Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 20, 2026

MakeTheStartup ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard information when you use makethestartup.com, including our startup discovery directory, founder profiles, community features, and AI-assisted tools.

This policy describes the current application and should be reviewed by qualified counsel for the jurisdictions in which the service operates.

1. Information We Collect

A. Personal Information You Provide

  • Account Information: Name, email address, username, profile picture (via Google OAuth or direct upload), and password (stored securely via Supabase).
  • Profile Information: Bio, location, website URLs, LinkedIn URLs, and other details you choose to add to your public profile.
  • Startup Information: Data you submit about your startup, including names, descriptions, problem/solution statements, stages, metrics, and categories.
  • Community Content: Posts, comments, co-founder requests, job listings, and messages you send through our platform.
  • Payment Information: We do not store full credit card numbers. All payments are processed securely by Razorpay. We only store transaction references, subscription statuses, and billing history.

B. AI Interaction Data

When you use our AI Assistant, we collect and store:

  • The content of your prompts, questions, and project descriptions.
  • Generated roadmaps, tasks, and analysis.
  • Conversation history to provide context for future AI interactions.
  • Usage metrics (e.g., number of prompts used per day) for billing and rate-limiting purposes.

Note: We do not use your private startup data or AI conversations to train public AI models. Your proprietary business information remains confidential to your account unless explicitly published by you (e.g., via Community posts or public Startup profiles).

C. Automatically Collected Information

  • Device and Usage Data: IP address, browser type, operating system, referring URLs, pages viewed, and access times.
  • Cookies and Tracking Technologies: We use cookies to manage sessions, remember your preferences, and understand how you interact with the platform. You can manage your cookie preferences through our consent banner.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information for various purposes, including:

  • To provide, maintain, and improve our platform and AI services.
  • To process your transactions and manage your subscriptions.
  • To display your public profile and approved startups in our directory.
  • To personalize your AI experience by retaining project context.
  • To communicate with you regarding account updates, security alerts, and promotional offers (if opted in).
  • To monitor and analyze trends, usage, and activities to improve user experience.
  • To detect, investigate, and prevent fraudulent transactions and other illegal activities.

3. How We Share Your Information

We may share information we have collected about you in certain situations:

  • Publicly Available Information: Your profile details, approved startup listings, community posts, and public "build in public" updates are visible to other users and visitors.
  • Third-Party Service Providers: We share data with vendors who perform services for us, including:
    • Supabase: Database hosting and authentication.
    • Razorpay: Payment processing.
    • NVIDIA (or selected AI provider): AI inference via API. (Note: Prompts are sent for processing, but providers are generally restricted from using this API data for training under their enterprise terms).
    • Resend/Nodemailer: Email delivery services.
  • Legal Obligations: If required by law, subpoena, or other legal process.
  • Business Transfers: In connection with a merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition.

4. Data Security

We implement reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.

5. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights regarding your personal information, including:

  • The right to access the personal information we hold about you.
  • The right to request the correction of inaccurate personal information.
  • The right to request the deletion of your personal information (Right to be Forgotten).
  • The right to opt-out of marketing communications.

To exercise these rights, submit a request through our Support page. Include the email associated with your account.

6. Contact Us

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

Support: /support