diff --git a/backend/Procfile b/backend/Procfile
index 91cf156b..f2787b47 100644
--- a/backend/Procfile
+++ b/backend/Procfile
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-# Use start_alwrity_backend.py for deployment
-# This script handles all bootstrap logic and starts uvicorn
-web: python start_alwrity_backend.py --production
+# Use Gunicorn with uvicorn worker for faster port binding on Render
+# Gunicorn binds immediately, then loads app in background
+web: gunicorn app:app --worker-class uvicorn.workers.UvicornWorker --bind 0.0.0.0:$PORT --timeout 600
diff --git a/backend/start_alwrity_backend.py b/backend/start_alwrity_backend.py
index 5915176f..b42dde75 100644
--- a/backend/start_alwrity_backend.py
+++ b/backend/start_alwrity_backend.py
@@ -9,10 +9,17 @@ import os
 import sys
 import json
 import argparse
+import platform
 from pathlib import Path
 from dataclasses import dataclass, asdict
 from typing import Optional
 
+# Detect platform
+IS_WINDOWS = platform.system() == "Windows"
+IS_LINUX = platform.system() == "Linux"
+
+import uvicorn
+
 
 @dataclass
 class BootstrapResult: