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Terms of Service

Rules of the road.

Last Updated: January 11, 2021


These Terms of Service (the "Agreement") set forth the terms and conditions that apply to your access and use of the internet websites owned and operated by Startups.com LLC (“Startups.com”, "we", "our" or "us") located at Bizplan.com, Fundable.com, Launchrock.com, Startups.com (collectively, the “Websites”) and the Startups.com Founder Groups Application (the “App”). The Websites, the App, including any content, functionality, and services offered on or through the Websites or the App, whether as a guest or registered user, are referred to collectively as, the "Services". This Agreement forms a legally binding contract between you and Startups.com.

Please review this Agreement carefully before you download or use the Services in whole or in part. By downloading or using the Services, or by clicking to accept or agree to the Agreement or to apply for consideration, or to subscribe, or to similar functionality when such option is made available to you, you accept and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and acknowledge our Privacy Policy located at https://www.startups.com/legal/privacy-policy (the "Privacy Policy"), and all other policies posted on the Services or otherwise provided by us, as they may be amended from time to time in the future. All of these policies, as amended, are hereby incorporated by reference into this Agreement.

We may update this Agreement or the Privacy Policy at any time, without notification to you. You should review this Agreement and the Privacy Policy each time you access the Services. Your continued use of the Services shall be deemed irrevocable acceptance of any such revisions. Before you continue, you should print or save a local copy of this Agreement and the Privacy Policy for your records. You should periodically check the "Last Updated" date at the top of this document to familiarize yourself with the most recent version of this Agreement.

If you do not agree to this Agreement, you must not set up any account on or through Startups.com or any of the Websites, the App, or otherwise access or use the Services in whole or in part.

1. Ability to Use the Websites, App, and Services

The Services are available only to users who have reached the legal age of majority in their jurisdiction, and are not under the age of 18. The Services are not directed to and must not be accessed or otherwise used by individuals under the age of 18. The Services are offered and available only to users who are 18 years of age or older, and are fully able and competent to enter into the terms, conditions, obligations, affirmations, representations and warranties set forth in this Agreement, and to abide by and comply with this Agreement. By using the Services, you represent and warrant that you meet all of the eligibility requirements contained herein. If you do not meet all such requirements, you must not access or use the Services. It is your responsibility to ensure that you are legally eligible to enter into this Agreement under any laws applicable to you in your jurisdiction of residence or otherwise. If you accept this Agreement, you represent that you have the capacity to be bound by it. If you are under the age of 18 or are not of the age of majority or otherwise legally eligible to be bound by this Agreement, you may not use any of the Services.

2. Your Profile Information and Account

You agree and understand that you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password which, together with your email address, allows you to access certain content and functionality on or through the Services. That e-mail address and password, together with any or other user information you provide, form your "Profile Information" and allow you to access your account ("Account"). You agree to provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself and to immediately provide updated information as your circumstances change. You may not misrepresent your Profile Information.

Your right to access and use the Services is personal to you and is not transferable by you to any other person or entity. You agree not to disclose your password to any third party. You are solely responsible for all activities that occur under your Account or under your Profile Information. If you become aware of any unauthorized use of your Account or Profile Information, you are responsible for notifying us immediately. By providing us with your email address, you agree to receive all required notices electronically, to that e-mail address. It is your responsibility to update or change your e-mail address, as appropriate.

3. Submission of Content

The Services may require or enable you to provide or upload content, including but not limited to text, images, video, data, name, email address, contact information, phone number, title, birthdate, location, Startup state, industry, revenue, year founded, funding status, work experience, education experience, goals, requests, commitments, and other information or content, (collectively, "Content"), to us for the purpose of providing the Services or otherwise on or through the Services. You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for all Content you submit, provide or upload and any consequences of submitting, providing or uploading it, and represent that all such Content is accurate, current, and complete, including without limitation all requests, goals, notes and commitments submitted or otherwise made in or to a Founder Group or member or moderator thereof, or otherwise on or through the Services. We will use Content you upload in connection with providing the Services to you, to maintain and operate the Services, to cooperate with any governmental investigation or as required by law or legal or administrative process, and to protect the rights and property of Startups.com, its users and other third parties. You represent and warrant that you own all Content you provide, upload, or otherwise make available on or through the Services, and have all the necessary licenses, rights, consents and permissions to grant the licenses and rights set forth herein, and that such Content, its provision to us or use or access thereof by us, any user, or other third party, or otherwise on or through the Services will not violate the copyrights, privacy rights, publicity rights, trademark rights, contract rights or any other intellectual property rights or other rights of any person or entity, or be likely to deceive any person.

Without limiting the forgoing, if you apply for consideration to participate in or otherwise participate in a Founder Group, or otherwise interact with a Founder Group or member or moderator thereof, you acknowledge your Content includes all content you provide or upload or otherwise make available orally, in writing, or otherwise as part of a Founder Group or otherwise to a Founder Group or member or moderator thereof, including without limitation during any Founder Group meeting, video or other calls, or otherwise on or through the Services, and you represent that you have all rights in the Content you provide, upload or otherwise make available to a Founder Group or member or moderator thereof, for the purpose provided, and that the Founder Group, each member or moderator thereof, and we and our affiliates, service providers, and contractors, may use such Content as set forth in this Agreement and otherwise for the purpose provided. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary and without limiting our rights hereunder, you represent we, our contractors and service providers may access and use all Content you provide, upload or otherwise make available to a Founder Group or member or moderator thereof or otherwise on or through the Services to provide the Services and as otherwise provided herein, and that the Founder Group and each member or moderator thereof may access and use such Content as provided herein and otherwise for the purpose provided. You also represent that you will only access or use Content as expressly provided in this Agreement, and in the event you access or otherwise obtain Content on or through a Founder Group or from a member or moderator thereof, you will only access and use such content for the purpose provided.

We are an interactive computer service platform, not a publisher. We are solely an intermediary for the Content of users WE HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR AND NO OBLIGATION TO MONITOR CONTENT FOR APPROPRIATENESS, ACCURACY, OR OTHERWISE, AND DO NOT RECOMMEND OR ENDORSE, ANY CONTENT POSTED, UPLOADED, OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE BY USERS OR THIRD PARTIES, ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES. THE CONTENT DOES NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINION OF STARTUPS.COM.

We retain the right to use or distribute any Aggregated Data generated by our customers or users or otherwise on or through the Services. "Aggregated Data" means records which have been stripped of information potentially identifying Services users, and which have been manipulated or combined to provide generalized, anonymous information. Aggregated Data will not disclose you as the source or subject of the information. We retain the right to take appropriate legal action, including without limitation, referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Services, and to disclose your identity or other information about you to any third party or governmental authority who claims that Content or other material posted by you violates their rights, including their intellectual property rights or their right to privacy, or applicable law. Without limiting the foregoing, we have the right to cooperate fully with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity or other information of anyone posting any Content or other materials on or through the Services. YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS STARTUPS.COM AND ITS AFFILIATES, SUCCESSORS-IN-INTEREST, LICENSEES, AND SERVICE PROVIDERS, AND CONTRACTORS FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY ANY OF THE FOREGOING PARTIES DURING, OR TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF, INVESTIGATIONS BY SUCH PARTIES OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.

4. Intellectual Property Rights

As between us and you, all right, title, interest and ownership and intellectual property rights in and to the trademarks and the Services, including but not limited to its "look and feel" (e.g., text, graphics, images, logos, buttons, icons and the placement and layout thereof), images, video, audio, data, content, software (including html-based computer programs) and other media, material or information, other than user Content, are and will remain the property of Startups.com or its software or content suppliers. The Services are protected under Canada, United States and international copyright, trademark and other laws and treaties.

Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, we grant to you, during the term of this Agreement, a personal, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, non-exclusive, revocable, limited-purpose right to access the Services that are subject to a valid Subscription.

You acknowledge that any ideas, suggestions, concepts, processes or techniques (other than your Content) which you provide to us related to the Services or our business ("Feedback") shall become our property without any compensation or other consideration payable to you or any third party by us, and you do so of your own free will and volition. We may or may not, in our sole discretion, use or incorporate the Feedback (in whatever form or derivative we may decide) into the Services, its software, services, documentation, business or other products, or any future versions or derivatives of the foregoing, or other services. You hereby assign all rights on a worldwide basis in perpetuity to us in any Feedback and, as applicable, waive any moral rights.

We own any test results, data information and other output (other than your Content) generated by your or any other use of the Services during the term of this Agreement. You may not disclose to any third party any test results or performance information regarding the Services, whether generated by you, us or a third party, except where expressly permitted.

5. Digital Millennium Copyright Act

If you are a copyright owner or an agent thereof and believe that any Content infringes upon your copyrights, you may submit a notification pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") by providing our Copyright Agent with the following information in writing (see 17 U.S.C § 512(c)(3) for further detail):

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;

Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;

Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled and information reasonably sufficient to permit us or our service provider to locate the material;

Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail;

A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Notifications of claimed infringement should be sent to the attention of Copyright Agent, Startups.com LLC, at support@startups.com. For clarity, only DMCA notices should go to the Copyright Agent; any other feedback, comments, requests for technical support, and other communications should be directed to our customer service. You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with all of the requirements of this Section, your DMCA notice may not be valid.

If you believe that your Content that was removed (or to which access was disabled) is not infringing, or that you have the authorization from the copyright owner, the copyright owner's agent, or pursuant to the law, to post and use the material in your Content, you may send a counter-notice containing the following information to the Copyright Agent:

Your physical or electronic signature;

Identification of the Content that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the Content appeared before it was removed or disabled;

A statement that you have a good faith belief that the Content was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or a misidentification of the Content; and

Your name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address, a statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and a statement that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification of the alleged infringement.

If a counter-notice is received by the Copyright Agent, we may send a copy of the counter-notice to the original complaining party informing that person that we may replace the removed Content or cease disabling it in ten (10) business days. Unless the copyright owner files an action seeking a court order against the Content provider, member or user, the removed Content may be replaced, or access to it restored, in ten (10) to fourteen (14) business days or more after receipt of the counter-notice, at our sole discretion.

6. Confidential Information

You agree to safeguard, keep secret and not to disclose to any third party, any Confidential Information acquired, learned or provided from us, any user, or otherwise on or through the Services during the term of this Agreement or following the expiration or termination of this Agreement. "Confidential Information" means any non-public information marked confidential or that ought reasonably to be considered confidential under the circumstances and includes, without limitation, any business plans, customer lists, operation procedures, trade secrets, design formulas and programming code, know-how and processes, computer programs, technical documentation and data, and inventions, discoveries, and improvements of any kinds.

7. Acceptable Use and Conduct

You agree that that you will not publish, post, upload or otherwise make available any Content that (or promotes or links to content or materials that), use the Services in a manner that, or use Content or other information obtained from or through the Services (including without limitation, email addresses) in a manner that:

  • infringes, violates or misappropriates any third party's intellectual property or proprietary rights;
  • contains software viruses, Trojan horses, worms, Easter eggs, spyware, malware, or any other computer code, files or programs that are designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment or that are designed to access, disclose, monitor or destroy data without authorization;
  • in any way that violates any applicable, federal, state, local, or international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the US or other countries), or this Agreement;
  • engages in spamming, "chain letters", "pyramid schemes", advertisement of illegal or controlled products or services, or other advertising or marketing activities that violate this Agreement, the Privacy Policy or any applicable laws, regulations or generally-accepted advertising or marketing industry guidelines;
  • is misleading, deceptive or fraudulent or otherwise illegal or promotes illegal activities, including engaging in phishing or otherwise obtaining financial or other personal information in a misleading manner or for fraudulent or misleading purposes;
  • is libelous or defamatory, or that is otherwise threatening, abusive, violent, harassing, malicious or harmful to any person or entity, or is invasive of another's privacy; collects personally identifiable information from children under the age of thirteen (13), or any user or other individual or household;
  • is harmful to minors in any way;
  • is hateful or discriminatory based on race, color, sex, religion, nationality, ethnic or national origin, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or age or is otherwise objectionable, as reasonably determined by us;
  • impersonates a Startups.com LLC employee, or any other person, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with any person or entity, for any reason, including to obtain access to the Services or a portion thereof without proper authorization;
  • interferes or attempts to interfere with the proper working of the Services or prevents others from using the Services, or in a manner that disrupts the normal flow of dialogue with an excessive number of messages (flooding attack) to the Services, or that otherwise negatively affects other persons' ability to use the Services, or inadvertently or intentionally disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of the Services or any other site or system in use by another user of the Services;
  • uses any manual or automated means, including agents, robots, scripts, or spiders, to monitor or copy the Services or the information or content contained therein (including any form of e-mail address harvesting);
  • facilitates the unlawful distribution of copyrighted Content;
  • licenses, sublicenses, rents or leases the Services to third parties, uses the Services for third party training, commercial time-sharing or service bureau use, or otherwise makes the Services available to third parties or commercially exploits the Services;
  • includes personal or identifying information about another person in a manner that employs misleading email or IP addresses, or forged headers or otherwise manipulated identifiers, in order to disguise the origin of Content transmitted through the Services to users;
  • constitutes or contains any form of advertising or solicitation to users who have requested not to be contacted about other services, products or commercial interests (including, without limitation, any form of spamming);
  • stalks or otherwise harasses anyone on or through the Services or with information obtained from or through the Services;
  • collects, uses or discloses data, including personal information, about users without their informed consent or for unlawful purposes or in violation of applicable law or regulations;
  • requests, solicits or otherwise obtains access to usernames, passwords or other authentication credentials from any user of the Services for the purposes of automating logins to the Services;
  • attempts to gain unauthorized access to the computer systems of the Services or engage in any activity that disrupts, diminishes the quality of, interferes with the performance of, or impairs the functionality of the Services;
  • contains adult or pornographic content;
  • decompiles or reverse engineers or attempts to access the source code of the software underlying the Services, or any other technology, or that merges or combines any such software or technology with any other data or materials to form a new product or service;
  • copies, archives, stores, reproduces, rearranges, modifies, downloads, uploads, creates derivative works from, displays, performs, publishes, distributes, redistributes or disseminates all or any part of the Services;
  • accesses the Services for the purposes of building a product using similar ideas, features, functions, interface or graphics as those found in the Services;
  • accesses the Services for the purposes of monitoring its availability, performance or functionality, or for any other benchmarking or competitive purposes;
  • accesses the Services to upload any Content or computer code for the purposes of: (i) causing a breach of security to the Services; (ii) interfering with the proper working, functionality or performance of the Services; or (iii) preventing others from accessing or using the Services; or
  • promotes any business or business activity other than the launch of the business that is the stated purpose of your launch page (including creating a launch page for a fictitious business, product, service or event in order to create a marketing list by collecting email addresses).

8. CAN-SPAM

We are not an e-mail platform. While we collect email addresses of persons who have indicated an interest in receiving information about our users' launches, we do not transmit e-mails for or behalf of such users. Accordingly, by using the Services (including, without limitation by exporting email addresses from the Services), you represent, warrant and covenant that all use and transfer of such e-mail address will be in strict accordance with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and its implementing regulations and interpretive guidelines (collectively, "CAN-SPAM") and with all other applicable laws and regulations relating to unsolicited messaging or spamming, unfair or deceptive advertising or trade practices, online promotions and consumer fraud. Without limiting the foregoing, you represent, warrant and covenant that (i) any commercial e-mail sent to an e-mail address you obtain from Services will include a valid physical postal address of the sender, a clear and conspicuous labeling that the e-mail is an advertisement or solicitation, and an "unsubscribe" or opt-out link by which the recipient can immediately opt out of receiving further commercial e-mails without additional requirements or consideration; (ii) you will honor within ten (10) business days any opt-out or unsubscribe request, after which time you will not transmit, or cause to be transmitted, any further commercial e-mails to the applicable e-mail address; (iii) you will not sell, license or transfer any e-mail address of an individual who has opted out or unsubscribed, except as expressly permitted by CAN-SPAM; (iv) you will not use false, misleading or deceptive "Subject," "From" or other headers in emails; (v) any launch page created, promoted or published by you through the Services shall be for a bona fide business that you are launching, and shall not be for the purpose of collecting email addresses for the creation of a permanent marketing list or a list unrelated to the stated purpose of the launch page; and (vi) you may not use e-mail addresses collected through the Services for any purpose except to communicate with interested persons about your launch.

If at any time we believe that you have violated any of these requirements, we may suspend or terminate your Account access and/or your ability to obtain email addresses through the Services. We also may delete all email addresses collected on your behalf.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES AND ALL CONTENT FORMING PART OF OR RELATED TO OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES, INCLUDING ANY CONTENT, WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY CONTENT YOU OR ANY OTHER USER OR THIRD PARTY UPLOAD OR SUBMIT OR OTHERWISE MAKE AVAILABLE AND ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE AND OTHER CONTENT, ARE AT YOUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY, THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. THE CONTENT AND OTHER INFORMATION PRESENTED OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES IS MADE AVAILABLE SOLELY FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES, OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, PERFORMANCE, SYSTEM INTEGRATION, QUIET ENJOYMENT, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

WE DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICES OR ANY CONTENT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE AND CONTENT, WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THE REQUIREMENTS OF ANYONE WHO MAY BE INFORMED OF THE SERVICES OR CONTENT, OR THAT THE SERVICES OR ANY CONTENT WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, CURRENT, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SERVICES OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKES THE SERVICES AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR DESTRUCTIVE CODE. THE SERVICES AND CONTENT MAY BE OUT OF DATE AT ANY GIVEN TIME, AND WE ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO UPDATE THE SERVICES OR ANY CONTENT. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR IMPLEMENTING SUFFICIENT PROCEDURES AND CHECKPOINTS TO SATISFY YOUR PARTICULAR REQUIREMENTS FOR ANTI-VIRUS PROTECTION AND ACCURACY OF DATA INPUT AND OUTPUT, AND FOR MAINTAINING A MEANS EXTERNAL TO OUR SERVICES FOR ANY RECONSTRUCTION OF YOUR LOST CONTENT OR OTHER DATA. YOU AGREE THAT FROM TIME TO TIME WE MAY REMOVE THE SERVICES FOR INDEFINITE PERIODS OF TIME WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU. YOUR ACCESS AND USE OF THE SERVICES MAY BE INTERRUPTED FROM TIME TO TIME FOR ANY OF SEVERAL REASONS, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE MALFUNCTION OF EQUIPMENT, THE FAILURE OF THIRD-PARTY SERVICE PROVIDERS, PERIODIC UPDATING, MAINTENANCE OR REPAIR OF THE SERVICES OR OTHER ACTIONS THAT WE, IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION, MAY ELECT TO TAKE, AS WELL AS THE MALICIOUS ACTIONS OF HACKERS AND OTHER THIRD PARTIES. WE MAKE NO GUARANTEE REGARDING: (A) THE AMOUNT, TIMING AND DELIVERY OF ANY CLICKS OR IMPRESSIONS WITH RESPECT TO ANY CONTENT (INCLUDING THIRD PARTY CONTENT) OR ADVERTISING ON THE SERVICES, (B) THE RESPONSE TO OR DEGREE OF INTEREST IN YOUR BUSINESS PLAN; OR (C) THE COMPATIBILITY OF YOUR SOFTWARE, HARDWARE OR CONTENT WITH THE SERVICES. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, NEITHER WE NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH STARTUPS.COM WILL BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONTENT OR USE THEREOF, OR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES, OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, OR OTHER DEVICES, DATA, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES OR ITEMS OR DATA OBTAINED ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES, OR ANY WEBSITE OR APPLICATION LINKED TO OR THROUGH THE SERVICES.

WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ACTS OR OMISSIONS OF, OR FOR THE FAILINGS OF, ANY THIRD-PARTY PROVIDER OF ANY CONTENT, SERVICE, NETWORK, SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS, HOSTING SERVICES UTILIZED BY STARTUPS.COM, TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROVIDERS, OTHER VENDORS, OR CONTENT PROVIDED BY OTHER USERS, OR ANY SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE NOT PROVIDED BY US.

YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT ALL CONTENT UPLOADED, PROVIDED OR OTHERWISE MADE AVAILABLE OR ACCESSED OR USED BY YOU IS COMPATIBLE WITH THE SERVICES AND ALL APPLICABLE LAW, AND THAT YOU HAVE ALL RIGHTS IN OR TO SUCH CONTENT INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ALL RIGHTS NECESSARY TO UPLOAD, PROVIDE, AND OTHERWISE MAKE SUCH CONTENT AVAILABLE OR USE ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES BY US OR OTHER USERS AND OTHERWISE THROUGH THE SERVICES, AND YOU REPRESENT THAT SUCH CONTENT IS NOT SUBJECT TO CONFIDENTIALITY OR OTHER RESTRICTIONS, AND THAT YOUR USE OF THE CONTENT, AND THE USE BY US AND OTHER USERS WILL NOT VIOLATE ANY APPLICABLE LAW, OR AGREEMENT. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE WE DISCLAIM ANY LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY UNAUTHORIZED USE OF YOUR CONTENT BY THIRD PARTIES OR OTHER USERS OF THE SERVICES AND WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROTECTING YOUR CONTENT.

ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICES IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR OTHER DEVICE OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL.

NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THIS AGREEMENT.

THE SERVICES ARE OFFERED AND CONTROLLED BY STARTUPS.COM FROM ITS FACILITIES IN THE UNITED STATES. STARTUPS.COM MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS THAT THE SERVICES ARE APPROPRIATE OR AVAILABLE FOR USE IN OTHER LOCATIONS. THOSE WHO ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICES FROM OTHER JURISDICTIONS DO SO AT THEIR OWN VOLITION AND ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR COMPLIANCE WITH LOCAL LAW.

10. Third Party Sites and Content

The Services may permit you to link to other websites, apps, or resources on the Internet, and other websites, apps, or resources may contain links to the Services. These other websites are not under our control, and you acknowledge that we are not responsible or liable for any third party content, products or services, including but not limited to the accuracy, integrity, quality, usefulness, legality, appropriateness, safety or intellectual property rights of or relating to such third party content, products or services or any other aspect of such websites or resources. The inclusion of any such link does not imply endorsement by us or any association with its operators. You further acknowledge and agree that we shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any such third party content, goods or services available on or through any such website or resource. Access and use of third party sites, including the information, material, products and services on third party sites or available through third party sites, is solely at your own risk.

11. Limitation of Liability

YOU AGREE THAT, UNDER NO LEGAL THEORY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO NEGLIGENCE, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONDITION, BREACH OF CONTRACT OR TORT, SHALL STARTUPS.COM, ITS AFFILIATES, OR ANY OF ITS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS, INVESTORS, CONTRACTORS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, MEMBERS, MANAGERS, PARTNERS, SHAREHOLDERS, LICENSORS, SUPPLIERS, CUSTOMERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS, BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY ACTING ON YOUR BEHALF FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES OR THE COST OF ANY SUBSTITUTE EQUIPMENT, FACILITIES OR SERVICES (EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR YOUR USE OF OR YOUR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES, OR FOR ANY DIRECT DAMAGES ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT, THE SERVICES, OR ANY SUBSCRIPTION EXCEEDING THE LESSER OF: (A) $100; AND (B) THE TOTAL AMOUNTS YOU PAID TO US IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE OCCURRENCE OF LOSS OR DAMAGE. TO THE EXTENT ANY PROVINCE, STATE OR JURISDICTION DOES NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AS PROVIDED IN THIS PARAGRAPH, OUR LIABILITY IN SUCH PROVINCE, STATE OR JURISDICTION SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

WITHOUT LIMITING THE FORGOING, THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO ANY DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF ANY CONTENT OR SERVICES PROVIDED BY ANY USERS AND ANY THIRD PARTIES OTHER THAN US AND RECEIVED BY YOU THROUGH THE SERVICES. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT WE WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE OF ANY KIND INCURRED AS THE RESULT OF ANY INTERACTIONS OR DEALINGS WITH ADVERTISERS, THE PRESENCE OF SUCH ADVERTISERS ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES, OR ANY CONTENT OR SERVICES RECEIVED BY YOU ON ANY THIRD PARTY SITES.

We reserve the right to modify, suspend or discontinue the Services, or any portion thereof, with or without notice at any time and for any reason, including, but not limited to, a failure to comply with the terms of this Agreement. In addition, we may at any time, with or without notice, suspend or terminate your Account and your ability to access the Services and your Content and data, if we, in our sole and absolute discretion, believes that you have violated the terms of this Agreement or applicable law or that you are engaging in activity that may harm the Services, us, our reputation, our customers or users, or other third parties; in such event, we may immediately delete your Content and data. We shall have no liability whatsoever for any damages, liabilities, losses or any other consequences that you may incur as a result of any such modification, suspension, termination, discontinuance or deletion.

12. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Startups.com, its affiliates and its and their respective owners, investors, contractors, officers, directors, members, managers, partners, shareholders, licensors, suppliers, customers, employees, agents, third-party advertisers, technology providers and service providers from and against any

loss, damage, cost, or liability (including, reasonable attorneys' fees) resulting from or relating in any way to any claim, demand, action or proceeding or that that otherwise arises out of or relates to this Agreement, the Services, or any Content, including but not limited to in relation to:

(a) your use, non-use or misuse of, or connection to the Services, the Services and any Content (including without limitation your Content and any third party or other user Content) forming part of or otherwise obtained or provided on or through the Services; (b) your breach or alleged breach of this Agreement; (c) your violation of any rights, including without limitation contractual or intellectual property rights, of us, a user or other third party; (c) your violation or alleged violation of any laws; or (d) your use or exploitation of any Content or other information obtained from or through the Services (including, without limitation, any use or transfer of e-mail addresses or telephone or other device numbers or identifiers, or other personal information in violation of TCPA, CPRA, GDPR, CAN-SPAM or other anti-spam or privacy laws and regulations). We reserve the right, at your expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims. You agree not to settle any matter without the prior written consent of Startups.com. We will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action or proceeding upon becoming aware of it. This Agreement shall not create any third party beneficiary rights.

13. Cancellation and Termination

We reserve the right at any time, and without cost, charge or liability, to terminate this Agreement at its sole discretion for any reason, including, but not limited to, a failure to comply with the terms of this Agreement. Notice of termination will be provided to the e-mail address you currently have on file with us. We also reserve the right to deny access to anyone, including, but not limited to those users who use proxy servers and/or IP addresses residing in certain geographical areas outside of Canada and the United States. We reserve the right to terminate any portion of the Services at any time, for any reason, with or without notice.

14. Miscellaneous

If there is any dispute between you and us about or involving this Agreement or the Services, you hereby agree that the dispute shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States and of the State of Ohio, without regard to its conflict of law provisions. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts located in Columbus, Ohio with respect to any claim, proceeding or action relating to or otherwise arising out of this Agreement or the Services, howsoever arising, provided, however, that we may seek and obtain injunctive relief in any jurisdiction.

At our sole discretion, we may require you to submit any disputes arising from this Agreement or otherwise arising out of or related to the Services or Content, including without limitation disputes arising from or concerning their interpretation, violation, invalidity, non-performance, or termination, to final and binding arbitration under the Rules of Arbitration of the American Arbitration Association applying Ohio law

ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT, THE SERVICES, OR CONTENT, OR THE USE THEREOF MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES; OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

If any portion of this Agreement is deemed unlawful, void or unenforceable by any arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction, this Agreement as a whole shall not be deemed unlawful, void or unenforceable, but only that portion of this Agreement that is unlawful, void or unenforceable shall be stricken from this Agreement.

You agree that this Agreement is specifically enforceable by injunctive relief and other equitable remedies without proof of monetary damages or the necessity of posting bond.

You agree that if we do not exercise or enforce any legal right or remedy which is contained in the Agreement (or which we have the benefit of under any applicable law), this will not be taken to be a formal waiver of our rights and that those rights or remedies will still be available to us. Any waiver of our rights or remedies, or of any breach of this Agreement, must be in writing and signed by us. The terms of this Agreement, as amended, and the documents incorporated herein, constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and Startups.com regarding the Agreement and the Services, and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations, and warranties, both written and oral, regarding the Services

The sections of "Submission of Content", "Your Profile Information and Account", "Submission of Content", "Intellectual Property Rights", "Digital Millennium Copyright Act", "Confidential Information", "CAN-SPAM”, "Disclaimer of Warranties", "Third Party Sites and Content", "Limitation of Liability", "Indemnity" and "Miscellaneous" will survive any actual or purported termination or expiry of this Agreement and continue in full force and effect.

15. Refunds

If we made a mistake somewhere, we'll work with you to quickly resolve the matter. The Services do not offer refunds outside of an internal error.

Under no circumstances shall we, the Services, or our affiliates be held responsible for overdraft charges incurred from your financial institution as a result of any purchases or renewals through or in connection with our Websites or other Services. It is the sole responsibility of you as a customer to ensure "overdraft fees," "overage fees," or "overlimit" or any other fees from your financial institution do not occur by taking the necessary action to avoid them. Furthermore, Startups.com is not liable for any fees incurred due to billing errors.

Subscriptions are billed on a monthly recurring or annual basis depending on the plan selected. Your credit card will be debited the full purchase amount on the date of your purchase. You represent and warrant that (i) the credit card information you supply to us or otherwise on or through the Services is true, correct and complete, (ii) you are duly authorized to use such credit card for the subscription or other purchase, (iii) charges incurred by you will be honored by the credit card company, and (iv) you will pay charges incurred at the posted prices, including shipping and handling charges and all applicable taxes, if any, regardless of the amount quoted on or through the Services at the time of your subscription or other order. For an annual plan, the subsequent renewals will be billed in twelve month increments from initial purchase, until your annual Subscription is canceled. For monthly plans, the subsequent renewals will be billed in monthly increments, beginning one month after the initial purchase, until your monthly Subscription is canceled. We will not refund "unused" portions of a Subscription. If you decide to cancel after 3 days of initial payment, we will simply stop all further billing and your Subscription will expire at the end of your current billing period.

A user may receive a refund of his/her initial signup payment if and only if they cancel the applicable paid service within 3 calendar days of account creation and have not initiated redemption of any Startup Benefits from third-party partners.

A user may receive a refund of his/her most recent renewal payment if and only if they cancel the applicable paid service within 1 calendar day of the renewal charge and request a refund by contacting support@startups.com.

No other refunds or credits for any Services provided by us, the Services, or otherwise, unless otherwise required by law.

You may contact us by email at support@startups.com or by mail at:

Attn: Terms of Service
Startups.com
1201 Dublin Road
Columbus, OH 43215


16. Data Rights and Protection

Startups.com has the utmost respect for our customers' privacy and information protection. Given the ever changing regulatory environment, we strive to stay ahead of the curve. In our mission to ethically and lawfully serve our customers we have the following policies in place in order to adhere to applicable international and domestic law:

Obtaining Consent

Startups.com wrote our terms of service to make it as understandable and straightforward as possible. Our valued customers are able to give and rescind consent at any time. If at any time you wish to remove consent, please email our Data Protection Officer at data@startups.com. Additional details are provided below in our “Data Protection Officer” description.

Timely Breach Notification

In the event of a data breach, Startups.com will notify our associated data controllers and customers within 72 hours. In addition to outlining the nature of the breach, the breadth, and actions involved to remedy the situation will be detailed.

Right to Data Access

If at any time a customer wishes to access his or her existing data profile, Startups.com will provide a free electronic copy of the data we collected about that customer. This report will also include the various ways the information has been used.

Right to Be Forgotten

If at any time a customer discontinues their relationship with Startups.com, the customer can request that his or her personal data is wholly erased from our records. This can be done at https://www.startups.com/delete or by contacting data@startups.com.

Data Portability

This gives users rights to their own data. Customers will be able to obtain their data from Startups.com in an electronic report and reuse that same data in different environments outside of ours.

Privacy by Design

Startups.com has a full and detailed map of our data collection process and the various parties privy to that data. Startups.com has specifically designed its systems and trained its staff to maintain customer privacy. We strive to continue to improve and adapt this design to be forward looking.

Data Protection Officer

Startups.com has appointed a Data Protection Officer who can be reached at data@startups.com. This internal officer will be able to rescind customer consent as requested, alert stakeholders of a data breach, provide access to data reports, ensure the right to be forgotten, establish data portability as requested, and oversee privacy by design with a fiduciary responsibility.