Terms and Conditions

Welcome to FoundingTeams.ai (the “Site” or the “Service”), operated by FoundingTeams Ltd (“FoundingTeams,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). Please read these Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”) carefully before using our website and matchmaking services.

By accessing or using the Site, registering an account, or applying to any programme we run, you agree to be bound by these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.

Founders and Talent who move forward into an active placement will also sign agreements specific to that placement, such as an equity grant, IP assignment, or services agreement (each, a “Placement Agreement”). FoundingTeams is not a party to any Placement Agreement between a Founder and Talent and is not liable for either party's performance under it. Where a signed Placement Agreement conflicts with these Terms on a matter it covers, the Placement Agreement controls as between the Founder and Talent, but does not alter FoundingTeams' rights under these Terms.

1. Eligibility

To use the Service you must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority in your jurisdiction if higher. This is set above the usual “13 and up” seen on general content websites because using the Service means entering binding equity and services arrangements, which minors cannot lawfully do in most jurisdictions.

If you register on behalf of a company or organisation (a “Subscribing Organization”), you confirm you are authorised to bind that organisation to these Terms.

You represent that all information you give us, including in any application, screening form, or profile, is accurate and not misleading. Scores or suggestions generated by our AI screening tools are advisory only. All applications remain subject to human review, and acceptance onto the platform is at our sole discretion. We may refuse service to anyone for any reason.

2. Who Uses FoundingTeams

• Founders: people building a startup (a “Startup”) who want Talent to help build and grow it.
• Talent: people who join a Startup's founding team part time, in exchange for equity, cash, or both, under a specific Placement Agreement.
• Corporate Partners: companies that license our platform to run an innovation programme for their own employees or community.

Corporate Partner arrangements are governed by a separate written agreement between FoundingTeams and that partner. These Terms apply to a Corporate Partner's general use of the Site in addition to, not instead of, that agreement.

3. Privacy

Our collection and use of your personal data is described in our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference.

4. Matchmaking & Placement Services

FoundingTeams operates a curated matchmaking platform connecting Founders with Talent. Depending on the plan a Founder selects, Talent may be compensated with vested equity in the Startup, cash fees, or both, as set out on our pricing page and in the Placement Agreement for that engagement.

We facilitate the introduction, screening, contracting framework, time tracking, and rating system for each placement. FoundingTeams receives its own fees and equity allocation under its separate commercial arrangement with the Startup, and is not thereby made a party to, guarantor of, or participant in the Placement Agreement between a Founder and Talent.

We do not guarantee that any placement will result in a completed MVP, a successful Startup, funding at Demo Day, or any other outcome. Ratings, screening scores, and AI-generated suggestions help Users make informed decisions, and are not a guarantee of a Talent's or Founder's suitability, reliability, or performance. We do not vet, background-check, or verify any User beyond what is stated in our Guidelines from time to time, and we make no representations about any User's skill, honesty, or fitness for a placement.

Non-circumvention. If you are introduced to another User through the Service, you agree not to engage that User outside the Service, or to structure a placement so as to avoid fees or equity owed to FoundingTeams, for 24 months following the introduction. This applies whether or not a placement is ultimately agreed, and survives termination of your account.

Disputes between Users. You are solely responsible for your dealings with other Users. FoundingTeams has no obligation to mediate, investigate, or resolve disputes between a Founder and Talent, or between any other Users, and disclaims all liability relating to such disputes, including disagreements over equity vesting, work quality, hours worked, or ratings given.

5. Use License

Permission is granted to access and interact with the Site for your personal, non-commercial use in connection with a genuine application, placement, or engagement with FoundingTeams. You may not:

• Modify or copy the codebase, design system, or underlying software of the Site;
• Use materials from the Site for any commercial purpose without our written permission;
• Decompile, reverse-engineer, or attempt to extract the source code of any dashboard, screening tool, or script;
• Transfer, mirror, or republish Site content or database elements on another server or platform;
• Use a robot, scraper, or other automated means to access the Site or extract Talent or Founder data without our express written permission;
• Attempt to gain unauthorised access to another User's account, our systems, or any non-public area of the Site.

6. User Submissions

Using the Service, you may submit pitches, PRDs, applications, screening answers, status updates, code, portfolio material, ratings, and testimonials (“User Submissions”). You keep ownership of your User Submissions.

You grant FoundingTeams a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, host, store, reproduce, distribute, and display your User Submissions as needed to run and promote the Service, and, where you have separately agreed, such as when submitting a completed case study, to use your name, likeness, and User Submissions in our marketing across any media.

You are solely responsible for your User Submissions and confirm you have the rights to submit them, and that they do not infringe anyone's rights or contain unlawful, defamatory, or harmful material. FoundingTeams has no obligation to monitor User Submissions, does not endorse any User Submission, and disclaims all liability for the content, accuracy, or consequences of any User Submission, whether or not we have reviewed it.

Startup IP.Between a Founder and the Talent placed with their Startup, work product created during a placement belongs to the Startup, subject to the IP assignment terms in the Placement Agreement. FoundingTeams claims no ownership over any Startup's product, code, or business, and takes no responsibility for the IP assignment being properly executed between Founder and Talent.

7. Accounts, Passwords & Security

You are responsible for keeping your account credentials confidential and for all activity under your account, whether or not authorised by you. Notify us immediately at support@foundingteams.ai if you believe your account has been compromised. We may limit, suspend, or terminate accounts that appear shared or compromised, without liability to you.

8. Fees, Equity & Payment

Cash fees are billed as shown on our pricing page and are non-refundable except where the law requires otherwise or we state otherwise in writing. Equity commitments vest on the schedule in the applicable Placement Agreement, currently 50% on MVP completion and 50% at the end of the six-month term unless otherwise agreed between Founder and Talent.

Where a Founder's plan includes a revenue share to FoundingTeams, it is calculated and capped as described on our pricing page at the time the Founder subscribed. We may use third-party payment processors, and you authorise us to share the information necessary to process payments with them. We are not responsible for errors, delays, or failures caused by a payment processor.

Equity is not guaranteed value. Startup equity received by Talent or by FoundingTeams may end up worth nothing. Nothing on the Site or in these Terms is investment advice, and FoundingTeams is not a broker-dealer, investment adviser, or exchange. Founders and Talent are solely responsible for ensuring any equity issued complies with securities law in their jurisdiction, and FoundingTeams accepts no liability if it does not. We encourage both sides to get independent legal advice before entering an equity-based placement.

9. Talent is Not an Employee

Talent placed with a Startup, and Founders using the Service, are independent of FoundingTeams. Nothing in these Terms creates employment, partnership, joint venture, or agency between FoundingTeams and any User, or between a Founder's Startup and any Talent, unless a signed Placement Agreement says otherwise. Each Founder is solely responsible for working out, with their own advisers, the correct worker classification and any tax or employment law obligations for Talent engaged through their Startup, and agrees to indemnify FoundingTeams for any claim arising from a misclassification of Talent engaged through their Startup.

10. Ratings & Time Tracking

Talent and Founders may be asked to rate one another and to log hours using our time-tracking tools. Ratings and time records are used to monitor engagement quality and shared with the relevant Founder or Talent as part of the Service. We do not guarantee the accuracy of another User's ratings or time records and are not responsible for decisions made in reliance on them, or for any consequence of a rating or time record being inaccurate, incomplete, or disputed.

11. Prohibited Conduct

In addition to Section 5, you agree not to:

• Harass, defraud, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation to another User;
• Attempt to circumvent security features, rate limits, or access controls on the Site;
• Send unsolicited commercial messages to other Users through the Service;
• Use the Service unlawfully, or in a way that infringes the rights of any Startup, Talent, Founder, or third party.

We may investigate and take any action we deem appropriate, including removing content and suspending or terminating accounts, against anyone who violates this section, without notice.

12. Availability of Service

We may change, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Site or Service at any time, without notice and without liability to you. Content on the Site may be out of date, and we make no commitment to update it.

13. Disclaimer

The Site and Service are provided “as is” and “as available,” at your sole risk. To the fullest extent the law allows, FoundingTeams disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free, that any defect will be corrected, or that any AI-generated score, suggestion, or match will be accurate. No advice or information you obtain from FoundingTeams, whether oral or written, creates any warranty not expressly stated in these Terms.

14. Limitation of Liability

To the fullest extent the law allows, FoundingTeams, its directors, employees, and suppliers will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages, including loss of profits, revenue, data, goodwill, or business opportunity, arising from your use of the Service or these Terms, under any legal theory, even if advised such damages were possible.

Our total liability to you for all claims relating to these Terms or the Service, however arising, will not exceed the greater of $100 or the total fees you personally paid us in the twelve months before the claim arose.

These limitations reflect a reasonable allocation of risk between you and FoundingTeams and are an essential basis of the bargain between us. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

15. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless FoundingTeams, its officers, employees, and affiliates from any and all claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable legal fees, arising from: your use of the Service; your User Submissions; your breach of these Terms; your Placement Agreement or dealings with another User; your violation of any law or third-party right; or, if you are a Founder, any misclassification of Talent engaged through your Startup.

16. Termination

We may suspend or terminate your account at our sole discretion, for any reason or no reason, including for breaching these Terms, without liability to you and without notice. You may close your account at any time by contacting support@foundingteams.ai. Cash fees already paid are non-refundable on termination except where the law requires otherwise. Sections 4, 6, 8, 9, 14, 15, 17, 18, and 19 survive termination.

17. Intellectual Property Complaints

If you believe content on the Site infringes your intellectual property rights, contact support@foundingteams.ai with: identification of the work you say is infringed; identification and location of the allegedly infringing material; your contact details; a statement of good-faith belief that the use is unauthorised; and a statement, made under penalty of perjury where applicable, that you are authorised to act for the rights holder. Where the content is hosted in the United States, we will also treat this as a notice under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

18. Governing Law & Disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, without regard to conflict of law rules.

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall first be raised informally by emailing support@foundingteams.ai, and the parties will attempt in good faith to resolve it within 30 days. If unresolved, the dispute shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration under the LCIA Rules, seated in London, before a single arbitrator, in English. Each party bears its own costs of arbitration except as the arbitrator otherwise directs.

You and FoundingTeams each agree that any dispute resolution proceeding will be conducted only on an individual basis and not as part of a class, consolidated, or representative action.

Nothing in this section prevents either party from seeking injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to protect its intellectual property or confidential information.

Any claim arising out of or related to these Terms or the Service must be brought within one year after the claim arises, or it is permanently barred.

19. General

Changes to these Terms.We may update these Terms at any time. For material changes we will give at least 14 days' notice by email or a notice on the Site before they take effect. Using the Service after that point means you accept the updated Terms.

Severability. If any provision of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remain in full force, and the unenforceable provision will be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable.

No waiver. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.

Assignment. You may not assign these Terms without our written consent. We may assign them freely, including as part of a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets.

No agency. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, or agency relationship between you and FoundingTeams.

Entire agreement. These Terms, our Privacy Policy, and any signed Placement Agreement together form the entire agreement between you and FoundingTeams on this subject, and supersede any earlier agreement or understanding on the same subject.

20. Security Disclosures

We take the security of our platform, User data, and contract integrations seriously, and welcome input from security researchers through responsible disclosure.

If you find a potential vulnerability (SQL injection, auth bypass, data exposure, etc.), report it to support@foundingteams.ai. We aim to review and respond to valid disclosures within 24 to 48 hours. Please do not share details publicly until a fix is confirmed.

The following are strictly prohibited:

• Denial of Service (DoS/DDoS) attempts;
• Spamming or mail flooding;
• Social engineering (phishing) of staff;
• Physical entry to our servers or offices;
• Vulnerability scans that cause API depletion or degrade service for other Users;
• Publicly exposing database files or User data.

At our sole discretion, we may reward researchers with a bug bounty for a responsibly disclosed, significant vulnerability.

21. Contact & Company Details

FoundingTeams Ltd — [Registered office address] — Company number: [Companies House number]

Questions or regulatory concerns: