Privacy Policy

We collect information in the following ways:

Information You Provide Directly

When you use the Platform, you may provide us with information including:

• Personal identification details such as your full name, email address, phone number, and country of residence
• Startup and business information including company name, industry, stage, description, market analysis, funding history, and financial projections
• Application materials such as pitch decks, financial documents, cap tables, incorporation documents, and other uploaded files
• Account credentials including your email address and password
• Profile information such as LinkedIn profile URL, personal website, X (Twitter) handle, and GitHub username
• Venture Scout application information including your motivation and ecosystem involvement
• PayPal email address for reward processing (Venture Scouts only)

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit or use the Platform, we may automatically collect:

• Usage data including pages visited, features used, actions taken, and time spent on the Platform
• Device and browser information such as browser type, operating system, screen resolution, and device identifiers
• IP address and approximate geographic location derived from it
• Referral source information indicating how you arrived at the Platform

Information from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third parties in limited circumstances:

• Referral attribution data when an approved Venture Scout shares their referral link and you visit the Platform through it. We store the referral code in a cookie and in your browser's local storage to attribute your application to the referring scout if you choose to apply.

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Application processing: To receive, review, and evaluate startup applications submitted through the Platform
• Communications: To contact you regarding your application status, requests for additional information, and decisions
• Venture Scout Program: To operate the referral tracking system, process scout approvals, and administer rewards in accordance with program guidelines
• Account management: To create and maintain your account, authenticate your identity, and provide access to your personalised dashboard
• Platform improvement: To understand how users interact with the Platform, identify areas for improvement, and develop new features
• Legal and compliance: To enforce our Terms of Service, prevent fraud or abuse, and comply with applicable legal obligations
• Communications about the Platform: To send you important notices about your account, changes to our policies, and security updates

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not use your application data for any purpose other than evaluating your application and operating the Platform.

We do not sell or rent your personal data. We share your information only in the following limited circumstances:

Service Providers

We work with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating the Platform. These providers process your data only on our behalf and under strict confidentiality obligations:

• Supabase: Database hosting, authentication, and file storage
• Resend: Transactional email delivery for application confirmations, status updates, and system notifications
• Vercel: Platform hosting and content delivery

Legal Requirements

We may disclose your information if required to do so by applicable law, regulation, court order, or government authority, or if we reasonably believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our legal rights, your safety, or the safety of others.

Business Transfers

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you before your information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

We retain your information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy:

• Application data: Retained for the duration of the active review period and for a reasonable period thereafter for record-keeping and legal compliance purposes
• Account data: Retained while your account remains active on the Platform
• Contact form submissions: Retained for a reasonable period sufficient to respond to and resolve your enquiry
• Referral tracking data: Referral cookies and localStorage entries expire after 90 days from the date of your visit

You may request deletion of your personal data at any time by contacting us at hello@northstarvc.xyz. We will honour such requests subject to any legal obligations that may require us to retain certain information.

Depending on your jurisdiction and applicable data protection law, you may have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

• Access: The right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Rectification: The right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data
• Erasure: The right to request deletion of your personal data, subject to certain exceptions
• Restriction: The right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances
• Portability: The right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format
• Objection: The right to object to our processing of your personal data in certain circumstances
• Withdrawal of consent: Where processing is based on your consent, the right to withdraw that consent at any time

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@northstarvc.xyz. We will respond to your request within a reasonable time and in accordance with applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate the Platform effectively. Cookies are small text files placed on your device by your browser when you visit a website.

Essential Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the Platform to function and cannot be switched off. They are used for authentication, session management, and security. Without these cookies, you would not be able to log in or use the Platform's features.

Referral Tracking Cookies

When a founder visits the Platform through a Venture Scout's referral link, we store the referral code in a cookie and in the browser's local storage. This allows us to attribute any subsequent application to the correct Venture Scout. Referral cookies expire after 90 days from the date of the visit.

What We Do Not Do

We do not use cookies for advertising purposes. We do not place advertising cookies on your device, and we do not track you across third-party websites for marketing purposes.

Most browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings. However, disabling essential cookies may prevent you from using certain features of the Platform, including logging in to your account.

We take the security of your personal data seriously and implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration.

Our security measures include:

• Encrypted transmission: All data transmitted between your browser and our Platform is encrypted using HTTPS/TLS
• Row Level Security: Our database enforces strict access controls at the row level through Supabase's Row Level Security (RLS) policies, ensuring that users can only access their own data
• Role-based access control: User accounts are restricted to accessing only the data and features appropriate to their role (founder, Venture Scout, or admin)
• Secure authentication: Passwords are handled using industry-standard cryptographic practices through Supabase Auth
• Private file storage: Application documents and uploaded files are stored in private storage buckets that are not publicly accessible

No method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially reasonable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you believe your account has been compromised, please contact us immediately at hello@northstarvc.xyz.

The Platform is not intended for use by individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18.

If you are under 18, please do not use the Platform or submit any personal information to us. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a person under 18, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

If you believe that we may have collected information from a minor, please contact us at hello@northstarvc.xyz.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your information. Your continued use of the Platform after any changes to this policy become effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.

If we make changes that significantly affect your rights or how we use your personal data, we may provide additional notice, such as an email notification or a prominent notice on the Platform.

If you have questions, concerns, or requests related to this Privacy Policy or our data practices, we encourage you to reach out to us. We are committed to addressing your enquiries promptly and transparently.

Email: hello@northstarvc.xyz

For requests to access, correct, or delete your personal data, please include your full name and the email address associated with your account so that we can verify your identity and process your request efficiently.