without any cost. It is a great option for students, freelancers, and working professionals who want to build their career identity online.

How do I build a strong portfolio on Fueler?

Start by adding real projects with clear details about what you did, how you did it, and what tools you used. Focus on quality over quantity, and keep your portfolio updated as you complete new work.

Can students use Fueler before they have a job?

Yes, many students use Fueler to showcase internships, college projects, and freelance work. This helps them build a career identity even before graduating, which can make a big difference during placements and job hunting.