Privacy Policy

01Who We Are

Venture School Ltd is the organisation responsible for the processing of your personal data in connection with the Services.

Company: Venture School Ltd. Website: VentureSchool.ai. Email: info@ventureschool.ai.

For the purposes of applicable UK data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation ("UK GDPR") and the Data Protection Act 2018, Venture School is generally the data controller for personal data we collect directly from users.

Where we process personal data on behalf of an organisation such as a university, corporate customer, accelerator, partner or programme provider, that organisation may be the data controller and Venture School may act as a data processor. In those circumstances, the relevant organisation's privacy notice may also apply.

02Information We Collect

We may collect different categories of information depending on how you interact with Venture School.

Information you provide may include full name, email address, telephone number, password and account credentials, location and country, professional information, job title and organisation, founder or entrepreneurial experience, venture or business information, startup ideas and descriptions, product, market and customer information, programme applications and participation information, mentoring requests and preferences, profile information, feedback, survey responses and testimonials, communications with us, payment and subscription information, and information submitted through forms, applications, workshops or events.

You should avoid submitting sensitive personal information unless it is specifically requested and necessary for the relevant Service.

03Venture and Business Information

Venture School is designed to help users move from ideas through validation, product development, launch and fundraising.

As part of using the platform, you may voluntarily provide information about business ideas, customer problems, market research, business models, product concepts, MVPs, financial assumptions, pitch materials, fundraising plans, customer or stakeholder information, strategic plans and other venture-related content.

This information may be processed to provide the Services, including AI-assisted analysis, recommendations, workflows, templates, mentoring and venture-building support.

You remain responsible for the information and intellectual property you choose to submit to the platform.

You should not submit confidential information belonging to another person or organisation unless you have the appropriate permission to do so.

04AI-Powered Services

Venture School provides AI-assisted functionality, including features such as an AI Co-Founder, AI-assisted venture analysis, problem-solving, idea refinement, product development, pitch development and other AI-powered workflows.

Information you provide to these features may be processed by Venture School and, where necessary, by third-party technology and AI service providers acting on our behalf.

Depending on the feature you use, this may include prompts and questions, venture information, product information, market information, uploaded documents, user-generated content, and responses and outputs generated through the platform.

We use this information to provide and improve the relevant functionality, subject to our agreements with technology providers and applicable law.

You should not submit highly confidential, commercially sensitive or legally privileged information to an AI feature unless you are comfortable with it being processed for the purpose of providing that feature.

AI-generated outputs may be inaccurate, incomplete or unsuitable for your particular circumstances. You are responsible for reviewing and validating outputs before relying on them.

05Information We Collect Automatically

When you access VentureSchool.ai or our platform, we may automatically collect certain technical information, including IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, time zone, approximate location, pages or features accessed, usage activity, session information, referring website, and error and diagnostic information.

We use this information to operate, secure, analyse and improve our Services.

06Cookies and Similar Technologies

We may use cookies and similar technologies on VentureSchool.ai and our platform to operate our website, remember preferences, understand how users interact with our Services and measure website performance.

Where required by law, we will obtain your consent before placing non-essential cookies on your device.

You can control cookies through your browser settings and, where available, our cookie preference mechanism.

07How We Use Your Information

We may use personal information to create and manage your Venture School account; provide access to the platform; deliver programmes, courses, workshops and other Services; provide AI-powered venture-building functionality; personalise your experience; provide mentoring and expert support; process subscriptions and payments; communicate with you; respond to enquiries; provide customer support; improve and develop our products; analyse platform usage; conduct research and product development; maintain platform security; detect and prevent fraud, abuse or misuse; comply with legal and regulatory obligations; send marketing communications where permitted by law; understand programme outcomes and engagement; and produce aggregated or anonymised insights.

08Legal Bases for Processing

Where UK GDPR applies, we rely on one or more of the following legal bases:

Contract — we process information where necessary to provide Services you have requested or to perform our agreement with you.

Legitimate interests — we may process information where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as improving our platform, maintaining security, communicating with users and developing our products, provided those interests do not override your rights.

Consent — where required, we will ask for your consent before processing information for particular purposes, such as certain marketing communications or non-essential cookies.

Legal obligation — we may process information where necessary to comply with applicable legal or regulatory requirements.

09Marketing

We may send you information about Venture School, programmes, events, products, resources and relevant opportunities.

Where required, we will obtain your consent before sending marketing communications.

You can unsubscribe from marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe option in the relevant communication or by contacting info@ventureschool.ai.

You may still receive essential service-related communications, such as account, payment, security or programme information.

10Sharing Your Information

We may share personal information with trusted third parties where necessary to provide and operate our Services.

These may include hosting and cloud service providers, software and platform providers, AI and machine-learning service providers, payment processors, analytics providers, email and communications providers, customer support providers, security and fraud prevention providers, professional advisers, programme delivery partners, universities and educational institutions, corporate customers, and mentors, faculty and experts where necessary to provide a requested service.

We require service providers processing personal data on our behalf to handle that information appropriately and in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

We do not sell your personal information.

11Programme and Institutional Partners

Venture School may deliver programmes through universities, corporates, accelerators, government organisations, venture programmes and other institutional partners.

If you participate through one of these organisations, we may share relevant information with that organisation where necessary to administer the programme, measure participation or deliver the agreed Services.

The organisation may have its own privacy notice explaining how it processes your personal data.

Where applicable, we will clearly identify the relevant data controller and processing relationship.

12Mentors, Faculty and Community

Certain Venture School Services may enable users to interact with mentors, faculty members, experts or other members of the Venture School community.

Depending on the feature, information contained in your profile, venture information or communications may be visible to relevant participants.

We will take reasonable steps to limit access to information according to the relevant Service and user permissions.

You should consider carefully what information you choose to make available to other users, mentors or community members.

13Payments

If you purchase a subscription, programme or other paid Service, payment information may be processed by third-party payment providers.

We generally do not store complete payment card details on our own systems.

Payment providers may collect and process information according to their own privacy policies.

14International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers may process personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer is lawful and that appropriate safeguards are in place, as required by applicable data protection legislation.

15Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

When personal information is no longer required, we will delete it or anonymise it where reasonably practicable.

16Account and User Content

You may create, upload, store or generate content through VentureSchool.ai.

This may include venture plans, documents, prompts, presentations, research, notes, product concepts and other content.

You retain ownership of your intellectual property rights in your content, subject to any separate agreement between you and Venture School.

By submitting content to the platform, you grant Venture School the permissions reasonably necessary to host, store, process and display that content for the purpose of providing the Services.

Nothing in this Privacy Policy transfers ownership of your intellectual property to Venture School.

17Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, misuse, alteration and unauthorised disclosure.

However, no internet transmission or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

18Children's Privacy

Venture School is primarily designed for adults, founders, professionals, students and organisations.

Our Services are not intentionally directed at children under the age at which they can lawfully consent to data processing in their jurisdiction.

19Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have rights including the right to access your personal information, correct inaccurate information, request deletion, restrict processing, object to certain processing, data portability, withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, object to direct marketing, and complain to a relevant data protection regulator.

To exercise your rights, contact info@ventureschool.ai.

20Automated Decision-Making

Venture School may use AI and automated technologies to provide recommendations, generate content, analyse information and support venture-building workflows.

Unless specifically explained to you otherwise, these tools are intended to assist users rather than make legally or similarly significant decisions about them.

21Third-Party Websites and Services

Our website or platform may contain links to third-party websites, applications, tools or services.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties.

We recommend reviewing the privacy policies of third-party services before providing them with personal information.

22Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our Services, technology, legal requirements or business practices.

The latest version will always be made available on VentureSchool.ai with the relevant "Last updated" date.

23Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, your personal information or how Venture School processes data, please contact Venture School Ltd at VentureSchool.ai or info@ventureschool.ai.

24Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first at info@ventureschool.ai.

You also have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant data protection authority in your jurisdiction.

For individuals in the United Kingdom, this is generally the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).