Labrynth’s Red Tape Index Unveils “Launch Your Own Index” to Measure Barriers to Investment and Economic Growth

New offering enables industries, trade associations and governments to build custom benchmarks that measure regulatory delays, costs and complexity

Built on the Red Tape Index’s benchmarking technology, which provides data for CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business study

NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Labrynth, a global AI-services and regulatory intelligence platform behind the Red Tape Index (RTI), unveiled “Launch Your Own Index,” a new offering that enables industries, trade associations and governments to identify and measure regulatory barriers slowing investment and economic growth. Built on RTI’s established benchmarking engine, the service allows organizations to create custom or co-branded indices that turn complex regulatory data into actionable insights in as little as 10 weeks.

The service builds on RTI’s existing data and research capabilities, which support CNBC’s America’s Top States for Business study. By making regulatory performance measurable and comparable across jurisdictions and industries, the offering gives organizations a clearer picture of where time and money are being lost, helping inform investment decisions and identify opportunities for reform.

“Capital moves when and where there's clarity,” said Stuart Lacey, CEO of Labrynth. “Regulation isn’t the problem, but friction is. When businesses and governments can see exactly where delays are occurring and what they cost, they can make smarter investment decisions and identify opportunities for reform. We’re opening the RTI engine to organizations that know where their industries get stuck but need the data to do something about it.”

RTI’s flagship benchmark ranks more than 500 U.S. jurisdictions on the speed, cost and complexity of construction approvals, providing a measurable picture of regulatory performance across the country. Its existing benchmarking work highlights how comparable data can reveal bottlenecks, identify top-performing jurisdictions and inform investment and policy decisions.

• Lakeville, Minnesota. RTI’s Building and Construction Index ranks Lakeville among the top 10% of jurisdictions for permitting efficiency, highlighting residential plan review timelines of three to 10 days. The findings demonstrate how benchmarking can spotlight high-performing municipalities and identify practices that other jurisdictions may be able to adopt.
  
• Australia. RTI has developed one of the first national regulatory transparency benchmarks covering 67% of Australia’s local government areas. The benchmark demonstrates how regulatory performance can be measured and compared across jurisdictions to identify opportunities for improvement.
  
  

“Organizations shouldn’t have to build an entire research operation from scratch to understand what’s holding their industries back,” said Shaq Rahman, head of go-to-market for the Red Tape Index. “With more than 12 million data points and 50,000 indicators across our existing platform, we’re giving partners a head start in turning complex regulatory challenges into credible, actionable benchmarks. Our goal is to help organizations identify where time and money are being lost and turn those findings into meaningful action.”

Through “Launch Your Own Index,” organizations can bring a custom benchmark to market in as little as 10 weeks, supported by a peer-reviewed, co-credited methodology, quarterly reporting and a coordinated media launch. The process is designed to minimize the burden on participating organizations, requiring less than 10 hours of partner involvement before launch. Each index is developed using a transparent methodology, with findings and rankings determined independently of partner sponsorship.

The offering is available through three partnership models, including data partnerships, index sponsorships and country-specific indices. RTI plans to expand its global reach to more than 30 countries by the end of 2026 and is developing new indices focused on the agentic AI workforce, rare earths and health care. Organizations interested in developing an industry- or market-specific benchmark can request a complimentary, no-obligation, 60-minute consultation at redtapeindex.com/partner.

About the Red Tape Index
The Red Tape Index (RTI) is a comprehensive performance database in the U.S., tracking more than 500 cities and all 50 states. It combines public records, regulatory data, and analysis to measure permitting speed, transparency, and scalability. The Red Tape Index provides data for CNBC's America's Top States for Business study. The latest Red Tape Report, including additional city- and state-level case studies and regulatory readiness benchmarks, is available at https://redtapeindex.com/reports.

About Labrynth
Labrynth provides AI operating layers for mid-market companies and regulated enterprises. We design, build, deploy, and run AI services that turn regulatory complexity into a competitive advantage. Learn more at www.labrynth.ai.

Partnership Inquiries
Shaq Rahman, Head of Go-to-Market, Red Tape Index
Shaq@redtapeindex.com

Media Contact
Hannah Erger, KCSA Strategic Communications
Labrynth@kcsa.com