Privacy Policy

1. What This Privacy Policy Covers

This policy outlines:

• What personal data we collect
• How we use, store, and protect your data
• The legal bases for processing under GDPR
• Your rights and how to exercise them
• Our data retention and international transfer policies

This policy does not apply to third-party platforms or services linked through RaiseTalks.

2. Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of personal data:

a. Contact & Account Information

• Full name
• Email address
• Company/startup name
• Title or position
• Login credentials (encrypted)

b. Business & Usage Information

• Uploaded files and documents
• Fundraising or investor-related inputs
• Affiliate/referral activity
• Feedback and support inquiries

c. Technical Data

• IP address, browser type, and operating system
• Cookies and usage analytics (page views, time on site, actions)
• Device and session metadata

d. Communication History

• Emails, messages, and feedback submitted to our team

We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal data unless explicitly provided for specific services with your consent.

3. How We Collect Data

• Directly from you – when you sign up, use features, or contact us
• Automatically – via cookies and analytics tools
• From third parties – such as referral sources or integrations you connect
• From public sources – publicly available professional information about investors and firms, used to build our investor catalog (see Section 10)

4. Why We Process Your Data

5. GDPR Compliance & Your Rights (EU/EEA Residents)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, you have rights under the GDPR, including:

• Right to Access – Request access to your data
• Right to Rectification – Correct any inaccurate data
• Right to Erasure – Ask us to delete your data ("right to be forgotten")
• Right to Restriction – Limit how we process your data
• Right to Data Portability – Obtain your data in a readable format
• Right to Object – Object to processing under legitimate interests
• Right to Withdraw Consent – Revoke your consent at any time
• Right to Lodge a Complaint – Complain to your local data protection supervisory authority

You can exercise the most common rights yourself, directly in the platform: go to Profile to Download my data (a machine-readable export of your information) or to Delete Account (permanent erasure). For any other request, or to contact us, email privacy@raisetalks.ai. We may need to verify your identity, and we respond within one month.

6. Data Security & Service Providers

We implement robust technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including:

• Encrypted transmission and storage
• Role-based access control
• Regular audits and system monitoring

We rely on the following trusted third-party processors, each under a data processing agreement and appropriate transfer safeguards:

• Stripe – payment processing and billing
• Supabase – database, authentication, and file storage
• Resend – transactional and notification email delivery
• Microsoft Azure – application hosting and AI services

7. Data Retention

We retain your data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law. When you delete your account, your personal data is erased without undue delay. Some records are retained after deletion, on the following bases:

• Billing and invoice records – retained by our payment provider (Stripe) for the period required by tax and accounting law.
• Email bounce and complaint records – retained indefinitely to comply with anti-spam obligations and protect sender reputation.
• An anonymous deletion receipt – retained indefinitely to document that the deletion occurred; it contains no personal data (only a one-way hash of the email).
• Investor catalog information – retained while our investor-intelligence service operates (see Section 10).

When no longer needed, data is securely deleted or anonymized.

8. International Data Transfers

If your data is transferred outside the United States or the European Economic Area (EEA), we ensure appropriate safeguards, such as:

• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs)
• Transfer to jurisdictions recognized by the European Commission as providing adequate protection

9. Cookies and Analytics

We use cookies and tracking technologies to enhance your experience and analyze usage. You can control cookie preferences through your browser settings or by adjusting cookie consent settings when visiting our site.

10. Public-Source Investor Information

RaiseTalks maintains a catalog of investors and investment firms to help startups find relevant funding sources. Some entries are built from publicly available professional information (for example: firm name, investment focus, public website, and publicly listed professional contact details). We process this information under our legitimate interest (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)) in operating an investor-discovery service, and it exists independently of whether the investor holds a RaiseTalks account.

If you are an individual and wish to object to, correct, or remove your details from the catalog, email privacy@raisetalks.ai and we will address your request.

11. Children's Data

RaiseTalks is a business platform intended for users aged 16 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact privacy@raisetalks.ai and we will delete it.

12. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as our services evolve or as required by law. The updated version will always be posted on our website with the revised date.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data: