StartupCorners

StartupCorners is operated by Linked Corners Inc, a Delaware C-corporation registered in the United States ("Linked Corners," "we," "us," or "our"). This policy describes how we collect, use, share, and protect personal information when you use the StartupCorners website and platform (the "Service").

We've tried to write this in plain language. If something is unclear, email us at hello@startupcorners.com.

1. Information we collect

Information you provide

Name, email address, password (hashed, never stored in plain text)
Profile content: photo, bio, role, company, expertise, social links
Startup, organization, or investor entity information you publish
Content you upload: pitch decks, KPI data, files, posts, messages, comments
Payment information (processed by Stripe — we never see your full card number)
Anything you write to us through in-app chat or email
If you sign in with Google or connect Google Calendar: what Google shares with us with your permission (see section 9)

Information collected automatically

IP address, browser, operating system, device identifiers
Pages visited, features used, profile views, link clicks
Session timestamps and duration
Error logs and performance metrics

Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies for authentication, session management, preferences (e.g. Founding Member source attribution via the sc_source cookie), and aggregate analytics. Most browsers let you control cookies; disabling essential cookies may prevent the Service from functioning.

Google Analytics 4 runs only if you click Accept all or Analytics only in the cookie banner. Until then, and if you decline, nothing is loaded from Google Analytics and no analytics cookies are set. It runs only on our public pages: the home page, product, guide, blog and digest pages, the sign-in and sign-up pages, and public investor, mentor, program, organization and community profiles. It never runs in the signed-in platform, on password-reset or email-verification pages, on startup pages opened through a share link, on shared documents, on invitations, on quiz results, or in our mobile app.

With your consent, Google Analytics sets two cookies, _ga and _ga_<container id>. Google Analytics receives your browser and device and an approximate location derived from your IP address; we send the page's path, any campaign tags in the link (utm_…), and the domain (not the full address) of the site that linked to us. On profile pages the page title is replaced by a generic label, so a person's or organisation's name is not sent. Sign-up and sign-in pages are counted by their path only; an email address or a return address in the link is never sent. We use it only to count visits and see which pages and channels bring people in.

With the same consent we also use PostHog (PostHog Inc., United States). Until you accept, and if you decline, nothing is loaded from PostHog. PostHog sets no cookie: it keeps a random identifier in your browser's local storage, so visits from the same browser can be counted together. It counts visits on the same public pages as Google Analytics and receives the same kind of information: the page's path, any campaign tags in the link (utm_…), the domain (not the full address) of the site that linked to us, and your browser and device. PostHog also receives your IP address with each event, keeps it with the event data, and may use it to estimate an approximate location (such as your country and city). Page titles are never sent.

PostHog also receives a few named steps, with no personal data: building a website preview, starting and completing sign-up, claiming a profile, each onboarding step you see and the completed onboarding (with the kind of profile you chose, such as founder or investor), adding an investor to your fundraising pipeline, and sharing your first link. In the signed-in platform it records only these steps, on the onboarding, fundraising and investor pages, under the labels "/onboarding", "/fundraising" and "/investors": never the real address, a page view or an id. It never runs on password-reset or email-verification pages, on startup pages opened through a share link, on shared documents, on invitations, on quiz results, or in our mobile app. PostHog never receives your name or email address, and we do not use it to identify you. We use it only to count visits and see which pages, channels and steps bring people in and where they stop. We do not use it for advertising, and we do not use session recording, heat maps or surveys. PostHog keeps this event data for one year, then deletes it.

If you choose Accept all, we also use the Meta Pixel to measure the ads we run on Facebook and Instagram. With Analytics only or Decline, nothing is loaded from Meta. It runs only on the same public pages as Google Analytics, and not on a page whose address carries anything but campaign tags. It sends a page view, and a sign-up when a founder, a community, an accelerator or a program creates an account, with no details about you: never your name, email address or phone number. Meta receives the page's address, the page that linked to it, your browser and device, and your IP address, and sets two cookies, _fbp (a random identifier for this browser) and _fbc (the ad you clicked, when you came from one), each kept for 90 days. If you have a Facebook or Instagram account, Meta can link this to it. For collecting and sending this data we and Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. are joint controllers; Meta's own use of it is governed by Meta's Privacy Policy (facebook.com/privacy/policy). We use the results only to see which ads bring founders and communities to StartupCorners and to show our ads to people more likely to be interested.

You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of those pages. Declining deletes the Google Analytics cookies on startupcorners.com, including the _ga cookie shared with networks.startupcorners.com, and PostHog's identifier in your browser's local storage. Declining or choosing Analytics only stops the Meta Pixel and deletes its _fbp and _fbc cookies. Your choices are kept in your browser's local storage so the banner can remember them, and nothing about them is sent to us.

Cookies and analytics on networks.startupcorners.com

On networks.startupcorners.com, Google Analytics 4 and PostHog run only if you click Accept in the cookie banner. Until then, and if you decline, the site loads nothing from Google Analytics or PostHog, sets no analytics cookies and stores no analytics identifier. Neither runs in the signed-in areas for page views: the agency and investor portals and the password-reset page are never measured, and in the startup portal PostHog records only the named steps listed below, under the label "/startup" and never the real address.

With your consent, Google Analytics sets two cookies, _ga and _ga_<container id>, and receives the pages you visit, your browser and device, an approximate location derived from your IP address, and how you reached the site. PostHog (PostHog Inc., United States) sets no cookie: it keeps a random identifier in your browser's local storage and receives the same kind of information: the pages you visit, your browser and device, and how you reached the site. PostHog also receives your IP address with each event, keeps it with the event data, and may use it to estimate an approximate location (such as your country and city). PostHog never receives your name or email address, and we do not use it to identify you.

We send the page's path, any campaign tags in the link (utm_…), and the domain (not the full address) of the site that linked to us. We never send the rest of an address, such as a token, a code or a return link. PostHog also receives these named steps, with no personal data: the start and submission of the early-access form, a click on "register", a request for a member code, a completed sign-up, and the submission of a startup profile for review. We use both services only to count visits and see which pages, channels and steps bring people in and where they stop. We do not use them for advertising and we do not use session recording, heat maps or surveys. PostHog keeps this event data for one year, then deletes it.

Because PostHog Inc. and Google are in the United States, your information is transferred there; section 4 (Data residency and international transfers) applies.

You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings at the bottom of the page. Declining deletes the Google Analytics cookies on that site, including the one shared with startupcorners.com, and PostHog's identifier in your browser's local storage. Your choice is kept in your browser's local storage so the banner can remember it, and nothing about it is sent to us.

2. How we use your information

To provide the Service: create and manage your account, render your profile, deliver core features (investor pipeline, KPI tracker, updates, community).
Communications: service notifications, security alerts, transactional emails (e.g. signup confirmation, welcome email). Marketing emails only with your consent.
AI features: when you use AI features (drafting outreach, investor matching, summarising updates), prompts and outputs are processed by Anthropic. See section 8 for details.
Analytics and improvement: understand usage, fix bugs, improve the product.
Security: detect, prevent, investigate fraud, abuse, or unauthorised access.
Legal compliance: meet our obligations under applicable law.

Text messages (SMS)

If you turn on text messages in Settings > Notifications, Linked Corners Inc (StartupCorners) collects your mobile phone number and a record of your consent (the date, time, IP address and the wording you agreed to). We use them only to send the account messages you chose: sign-in codes, meeting reminders and alerts about new messages. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to any message to opt out, or turn text messages off in Settings; reply HELP for help.

We do not sell or share your SMS opt-in data or personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. Your number is passed only to Twilio, which delivers the messages for us (section 3).

3. Sub-processors

We use the following third parties to operate the Service. Each is bound by data-protection terms equivalent to ours.

Stripe — payment processing — United States
Resend — transactional email — United States
Anthropic — AI features — United States
Railway — hosting and database — United States and EU regions
Cloudflare R2 — file storage — multi-region
Stream — in-app chat — United States
Twilio — text messages, only if you turn them on — United States
Google OAuth — sign-in (when you choose Google) — United States
Google Analytics — website analytics on our public pages, only with your consent — United States
PostHog — product analytics on our public pages, on a few named steps in the platform and on networks.startupcorners.com, only with your consent — United States

Sub-processors may change as we evolve. We'll update this list when changes occur.

4. Data residency and international transfers

Application data is stored on Railway (US and EU regions). Files are stored on Cloudflare R2 (multi-region). AI processing happens at Anthropic in the United States. Email is sent through Resend in the United States. With your consent, website analytics are processed by Google (Google Analytics) and PostHog Inc. (PostHog) in the United States. With your consent to advertising, Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. receives the pixel data described in the cookie section, and Meta Platforms, Inc. may process it in the United States.

If you're in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, your data is transferred to and processed in the United States and other regions. We rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for these transfers. A Data Processing Addendum (DPA) is available on request.

As a US company offering services to users in the EEA and UK, we're subject to the GDPR under Article 3(2). We follow GDPR principles for our EU/UK users.

Lawful bases we rely on:

Contract performance — to provide the platform you signed up for
Legitimate interest — for security and fraud prevention
Consent — for marketing emails, and for Google Analytics and PostHog on our public pages, for the Meta Pixel on our public pages, in the platform steps named in the cookie section and on networks.startupcorners.com (you can withdraw any of these at any time)

Your rights: access, rectification, erasure, portability, restriction, and objection. Contact hello@startupcorners.com to exercise any of these. We respond within 30 days.

Our data-protection contact is the founder. We have not appointed a dedicated DPO; this isn't legally required at our current size. If you're unsatisfied with our response, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

6. CCPA (for California residents)

As a US-incorporated company, Linked Corners Inc is directly subject to the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) for California users.

We do not sell personal information.
Right to know: request what personal information we have about you
Right to delete: request deletion (some retention may be required for legal or financial obligations)
Right to correct: request correction of inaccurate personal information
Right to non-discrimination: we won't penalise you for exercising your rights

Response time: 45 days. Email hello@startupcorners.com to exercise any of these.

We do not sell personal information. We share information in four situations:

With sub-processors (listed in section 3) — only to operate the Service.
With Meta, for advertising, only with your consent — if you choose Accept all in the cookie banner, the Meta Pixel sends Meta the data described in the cookie section, as a joint controller for that collection.
With other users — content you mark as public (your profile, posts, public comments) is visible to others. Granular per-share-link visibility controls let you limit who sees what.
For legal reasons — to comply with valid legal process, protect our rights, prevent fraud, or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or asset sale (we'll notify you 30 days in advance if this affects how your data is processed).

8. AI and LLM data usage

When you use AI features (drafting outreach, finding matching investors, summarising updates), your prompts and the resulting content are processed by Anthropic.

Four things to know:

Anthropic does not train models on your data (per their data usage policy for our API tier).
We retain transient logs for debugging only, for up to 30 days.
We do not use your AI prompts or outputs to train any models ourselves.
We check AI answers for mistakes. To find answers from the assistant and your agents that are wrong, repeat themselves or do something you did not ask, we check them automatically, including with Anthropic once a day, and our staff may read the conversation around an answer that was flagged or that you reported. Answers that read your Google or Outlook calendar are left out, unless you report that answer.

If you have concerns about specific content being processed by AI, do not use AI features for that content.

9. Google user data

When you sign in with Google or connect Google Calendar, Google Drive, Google Contacts or Google Analytics, Google shares some information from your Google Account with us, through Google's APIs and only with your permission. This section says what we receive, how we use it, and what we never do with it.

Signing in with Google

If you choose Continue with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture, and we use them only to create your account and sign you in.

Google Calendar

Connecting Google Calendar is optional: you connect it from Apps and can disconnect it there at any time. When you connect it, Google asks you to let StartupCorners:

see, add, change and remove the events in your calendars: each event's title, time, place and description, and the names and email addresses of the people invited;
make secondary calendars of its own, and manage only those calendars and their events;
see your Google Account's email address, to show which account is connected.

We use this access only for features you ask for:

Your bookings: when someone books a meeting with you on StartupCorners, we add it to your calendar, and change or remove it when the booking is rescheduled, cancelled or declined.
The assistant and your agents: when you ask the assistant, or an agent you set up, about your calendar (for example "add the people I met yesterday to my CRM"), it reads the events it needs to answer. Those events are sent to Anthropic to write the answer (section 8), and the answer is kept with that conversation like any other chat message.
Events you ask for: when you ask the assistant or an agent to add an event to your calendar, or to make a calendar for something (for example "Program sessions"), it does so in your Google account. It changes or deletes only the events and calendars StartupCorners added, never one you made yourself, and it emails an invitation from Google to the people on an event only when you ask it to.

What we keep: the connection's access and refresh tokens (encrypted), the connected account's email address, the calendar we add your bookings to, the id of each event we added for a booking, and the id and name of each calendar StartupCorners made for you. We do not keep a copy of your calendar: we read events from Google only when a feature needs them.

Google Drive, Google Contacts and Google Analytics

Each of these is optional and connected on its own from Apps, where you can disconnect it at any time. When you connect one, Google asks you to let StartupCorners:

Google Drive: see, edit and create only the files StartupCorners makes in your Drive and the files you choose yourself in Google's file picker (under Apps > Google Drive > Choose files). We cannot see the rest of your Drive. Google Sheets, Docs and Slides files are reached the same way. Only files StartupCorners made can be moved to your Drive trash by it.
Google Contacts: see your contacts and the people you have emailed ("other contacts"): their names, email addresses, phone numbers, companies and job titles; and add contacts to your Google contacts. It changes or deletes only the contacts StartupCorners added, never one you saved yourself.
Google Analytics: see your Google Analytics accounts and the reports of your websites (visitors, sessions, page views, where visitors come from). We only read them.
see your Google Account's email address, to show which account is connected.

We use this access only when you ask the assistant, or an agent you set up, for something that needs it: for example "put my CRM contacts in a Google Sheet", "update the totals in my budget sheet", "save this page to my Drive", "copy this Drive file into Files", "add the people I know at Acme from my contacts to my CRM", "save the people from this meeting to my Google contacts" or "how many people visited my website last month". What it reads is sent to Anthropic to write the answer (section 8), and the answer is kept with that conversation like any other chat message. A file you ask to copy into Files is stored there like any file you upload, and a sheet or document we make is saved in your own Drive.

What we keep: each connection's access and refresh tokens (encrypted) and the connected account's email address. We do not keep a copy of your Drive, your contacts or your Analytics reports: we read them from Google only when you ask, and keep only what you ask to be saved (a person added to your CRM, a file copied into Files).

Who we share it with: only Anthropic (to answer what you ask the assistant or your agents) and the providers that host our service (section 3), and only to provide these features. We never sell it.

Limited Use: StartupCorners' use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. In particular:

We use Google user data only to provide and improve the features described above, which you can see and use.
We do not transfer it to anyone else except as needed to provide those features, to comply with the law, or as part of a merger, acquisition or sale of assets (section 7).
We do not use it for advertising, including retargeting and personalized or interest-based ads, and we do not use it to judge creditworthiness or for lending.
We do not use it, and do not let anyone else use it, to develop, improve or train generalized AI or machine learning models. Anthropic processes it only to answer you and does not train models on it.
No one at StartupCorners reads it, unless you ask us to for specific data (for example when you contact support), it is needed for security (such as investigating abuse), it is needed to comply with the law, or it has been aggregated and anonymized for our internal operations.

Removing access: disconnect a Google app in Apps: we delete its stored tokens, and when it was the last Google app you had connected we also revoke our access with Google. You can also remove StartupCorners from your Google Account at myaccount.google.com/connections. Events we added to your calendar for bookings, and sheets, documents and files we saved to your Drive, stay there until you delete them. To have the rest of your data deleted, see section 11.

10. Data security

Encryption in transit using TLS
Encryption at rest at the database and storage layers
Bcrypt-hashed passwords; optional two-factor authentication (TOTP)
Role-based access controls limiting employee access to personal data
Automated backups and disaster-recovery procedures

We're not currently SOC 2 or ISO 27001 audited. We follow standard security practices and will pursue formal certifications as we scale.

No method of transmission over the internet is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a security incident affecting your data, we'll notify you in line with applicable law.

11. Data retention and deletion

Active accounts: retained for as long as your account is active.
Account deletion: request deletion by emailing hello@startupcorners.com from the address on your account. We confirm within 48 hours, then soft-delete your data for 30 days (in case the deletion was accidental), then permanently remove it from our active systems. Self-serve account deletion is on the roadmap.
Backups: backups containing your data are purged within 90 days.
Transaction records: billing, payment, and tax records are retained as long as legally required (typically 7 years in the US).
Legal holds: we may retain limited information longer if legally required (fraud investigations, litigation).

Public profiles: if your profile was public, search engines may have cached versions. Deleting your account removes the profile from our systems, but we cannot remove cached copies from third parties.

Self-serve data export is on the roadmap. For now, email hello@startupcorners.com and we'll send you a JSON dump within 48 hours.

12. Your choices

Account settings: update or correct your profile anytime.
Privacy controls: set per-section and per-link visibility for your profile and updates.
Marketing emails: unsubscribe via the link in any marketing email.
Text messages: reply STOP to any text, or turn them off in Settings > Notifications.
Cookies: Google Analytics and PostHog run only if you accept them in the cookie banner, and the Meta Pixel only if you choose Accept all; change your choice with Cookie settings at the bottom of our public pages. On networks.startupcorners.com the choice is made the same way, in its own cookie banner and with Cookie settings at the bottom of its pages. PostHog on networks.startupcorners.com stores no cookie: it keeps a random identifier in your browser's local storage, which declining deletes. Other cookies: manage through your browser settings.
Google Calendar: disconnect it at any time in Apps. See section 9.
Account deletion: request anytime. See section 11.

13. Children's privacy

StartupCorners is not intended for users under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, contact hello@startupcorners.com and we'll delete it.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we'll update the "Last updated" date and notify you via email or in-app notice at least 30 days before the changes take effect. Where required by law, we'll obtain your consent before applying material changes.

15. Contact

Privacy questions, complaints, or rights requests: hello@startupcorners.com.

Postal:

Linked Corners Inc
Delaware, United States

Privacy Policy