Privacy Policy

SeedForge, Inc. ("SeedForge," "we," "our," or "us") is a Delaware-incorporated company that builds AI-powered verification infrastructure for early-stage venture capital. Our platform enables founders to undergo standardized AI-led evaluations — including live avatar interviews, pitch deck analysis, and data verification — and provides investors with pre-qualified, thesis-filtered dealflow (together with our websites, applications, APIs, and related services, the "Services").

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and otherwise process personal information in connection with our Services, including our website at seedforge.com, our evaluation platform, SeedForge Prep coaching tools, the Inbound Screening API, and any related products or features we offer.

By creating an account or using our Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. Where we rely on consent as the legal basis for processing, we will obtain your consent separately at the point of data collection.

1. Personal Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide to Us

Account and Registration Information. When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, username, password, and role designation (founder or investor).

Founder Profile Information. If you register as a founder, we may collect: your professional background and education; LinkedIn profile URL and GitHub username; startup name, description, and stage; pitch deck and supporting materials; financial data you choose to connect via third-party integrations (e.g., Stripe, Plaid, or QuickBooks); team composition; and any other information you voluntarily submit as part of the evaluation process.

Investor Profile Information. If you register as an investor, we may collect: fund name and structure; investment thesis; stage, sector, and geographic preferences; check size parameters; and professional contact information.

Interview and Evaluation Data. When you participate in a SeedForge evaluation, we collect data generated during the live AI avatar interview, including: video recordings and audio recordings of the interview session; automated transcripts; response timing and latency measurements; behavioral signals derived from the interview; and AI-generated evaluation scores, reports, and SeedForge Scores. Before your interview begins, we will request your explicit consent to record the session and to process the resulting data as described in this Privacy Policy. You may decline to be recorded, but this will prevent us from completing the evaluation and issuing a verification credential.

Payment Information. When you purchase SeedForge Prep packages or premium services, billing information is collected and processed by our third-party payment processor, Stripe, Inc. We receive only a truncated card number (last four digits), card type, and transaction confirmation. We do not store full payment card numbers on our servers.

Communications and Feedback. When you contact us, provide feedback, respond to surveys, or otherwise correspond with us, we collect the content of those communications.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

When you access or use our Services, we automatically collect:

Device and Browser Data. IP address, device type, operating system and version, browser type and version, screen resolution, language settings, unique device identifiers, and mobile carrier information.

Usage Data. Pages and features accessed, time spent on the platform, navigation paths, clickstream data, access times and dates, referring URLs, and interactions with evaluation results, reports, and data rooms.

Cookies and Similar Technologies. We use cookies, web beacons, pixels, and similar tracking technologies to collect information about your interactions with our Services. See Section 9 (Cookies and Tracking Technologies) for details and your choices.

1.3 Information from Third-Party Sources

With your authorization, we may collect information from third-party sources, including: LinkedIn (professional profile, employment history, and connections); GitHub (repository activity, contribution metrics, and code quality indicators); Stripe Connect (revenue and transaction data); identity verification services (for KYC and identity confirmation); and publicly available business databases (e.g., Crunchbase, company registries, patent databases).

2. How We Use Personal Information

To Provide and Operate Our Services. We use personal information to: create and manage your account; conduct AI-led founder evaluations and live avatar interviews; generate SeedForge Scores, verification credentials, and evaluation reports; match verified founders with thesis-aligned investors (subject to founder consent, as described in Section 3); process payments and transactions; deliver SeedForge Prep coaching, feedback reports, and pitch simulator tools; operate the Inbound Screening link for investors; and communicate with you about your account and our Services. Legal basis (EU/EEA): performance of our contract with you.

To Develop and Improve Our Services. We use personal information, including evaluation data and platform interaction data, to: analyze platform performance, usage patterns, and service quality; develop new features and services; improve our evaluation methodology; and create aggregated, de-identified, or anonymized datasets for internal research and development. Legal basis (EU/EEA): our legitimate interests in improving the Services.

To Train and Improve AI Models. We may use content you submit to or generate through our Services — including interview recordings, evaluation responses, pitch materials, and behavioral data — to train, fine-tune, and improve our proprietary AI evaluation models, scoring algorithms, and predictive systems. This processing is essential to improving the accuracy of our verification infrastructure. You may opt out of having your identifiable data used for AI model training by contacting privacy@seedforge.com. If you opt out, your evaluation data will not be used for future model training, but your existing SeedForge Score and credential will remain valid. Previously processed de-identified or aggregated data may continue to be used. Legal basis (EU/EEA): our legitimate interests in improving our AI systems, balanced against your right to opt out.

For Marketing and Communications. With your consent where required, we may use your information to send newsletters, product updates, and promotional communications, and to conduct marketing analytics. You may opt out of marketing communications at any time by clicking "unsubscribe" in any marketing email or by contacting privacy@seedforge.com. Legal basis (EU/EEA): your consent.

For Compliance and Protection. We use personal information to: comply with applicable laws and legal obligations; respond to lawful requests from government authorities; enforce our Terms of Service; detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, and security issues; and protect the rights, property, and safety of SeedForge, our users, and third parties. Legal basis (EU/EEA): compliance with legal obligations and our legitimate interests.

3. How We Share Personal Information

With Investors (Founder Data). If you are a founder who receives a SeedForge Verified credential, we may share your evaluation report, recorded interview, SeedForge Score, pitch deck, and connected data room materials with investors whose investment thesis matches your startup profile. This sharing occurs only with your prior consent. During the evaluation process, you will select your data-sharing preferences, including whether to allow automatic distribution to matching investors or to approve each connection individually. You may update these preferences at any time through your account settings.

With Founders (Investor Data). We may share limited investor information (such as fund name, thesis summary, and a contact channel) with verified founders to facilitate introductions when an investor expresses interest in a founder's profile.

AI Service Providers. We use third-party AI service providers — including OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and xAI — to power components of our evaluation engine. Your content may be transmitted to and processed by these providers in accordance with our data processing agreements, which prohibit these providers from using your data for their own model training. We also use ElevenLabs and Tavus for avatar generation during live interviews.

Infrastructure and Operational Service Providers. We share personal information with service providers that support our operations, including: cloud hosting and infrastructure providers (with primary servers deployed in the European Union); payment processors (Stripe, Inc.); analytics services; email delivery platforms; and communication tools used for investor notifications (e.g., Slack, CRM integrations). These providers process data on our behalf under contractual obligations to protect your information.

Professional Advisors. We may share information with lawyers, auditors, accountants, and other professional advisors in connection with professional services they provide to us.

Law Enforcement and Legal Compliance. We may disclose personal information to law enforcement, government authorities, or other parties when: required by applicable law or legal process; necessary to respond to lawful requests (e.g., subpoenas, court orders); or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect rights, safety, or property.

Business Transfers. In connection with any merger, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, financing, or bankruptcy proceeding, your personal information may be transferred to the acquiring or successor entity. We will notify you of any such transfer and any changes to applicable privacy terms.

With Your Consent. We may share your personal information for other purposes with your explicit consent, such as when you authorize sharing of "Pitch Highlight" clips on social media platforms or direct sharing of your verification report with specific investors.

4. Automated Decision-Making and Profiling

Our Services use automated processing, including AI-powered evaluation, to generate SeedForge Scores and determine whether founders qualify for a SeedForge Verified credential. These automated decisions may have significant effects on founders, including determining eligibility for investor distribution and access to premium platform features.

Our evaluation process involves multiple AI models (our "LLM Council") that independently assess founders across defined dimensions, followed by a synthesis step. The resulting SeedForge Score reflects the combined assessment and is not based on any single factor.

Your rights regarding automated decisions: If you are located in the EU/EEA, UK, or another jurisdiction with applicable laws, you have the right to: request human review of any automated decision that significantly affects you; receive meaningful information about the logic involved in the automated processing; express your point of view and contest the decision. To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@seedforge.com. We will respond within 30 days.

5. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, subject to the following guidelines:

Account Data: Retained for the duration of your active account and for 12 months after account closure, unless you request earlier deletion.

Evaluation Data (Identified): Interview recordings, transcripts, and associated SeedForge Scores linked to your identity are retained for 36 months from the date of evaluation, or for the duration of your active account, whichever is longer. After this period, identified evaluation data is either deleted or de-identified.

Evaluation Data (De-identified and Aggregated): De-identified evaluation data, behavioral signal patterns, and aggregated failure-analysis data may be retained indefinitely to support AI model development, research, and our proprietary evaluation dataset.

Payment Records: Retained for 7 years as required by applicable tax and accounting regulations.

Marketing Data: Retained until you opt out or for 24 months from your last interaction with our marketing communications, whichever is earlier.

You may request deletion of your personal information as described in Section 7. Note that deletion of identified evaluation data will revoke any associated SeedForge Verified credentials.

6. Data Security

We implement technical, organizational, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information, including: encryption of data in transit (TLS 1.2+) and at rest (AES-256); role-based access controls and multi-factor authentication for internal systems; regular security assessments and vulnerability testing; secure server infrastructure with primary deployment in the European Union; and contractual security obligations imposed on all service providers.

Despite these measures, no method of transmission over the Internet or electronic storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee the absolute security of your personal information and are not responsible for unauthorized access resulting from circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

7. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may exercise the following rights:

Access and Portability. Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.

Correction. Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.

Deletion. Request deletion of your personal information, subject to exceptions for data we are required to retain for legal, regulatory, or legitimate business purposes. Deletion of evaluation data will revoke associated SeedForge Verified credentials.

Objection and Restriction. Object to or request restriction of certain processing activities, including use of your data for AI model training or profiling.

Withdrawal of Consent. Where processing is based on your consent, withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Automated Decision Review. Request human review of automated decisions that significantly affect you, as described in Section 4.

Marketing Opt-Out. Opt out of marketing communications by clicking "unsubscribe" in any marketing email or by contacting privacy@seedforge.com.

To exercise your rights: Contact us at privacy@seedforge.com. We will verify your identity before processing your request. We will respond within 30 days for requests from EU/EEA/UK residents and within 45 days for requests from California residents, with extensions as permitted by applicable law. If you are unsatisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

8. Biometric and Behavioral Data Notice

During live AI avatar interviews, our platform may capture data that constitutes biometric information under certain state laws (e.g., Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act). This includes facial geometry derived from video recordings and voiceprints derived from audio recordings.

Purpose: We collect this data solely to conduct founder evaluations, generate behavioral assessments, and improve the accuracy of our verification infrastructure.

Consent: Before any interview session, we obtain your informed, written consent (via electronic signature) for the collection and use of biometric data.

Retention: Identified biometric data is retained for no longer than 36 months from the date of collection or until the purpose for collection has been satisfied, whichever occurs first, unless otherwise required by law.

Sharing: We do not sell, lease, or trade biometric data. Biometric data may be shared with our AI service providers solely for evaluation processing, subject to contractual protections.

Destruction: When biometric data is no longer needed or upon your request, we will permanently destroy it using industry-standard methods within 90 days.

9. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies on our Services. These fall into the following categories:

Strictly Necessary Cookies. Required for core functionality, such as authentication, security, and session management. These cannot be disabled.

Analytics Cookies. Help us understand how users interact with our Services, including page views, feature usage, and navigation patterns. These can be disabled through your browser settings or our cookie preference center.

Marketing Cookies. Used to deliver relevant communications and measure campaign effectiveness. These can be disabled through your browser settings, our cookie preference center, or the opt-out mechanisms listed below.

Your Cookie Choices: Most browsers allow you to block or delete cookies via browser settings. You may also use privacy-focused browsers (e.g., Brave) or browser extensions (e.g., uBlock Origin, Privacy Badger) to limit tracking. For advertising industry opt-outs, visit the Digital Advertising Alliance (optout.aboutads.info) or the Network Advertising Initiative (optout.networkadvertising.org). We currently do not respond to "Do Not Track" browser signals.

10. Third-Party Links and Services

Our Services may contain links to third-party websites, applications, and platforms, including social media services where founders may share Pitch Highlight clips and verification badges. We do not control these third-party services and are not responsible for their privacy practices or content. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you access through or in connection with our platform.

11. Children's Privacy

Our Services are designed for professional use by founders and investors and are not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 (or the applicable minimum age in your jurisdiction), we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@seedforge.com.

12. International Data Transfers

SeedForge, Inc. is incorporated in Delaware, United States. Our primary server infrastructure is deployed in the European Union. Personal information may be transferred to and processed in the United States, the European Union, or other jurisdictions where our service providers operate.

Where personal information is transferred from the EU/EEA, UK, or Switzerland to a jurisdiction that has not received an adequacy decision, we implement appropriate safeguards as required by applicable law, including the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or other legally recognized transfer mechanisms. You may request a copy of the applicable safeguards by contacting privacy@seedforge.com.

13. Additional Information for EU/EEA, UK, and Swiss Users

Legal Bases for Processing. We process your personal information on the following legal bases under the GDPR: (a) Performance of contract — to provide, operate, and deliver the Services you have requested; (b) Legitimate interests — to improve our Services, develop and refine our AI evaluation models, ensure platform security, and prevent fraud, where these interests are not overridden by your rights; (c) Consent — for marketing communications, interview recording, biometric data collection, and optional data sharing; (d) Legal obligation — to comply with applicable laws, regulations, and legal processes.

Supervisory Authority. You have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority in the EU/EEA member state of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement if you believe our processing of your personal information violates applicable data protection law.

14. Additional Information for California Residents

If you are a California resident, you may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), including:

Right to Know: You may request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected, the purposes for collection, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.

Right to Delete: You may request deletion of your personal information, subject to applicable exceptions.

Right to Correct: You may request correction of inaccurate personal information.

Right to Opt Out of Sale/Sharing: We do not sell personal information as defined under the CCPA/CPRA. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising purposes.

Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

To exercise your California privacy rights, contact us at privacy@seedforge.com. We will respond within 45 days, with a possible 45-day extension if reasonably necessary.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will: update the "Effective Date" at the top of this policy; notify you via email (if you have an account) or by prominent notice on our Services; and, where required by applicable law, obtain your consent to the updated terms. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date of any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

16. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices:

SeedForge, Inc.
Privacy Inquiries: privacy@seedforge.com
General Inquiries: pitch@seedforge.com
Mailing Address: 1111B S Governors Ave #43130, Dover, DE 19904