Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

StartupBar ("we", "us", "our") operates startupbar.co — a traffic-exchange network for software founders, with optional paid listings and featured placements. Contact us at hello@startupbar.co with any privacy-related questions.

2. Information we collect

• Account data: When you sign up via Google OAuth we receive your name, email address, and Google profile picture. We store your name, email, and the profile photo you choose to show on your startup profile.
• Startup data: The startup name, URL, logo, one-liner and founder note you submit during the application process.
• Analytics events: Anonymous impression and click events. No personal visitor data is stored.
• Purchase data: For paid listings and featured spot subscriptions we store the payment reference returned by our payment provider, the amount status, the slot you booked, and the start, renewal and cancellation dates. We never receive or store your card number.
• StartupBid data: When you place a bid on StartupBid we store the website or handle you submitted, its publicly available name, icon and description fetched from that site, the amount paid, the payment reference, and anonymous click counts for the entry. You can bid without an account; if you are signed in we link the bid to your account so you can manage it.

3. Google API services

StartupBar uses Google Sign-In (OAuth 2.0) for authentication. We request access only to your basic profile (name, email, and profile photo). We do not access your Google Drive, Gmail, Calendar, or any other Google service.

Our use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

You can revoke StartupBar's access to your Google account at any time via Google Account Permissions.

4. How we use your data

• To authenticate you and maintain your account session.
• To display your startup in the StartupBar network and, if you buy a featured spot, in the featured card on StartupBar pages.
• To power your dashboard analytics.
• To take payment, fulfil paid listings and featured subscriptions, handle renewals and cancellations, and keep records for tax and accounting.
• To send essential product and billing emails, such as payment confirmations, renewal notices and expiry reminders. We do not send marketing emails without your consent.

5. Data sharing

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We share data only with the processors we need to run the service: Supabase (database and authentication), Google (OAuth sign-in), Resend (transactional email) and Dodo Payments, our merchant of record for all paid listings and featured subscriptions. When you check out, Dodo Payments collects your billing details and card data directly and processes them under their own privacy policy.

6. Public information

Your startup name, logo, website, one-liner, founder name and founder photo are shown publicly on the network, leaderboard, your startup profile page, and in any featured card you purchase. StartupBid entries — the site or handle, its name, icon, description, total amount bid and click count — are shown publicly on the StartupBid board; the email or account behind a bid is never shown. Links from the StartupBid board carry StartupBar attribution parameters (utm_source, utm_medium and a referral tag) so the destination site can see the traffic came from us. Do not submit anything you do not want shown publicly.

7. Supporter analytics script

Startups on a Supporter membership may place an optional StartupBar analytics script on their own website. It renders nothing to visitors. It records an anonymous pageview with the page URL, the referring source and a country derived from the IP address, which is not stored. It sets no cookies, stores no identifier in the browser, does not fingerprint devices and does not track visitors across sites. The resulting statistics are aggregated and visible only to that startup’s owner in their dashboard. If you install it, mention StartupBar analytics in your own site’s privacy notice.

8. Cookies

We use a single session cookie to keep you signed in. The StartupBar widget embedded on your site renders inside an isolated iframe and sets no cookies on your visitors.

9. Data retention & deletion

You can delete any of your startups at any time from your Account page. To permanently delete your account, email us at hello@startupbar.co. Payment and subscription records are kept for as long as tax and accounting law requires, even after an account is deleted.

10. Security

All data is transmitted over HTTPS. Authentication tokens are managed by Supabase Auth. We do not store passwords or card details.

11. Children

StartupBar is not directed at children under 13.

12. Changes to this policy

We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated policy here with a new date.

13. Contact

Questions? Email hello@startupbar.co.