Terms of Use

1. About these terms

Founderbook is a professional community operated by Red Software Development Ltd (“Founderbook”, “we”, “us”). These terms govern your use of our service. By creating an account or continuing to use the service after these terms have been brought to your attention, you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not create an account or use the member features.

Red Software Development Ltd, company number 15757550, registered in England and Wales.

Email hello@redsoftwaredevelopment.com or write to the address above, marked “Founderbook: Privacy” or “Founderbook: Support”. Signed-in members can also contact us through Give feedback in the website or the mobile app’s support feature. You do not need an account to contact us by post.

Our Privacy Policy explains how we handle personal information across the website and mobile apps. Accepting these terms is not consent to optional marketing or other processing that requires separate consent.

2. Your account

You must be at least 18 and legally able to enter into these terms. Provide accurate information, keep your credentials secure and tell us if you suspect unauthorised access. Do not impersonate another person, misrepresent your role, or use someone else’s account without permission. You are responsible for your own actions and those you authorise through your account, but not automatically for activity caused by a security failure outside your control.

If you act for a startup, agency, fund or another organisation, you must have authority for the information and decisions you submit on its behalf. Ownership claims and team roles must be genuine. Access can depend on account type, verification and membership. Using the website and mobile app does not create separate accounts or separate ownership rights.

3. Community rules

Use Founderbook lawfully and treat other members with respect. You must not:

• Harass, threaten, discriminate against, exploit or intimidate anyone, or publish unlawful, sexually exploitative or abusive material.
• Commit fraud, impersonate others, submit fabricated evidence or make misleading claims about investments, qualifications, affiliations or events.
• Send spam, unsolicited bulk promotions, phishing requests or malware; scrape personal information or repeatedly contact people who have asked you to stop.
• Disclose another person’s private information without a lawful basis, or upload material that infringes intellectual property, confidentiality or other rights.
• Bypass permissions, access other accounts or restricted files, disrupt the service, or attempt to compromise its security.
• Use fundraising features for unlawful financial promotions, market manipulation or activities requiring permission you do not hold.

Use the reporting tools or email us about a suspected breach. Include enough information for us to identify the issue without sending unnecessary sensitive information. For immediate danger, contact the emergency services.

4. Your content and our software

You retain ownership of the content you submit, including profile information, posts, images, pitch materials and messages. You confirm that you have the rights and permissions needed to share it and that it is accurate to the best of your knowledge.

You give us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, transmit and display that content only as needed to operate, secure and provide the features you use. We may allow our service providers to do those things for us. This does not transfer ownership or permit us to sell your content. The licence ends when the relevant content is removed from our systems, except for permitted retention described in the Privacy Policy and copies you have already shared with others.

Choose your audience carefully. Private groups and restricted file links cannot stop an authorised recipient from copying or sharing what they can see. Do not upload trade secrets or other confidential material unless you have the necessary permissions and are comfortable with the applicable access arrangements.

Our software, branding and other original service materials belong to us or our licensors. We grant you a limited, non-exclusive right to use the service for its intended purpose while you comply with these terms. Rights that applicable law gives you, including lawful interoperability rights, are not excluded.

5. Events and external services

Event details are supplied by organisers or imported from external sources and may change. Check the venue, timing, accessibility, attendance conditions and cancellation arrangements with the organiser. An RSVP records your intention to attend; it is not a payment or an external ticket purchase. Follow any separate registration instructions.

Unless an event expressly identifies us as its organiser, the organiser is responsible for running it and for its own charges, tickets, refunds and conduct. Any purchase you make on an external site is governed by that provider’s terms. If we organise an event, our own applicable duties remain in place.

Hosts must have authority to publish the event, provide accurate details, comply with applicable laws and venue requirements, and communicate material changes. Use attendee information only for a legitimate purpose connected with the event; an RSVP is not blanket permission for unrelated marketing.

Founderbook’s currently offered core community features are free to use. External event or service providers may charge fees. If we introduce paid Founderbook features, we will show their price and applicable terms before you agree to pay; these terms do not authorise an automatic charge.

6. Fundraising, introductions and verification

Founderbook provides information-sharing and networking tools. It does not provide personalised investment, legal or tax advice through those tools, execute investments, hold investment funds, or guarantee an introduction, investment or return.

Investment information and pitch materials are supplied by members. A verification status, stage review, fund claim or matching result is limited to the checks performed; it is not a recommendation, regulatory approval, guarantee of identity in every context, or assurance that an investment is suitable or safe. You must make your own enquiries and obtain independent professional advice where appropriate.

Investments in startups can be illiquid and can lose their entire value. Tax-relief descriptions, including SEIS or EIS references, are not a guarantee of eligibility or future treatment. Do not invest based only on a Founderbook profile or label.

People publishing raises or contacting investors are responsible for the accuracy of their statements and compliance with financial-promotion and securities rules in the relevant jurisdictions. Do not assume that a verified member is a certified or exempt investor for regulatory purposes. Sharing content on Founderbook does not itself establish a confidentiality, advisory or investment agreement between members.

7. Moderation and access

We may review reports, request clarification, remove or restrict content, or suspend or end access where reasonably necessary to address a breach, unlawful activity, security risk or harm to the community. We aim to act proportionately, considering the seriousness and circumstances.

Where reasonably possible, we will explain the reason and allow you to respond. We may act immediately or limit an explanation if necessary to protect people, preserve an investigation or comply with law. If you think a decision is wrong, email us with the relevant account or content details and ask for a review.

Group, startup and fund administrators may manage access and roles within their permitted powers. We do not promise to review all content before it appears. Reporting a concern does not guarantee a particular outcome.

8. Our responsibilities

We will provide the service with reasonable care and skill. We cannot promise uninterrupted availability, that every error will be prevented, or that information supplied by other members is accurate. Maintenance, network problems and third-party services can affect access. Keep your own copies of important materials.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits liability for fraud, fraudulent misrepresentation, death or personal injury caused by negligence, or any liability or legal right that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.

If you use the service as a consumer, we are responsible for loss or damage you suffer that is a foreseeable result of our breach or failure to use reasonable care and skill. Your statutory rights remain unaffected. We do not exclude responsibility simply because an issue involves a third party.

If you use the service for business purposes, to the extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for indirect or consequential business losses, lost profits, lost investment opportunities or reputational losses arising from your use of the service. This does not limit the liabilities expressly preserved above.

You remain responsible for the decisions you make, the content you submit and agreements you enter into with other members. These terms do not require you to indemnify us for our own wrongdoing.

9. Changes and ending use

We may change features or these terms for reasons such as legal requirements, security, service improvements or changes to how the service operates. We will give reasonable notice of material changes through the service or an available contact channel, unless urgent legal or security reasons require a shorter period. Changes will not retrospectively remove rights relating to an existing dispute or an agreed purchase.

If you do not accept a material change, you can stop using the service and delete your account. You may also end your use at any time through account deletion in Settings or by contacting us. Uninstalling a mobile app alone does not delete the account. Transfer organisational responsibilities and save anything you need before requesting deletion.

If we discontinue the service, we will give reasonable notice where practicable. Content handling after account closure is explained in the Privacy Policy. Provisions that need to continue to resolve an existing claim, protect intellectual property or address lawful retention continue only to that extent.

10. Law, app stores and complaints

These terms are governed by the law of England and Wales. The courts of England and Wales may hear disputes, but if you are a consumer you also retain the mandatory protections and any rights to bring proceedings in the courts of the country where you live. Nothing here removes those rights.

Apple App Store or Google Play terms also apply to your download and use of their distribution services. These terms are between you and Red Software Development Ltd; the relevant store does not operate Founderbook or take over our responsibilities for it.

Please send questions or complaints to the contact details in section 1 so we can try to resolve them. You retain any right to use a regulator, court or applicable dispute-resolution process. If a provision is unenforceable, the rest continues to apply where it can do so fairly. A failure to enforce a provision immediately does not waive it.