image
Sign In
Sign In
Join Now

WHAT IS THE BEST FUNDING FOR YOUR STARTUP: BOOTSTRAPPING OR CROWDFUNDING?

  1. Home
  2. WHAT IS THE BEST FUNDING FOR YOUR STARTUP: BOOTSTRAPPING OR CROWDFUNDING?
WHAT IS THE BEST FUNDING FOR YOUR STARTUP: BOOTSTRAPPING OR CROWDFUNDING?

As an entrepreneur you need to know not only what and how to sell, but also how to find the money you need to start or to grow your business. Obviously you can start your business using only your own money, but if you manage to attract finances, you will be able to grow your business much faster.

There are various options for raising funds by startups, each of which is associated with certain consequences. Going through this part of the handbook will help you understand what funding sources are available at different stages in the development of a startup, but also how you can attract finance using these channels.

 

so, let's identify the most suitable source of funding for your startup.

 

How to find financing for startup

If the financial projection of the future business shows you that it will be profitable, but you will have a profit only a few months after the launch, you need to think about how you make the business work and reach the break-even point.

After you have shown in the financial model what are the startup costs, but also the periods of activity that still do not allow you to fully cover your expenses, you need to find money to cover these costs and losses.

Being at the stage where you only have the business idea and some projects on how it works, it will be quite difficult to attract financing from creditors or investors, you have to think about how you could self-finance the startup. Self-funding, also known as bootstrapping, is an effective way of startup financing, specially when you are just starting your business.

 How to finance startup by Bootstrapping

What is Bootstrapping?

Bootstrapping is building a company from the ground up with nothing but personal savings, and with luck, the cash coming in from the first sales.

Bootstrapping, is an effective way of startup financing, specially when you are just starting your business. First-time entrepreneurs often have trouble getting funding without first showing some traction and a plan for potential success. You can invest from your own savings or can get your family and friends to contribute. This will be easy to raise due to less formalities/compliances, plus less costs of raising. In most situations, family and friends are flexible with the interest rate.

Bootstrapping is also about stretching resources both financial and otherwise as far as they can.

Being only at the launch stage of the business, look for ways to reduce expenses. Check the list of below, hope you will find some useful ideas to cut startup costs.

Review all expenses, even the little ones

If you are not keeping a record of all your expenses, you should start doing it. This records can help you categorise expenses and help you take measures to reduce them.

Use 80/20 principle

Paretos 80/20 principle states that 80% of the outcome is caused by 20% efforts. You can apply this powerful principle to limit expenses on those 80% activities that are not generating enough income for you.

Use low-cost advertising

Traditional advertising methods can get very expensive. Explore new tools like Google AdWords & Facebook Ads to advertise your product to the targeted audience. Bu using this tools you can target users from a specific city, age-group and demographics and get good returns on your marketing investment.

Cut Office Expenses by using cloud

You can save a lot of time and resources by adopting cloud computing. Employees can work remotely and use online collaboration tools to get the work done. For example, you can use Dropbox, Google Drive to share files, ProfitBook for managing finances online, Skype, Zoom etc. to have virtual meetings.

Have virtual meetings

You can ask your clients to have online meetings. Using the latest technology, you can save a lot on travelling expenses.

Use open source software

You can save a substantial amount of money if you start using open source software. There are a lot of open source softwares like CRM, Document management, etc. are available which are easy to use and dont cost money.

Cut equipment costs

being at the starting line do not invest money in equipment, use your personal computer, some equipment at home, or use the spaces for beginner entrepreneurs, who usually have some equipment that you can use.

Track inventory closely

If you run an inventory-based business, carrying less inventory means having less money tied up and more money in the bank. Begin monitoring inventory more closely to make sure you arent spending more than is really needed.

Sell online

This can save huge costs in marketing and inventory maintenance. In fact, this is something which you can let you operate from a small room.

Hire smart, inexperienced people.

Experience is important but it isnt everything, and it comes at a cost. For critical work scenarios, you have no option but to go for experienced people but in most cases, the strategy of training freshers works.

You will not only gain a monetary advantage by providing an entry-level salary but you will also benefit by having employees who are enthusiastic, up-to-date on the latest technology, nimble and eager to learn.

Commission your sales force

If you prefer to have an in-house sales team, try to structure their salaries in such a way that larger percentage is allocated to commision and a fixed component is on a lower side.

Outsource Non-Critical Tasks

There are a lot of tasks that can be outsourced these days. You can hire freelancers to design company logo,  do social media promotion, maintain accounts, generate sales leads and much more.

Success story:

# Plenty of Fish

Plenty of Fish, one of the largest and most popular dating sites in the world, founded by Markus Frind, became a full-time business in 2004. Until 2008, Frind conducted his startup from his apartment, and then eventually acquired a new Vancouver, Canada headquarters where he began hiring other employees

As of June e2020, Plenty of Fish had over 150 million registered users worldwide and is adding an average of 65,000 new users every day. The free app is available in 11 languages and more than 20 countries on iOS and Android devices. The company makes money via advertising as well as offering premium services as part of their upgraded membership.

Bootstrapping should be considered as a first funding option because of its advantages. When you have your own money, you are tied to business. On a later stage, investors consider this as a good point.

 How to find finance when bootstrap is not a solution

Bootstrap is a good financing solution but it is not universal. This is suitable only if the initial requirement is small. Some businesses need money right from the day-1 and for such businesses, bootstrapping may not be a good option. At the same time, businesses that can handle small expenses at the start stage will need investment to grow.

To attract financial resources you can use several sources accessible to start-ups. The first financing option you can apply for is lending.

But, many lenders don't work with startups simply because new businesses can be a risky investment. No business is a sure thing, but new businesses can be especially unstable. For this reason, in most cases, lenders ask for businesses to have a certain amount of profit or be a certain age. Those criteria exclude most startups from qualifying for business loans, making it incredibly difficult for them to get funded that way.

While it's not easy to get approved for certain types of business loans as a startup, plenty of other options are available.

microfinance - is designed specifically to help new businesses get off the ground. Microfinance it is increasingly becoming popular for those whose requirements are limited and credit ratings not favoured by bank;

supplier credit - if you're already working with a supplier or vendor to provide you with products or services, consider asking if you can set up a supplier credit arrangement. This will allow you to defer payment to a later date, say 30 or 45 days in the future, possibly with no interest. A supplier credit arrangement can make it easier to manage your cash flow, as it gives you time to convert those costs into sales to your customers.

personal loans - instead of working with a business lender, you might be better off applying for a personal loan.

What you need to consider if you finance your business through lending

#1 The loan involves repayment - to ensure that you will be able to repay the loan, add monthly payments in the financial model (Cash Flow Forecasting table) and see how the cash flow will be affected. To find out how much you have to repay each month, use the calculator on the bank's website - select the type of loan, the amount and the period and it will give you information about the monthly payments.

#2 Creditors, especially the bank and microfinance provider, offer loans against an interest, at the same time different fees may be charged. Before applying for credit, carefully analyze the credit conditions.

#3 Creditors usually require certain company or personal assets as collateral. In case you are not able to repay the loan you could lose the goods offered as collateral.

To avoid problems related to loan repayment, you can look for special sources for financing startups.

 Startup financing through crowdfunding

One of the most effective fast and modern way to get fund for startup is crowdfunding. Crowdfunding brings a lot more benefits than just raising money. Through effective planning and strategy of your organization can get the most benefit from the campaign.

Lets learn the basics about Crowdfunding.

What is crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is an Internet-enabled way for businesses or other organizations to raise money in the form of either donations or investments from multiple individuals

The term defines the practice of initiating an open call to an undefined network of people, for the provision of needed services, ideas or content. The basic premise is that the small input of many has greater value and impact than the large contribution of a few.

This new form of capital formation emerged in an organized way in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis largely because of the difficulties faced by artisans, entrepreneurs and early-stage enterprises in raising funds. With traditional banks less willing to lend, entrepreneurs started to look elsewhere for capital.

Crowdfunding is fundamentally about creating and exchanging value. We encourage you to think critically about what value you are creating, why people are interested in the work you are doing, and how you can build opportunities for the crowd to participate in your efforts.

There are some advantages of crowdfunding listed below:

Raise money Usually the main goal, but not the only one.

Marketing and cause awareness The very act of crowdfunding gets the word out about the issues you are engaged with.

Market validation It can provide validation for new initiatives allowing the crowd to vote with their dollars in support of your efforts. You could also leverage the crowds support as key evidence when obtaining other types of funds (i.e. grants).

Testing marketing channels and target audience A great way to see if a specific project resonates

with a specific target audience.

Connect with new audiences The buzz that you create can bring new relationships that you can leverage going forward.

Understand your audience Get to know more about the level of support from certain target audiences, issues that resonate, what people say about you via social media, etc.

How does it work

The first time someone hears about your project might not be the best time to include a request for money. Around a month before your project starts, you should spread the word to friends, family, colleagues, and any relevant groups or organisations who might support you later on. This is called a soft launch and can be a very effective way of gaining support so that when you do launch, you can start with a bang!

Crowdfunding typically involves some key players and stakeholders:

Crowdfunder

The crowdfunder can be a backer, donor, or investor. Individuals make the most of the market, but private and public institutions can invest and/or donate as well.

 

Beneficiary-investee

person or organization seeking funds for a company, product, project, or initiative. There is a vast range of actors from small companies, NGOs, individuals, start-ups, etc.

Crowdfunding platforms

Online platforms connecting the crowdfunders with the beneficiary or investee. They charge commissions for participation and/or on interest/dividends.

Platforms

can provide a wide range of services, including financial due diligence, contracting, etc.

Third party verifier and other service providers

Platforms and beneficiaries/investees can rely on a number of service providers. Platforms may need to buy servicese.g. financial due diligenceor outsource the assessment of social and environmental outcomes.

Sponsors

Beneficiaries may obtain support in designing and running crowdfunding campaigns. These services can be offered pro-bono or on a commercial basis.

You can also find new members of your tribe using a blog, or social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Theres obvious benefit to linking all your profiles and pages together, and to your project page. The rise of social media sites has made it much easier for fundraisers to find people willing to contribute to their campaigns. The growth of crowdfunding, and the associated success of many crowdfunding campaigns, is now heavily attributed to social media and networks.

Credible crowdfunding systems require enabling legislation, and their success depends on supporting ecosystems and other enabling factors. These include:

forward-looking standards that balance the need to protect investors with capital accumulation;

effective technology solutions that include reliable broadband Internet or mobile data networks;

and supporting institutions that offer training, mentoring and other services to beneficiaries and investors.

What crowdfunding models you can meet

When launching a crowdfunding project, it is important to understand what the project objectives are and who the target audience is. Different models of crowdfunding are best suited for different types of projects.

No 1. DONATIONS-BASED CROWDFUNDING

The crowdfunder donates funds without expecting any return. Donations are typically used to support disaster relief, famine, education programmes, etc.

Examples:

JustGiving - https://www.justgiving.com

GoFundMe - https://www.gofundme.com

No 2. REWARDS-BASED CROWDFUNDING

The crowdfunder transfers funds with the expectation of a reward, which may be in the form of a token gift or an early/exclusive release of a product or service offered by the startup company.

Examples:

Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com

Indiegogo - https://www.indiegogo.com

No 3. LENDING-BASED OR PEER-TO-PEER (P2P)

the fastest growing type of crowdfunding has a 73 percent market share. The crowdfunder lends money to individuals or companies in return for interest. While there are platforms exclusively targeting socially-oriented lending, the majority operate as commercial platforms in direct competition with other financial intermediaries

Example:

KIVA - http://www.Kiva.org

is providing small loans (from US$100-US$100,000) to farmers, NGOs and SMEs.

No 4. EQUITY-BASED CROWDFUNDING

The crowdfunder purchases equity in a company. Equity is a new, yet rapidly growing, model in crowdfunding. Equity-based crowdfunding remains highly dependent upon supportive regulatory frameworks, which often restrict equity investment to professional investors.

Example:

EquityNet https://www.equitynet.com

A successful crowdfunding campaign may draw on a platform with a wide audience, such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Kiva, or GoFundMe. New platforms may also be established under certain circumstances. There are numerous resources on crowdfunding, including blogs, books, networks, and training, including guides on running campaigns from Indiegogo, Fundable, Kickstarter, Crowdfunding Guides, and Shopify. For many potential donors, this is where they will hear about you first, so getting all the information you need on the crowdfunding page without overwhelming them is key.

How to prepare a crowdfunding campaign

Preparing for a crowdfunding campaign should take time it should be well thoughtout, and inspiring. You need to think strategically, and make sure that you are telling a compelling story about your project. People will want to donate to your crowdfunding campaign when they feel inspired. Its worth spending time developing powerful assets to accompany your campaign. There are several key factors for the success of a crowdfunding campaign to consider:

Quality Idea and pitch

A crowdfunding campaign is only as good as the idea seeking funding, which must create or be seen to be creating value in some way. All successful crowdfunding ideas hold some sort of merit. Your pitch should be clear, compelling, and memorable. If you are unable to communicate the idea to others in a manner that is easy to understand in less than 30 seconds, you may need to rethink your presentation. Strength of your network

Campaigns with a larger network are correlated with greater success. Remember to think holistically about the size of your network via your organization, campaign team members, and partners. Also know that even the most popular crowdfunding platforms will generally bring you less than 10% of your total number of backers, so the size and reach of your own network is key!

Marketing campaign

Without undertaking a concerted series of steps to share, disseminate, and communicate, the crowd will not learn about your campaign. It is important to think carefully about how you will market your campaign.

Enticing Rewards

Most successful crowdfunding efforts address the whats in it for me? question for those that are contributing funds to a campaign. Rewards may be tangible or intangible, and are an opportunity to create value for your donors.

Anyone can start a fundraiser through crowdfunding, but its important to be mindful of the steps you take. Doing it correctly the first time around is how successful funding is achieved. To organize a successful crowdfunding campaign for your business idea, you need to remember that creating an attractive page, an interesting video of your product, as well as a constant presence on social networks and rewards are important components along the way. Further each of these aspects well be described that can ensure you hit your campaign targets.

The success of a crowdfunding campaign depends largely on two major factors: how well the campaign is presented and how many people it reaches. If you want to kill both these two birds with one stone, then youre going to need a solid social media strategy.

Email & Social Media Plan

One of the unique things about crowdfunding is its ability to centralize your fundraising efforts and put you closer than ever to your backers and investors. But for all the engagement and social momentum that can come from that, you have to have a plan for keeping everyone informed. That means knowing:

Whom Youll Contact

Existing customers, committed backers and investors, or potential supporters.

When Youll Do It

Before your campaign as a soft-launch, during your campaign as a funding update, or after closing as a big thank you to your supporters.

How Youll Do it

Email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Linkedin, Google +, Pinterest, Soundcloud, Reddit, Tumblr, notice boards, newsletters, flyers, forums. You cant put your campaign in too many places.

Planning ahead of time ensures that the time period during which your campaign is live runs smoothly, and allows you to use your campaigning time as efficiently as possible. Most importantly it allows you increase your chances of achieving success.

It is crucial for the success of a campaign to plan your communication in advance. You can use different tools to plan your communication, such as Spreadsheets, Wordpress plugins etc.:

1. Example of social media calendar

Get organized by building spreadsheets that you can use to keep track of key relationships, media contacts, etc. Also include a calendar and/or gantt chart so that you stay on track with all of the outreach efforts that will need to be done. This spreadsheet will be your central repository of campaign execution information, and should be continually updated.

One month at a time is fine for managing your appointments, but it isnt right for blog posts. Blogs care much more about days of the week than months. You want to see partial months more often.

People will follow you if you tweet lots of interesting content. The majority of your tweets should be about relevant topics, and not just about your project. You have to get them interested!

If youre launching a crowdfunding campaign, youll need to carefully consider your campaigns rewardsthe incentives you offer your backers for pledging a certain dollar amount.

Rewards

Think carefully about your rewards. Your goal is to make your rewards relevant to your campaign and entice your target audience to support your campaign.

Types of rewards

Things

An object that backer receives, or can pick, and can look forward to getting it. An item that can increase your brand awareness. Examples: discounted product, DVD, photograph, prototype, t-shirt, bag, digital downloads, etc.

Recognition

Let people be recognized in public places. Examples: social media shoutout, email thank you, name in the credits, logo somewhere, etc.

Services

Leverages your teams or others expertise. Examples: Workshop, training, dance lesson, bike tune-up, one-on-one tutorial, etc.

Experiences

Something unique that someone normally wouldnt experience. Examples: dinner/lunch with the CEO, apprentice for day, be a builder for a day, meet a VIP, etc.

Access

Give access to allow the backer to participate in the journey. Examples: tickets to event (e.g. launch party), Backstage pass, VIP access to conference, access to information, etc.

The decision of how many reward levels to offer is generally based on the specifics of your particular campaign, what value you can give back, and what reward strategies are being used:

1.    a small price point that offers some sort of simple recognition,

2.    a mid-sized price point that offers a pre-order,

3.    and a large price point that offers special recognition for generous backers. The key takeaway here is to consider offering more rewards for higher target amounts.

This is a great chance to build backer confidence by showing that youve spent the time to chart your businesss course forward. Some common categories we see in rewards campaigns are product development, sales and marketing, recruitment of key personnel, legal and accounting, and operating expenses.

You can use these broad categories as a starting point, but be sure to expand upon them where you can. For example, explain which product features this funding will help you develop, or which key team members youll be able to hire, and what theyll do for your business.

Examples & Success stories

Crowdfunding campaigns are effective enough to stand on their own or work alongside other fundraising efforts. There are hundreds of crowdfunding examples and well look at some of them, that have met their goals and brought about hope and change. Not only have these campaigns succeeded, but they have also expressed their gratitude in effective ways that encouraged even more donors to give:

# SBrick - Smart way to control all your LEGO Creations

Platform: kickstarter, US

Country of the project: UK

Link to project: https://www.kickstarter.com

Amount raised: £88,152

Supporters: 1,284

Reward-based

 SBrick is a Smart RC Receiver that connects to a mobile or tablet device, allowing to Control all LEGOs Led, Motor and Power functions from a great distance, which has been developed in Budapest since 2014, founded by some true LEGO fans.

Its first Kickstarter campaign reached almost 1300 backers. than, mostly through word-of-mouth, through social media channels like Youtube, Facebook and Instagram, people all over the world got to know SBrick and SBrick Plus. Now, more than 40,000 people have chosen SBrick to play and learn with.

 # GOAT MUG: original goat story crafted into a coffee mug

 Platform: https://www.kickstarter.com

Country of the project: Slovenia

Funded: 458.071 $

Target: 25.000 $

Supporters: 10.617

Reward based/Presale

GOAT Mug was launched on Kickstarter as GOAT STORYs first product in 2014. It reached close to half a million dollars in a couple of days. Its a mug-slash-fashion-accessory with an interesting inspiration: the Ethiopian goats that allegedly discovered coffee berries centuries ago. Its shaped like a goat horn, which seems like itd be completely useless when you want to set the cup down, except that its included sleeve doubles as a stand on any flat surface.

In 2016 GOAT STORY created nearly 1.6 million EUR in sales revenue. Two years later, this company upgraded its coffee portfolio with Gina, a smart coffee machine. Gina was a success on Kickstarter as well; they collected more than half a million USD in 2017 and convinced 2.400 supporters.

Specialized quality coffee is an increasingly strong trend in the world, and that is why the brand Goat Story and the coffee segment got more than 300-percent growth in the years 2017 and 2018.

 Common mistakes & best practices

While its true that many startups have been able to raise funds through crowdfunding, it should be noted that not every crowdfunding project turns into a success. Thats why its so important that before you launch your campaign, you do your research and have a clear understanding of all the issues that can crop up with a campaign as well as evaluate standard errors and follow the progress already made:

Ordinary errors and lessons associated with crowdfunding:

check-icon Starting without a goal or a plan. One of the biggest (and easily avoidable) mistakes nonprofits make in crowdfunding is failing to make a plan and set a clear fundraising goal.

check-icon Forgetting to rally your supporters (also called, "lack of communication"). Like almost every other type of fundraising, crowdfunding requires communication and engagement with current and potential donors.

check-icon Setting your funding goal to high. Keep the limit low, but have good stretch goals to make it attractive to overfund.

check-icon Not buffering for the unexpected. So when promising delivering dates for your perks, always add a little bit of a buffer.

check-icon Failing to set suggested giving levels. Donors tend to give more money when there are suggested giving levels. It's psychological.

Also, you need to consider the best methods and practices that you should take for your successful crowdfunding campaign.

Best practices proved:

check-icon Setting non-financial goals. Expanding your focus beyond the money will help you get the most out of your crowdfunding efforts.

check-icon Choose the right platform for your crowdfunding campaign. When picking a crowdfunding platform, be sure your host offers fully customizable giving pages to your team.

check-icon Use social media. Crowdfunding relies heavily on social networking, so it only makes sense that it works best when done on social media platforms.

check-icon Have an excellent crowdfunding page. As your campaign progresses, your campaign page should change. Update the information regularly.

check-icon Build your tribe of supporters! Engage with your backers and allow them to co-create value with you.

We examined many issues, as well as some important ways in which this exciting industry is changing the game for entrepreneurs and startups in line with the advent of new economic and social needs.

We looked at the early roots of crowdfunding, how it is transforming into the modern industry that we know today, and how you can plan and launch your own successful campaign.

We would like to know your opinion on the most suitable source of funding for your startup?

Let us know in the comments below.

Comments Area

Your message has been sent for moderation

You need to register to leave a comment

DISCLAIMER: The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Follow Us

Explore More

  • Terms and conditions

Share with your friends

© SmartCaffe, 2021, All Rights Reserved

×

Personal Data Protection and Privacy Policy and Rules of the use of the Website

Effective date: 20.06.2019

Privacy policy

Welcome to smartchannel.org!

Overview

Thank you for visiting the www.smartchannel.org Website ("Website"). We have created this policy ("Personal data protection and privacy Policy") to inform you of how we collect, use, share, and secure your personal information. This Privacy Policy is incorporated into, and part of, the smartchannel.org Rules of the use of the Website, which governs your use of the Website in general.

This Privacy Policy applies only to the use of www.smartchannel.org (Fostering university-enterprise cooperation and entrepreneurship of students via smart caffes (SMART Project), nr. 585620-EPP-1- 2017-1-ELEPPKA2-CBHE-JP) web platform and its content. It does not cover sites that either link to or from this site. Partners who provide any other information, content or linking to the sites that can be found on the web platform may also gather information and you should consult those other parties’ privacy policies as appropriate and applicable.

The actual Policy on Personal Data Protection and Privacy Policy (hereinafter referred to as the Policy) has been developed in accordance with the requirements of the Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July, 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications) and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27April, 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (hereinafter referred to as the Law).

Key terms of this Policy:

Website - A collection of information, texts, graphic elements, design, images, photos and video materials and other results of intellectual activity, as well as computer programs, which are part of the information system that ensures the availability of such information on the Internet at the network address

Processing of personal data - Any action or set of actions performed using automation tools or without using such tools with personal data, including collection, recording, systematization, accumulation, storage, clarification (updating, modification), extraction, use, transfer (distribution, provision, access), depersonalization, blocking, deletion, destruction of personal data.

Automated processing of personal data - Processing of personal data by means of computer facilities. Despite this, the automated processing of personal data does not contain a system of automatic processing, including profiling, which creates legal consequences in relation to the User, or which similarly significantly affects the User.

Automatically collected information is gathered when you use the Website, such information relates to you, but on its own this information does not identify you (“non-personal information”).

To the extent www.smartchannel.org associates your personal information with non-personal information within our database, the automatically collected information of the user will be treated as the associated information under this Policy.

Dissemination of personal data - Actions aimed at disclosing personal data to an undetermined number of persons.

Provision of personal data - Actions aimed at disclosing personal data to a specific person or a certain number of persons.

Blocking of personal data - Temporary termination of the processing of personal data (except for cases when processing is necessary to clarify personal data).

Use of personal data – Actions (operations) with personal data performed by the organisation in order to make decisions or perform other actions that generate legal consequences in relation to the subject of personal data or other persons or otherwise affect the rights and freedoms of the subject of personal data or other persons.

Depersonalization of personal data - Actions, as a result of which, it becomes impossible to determine the ownership of personal data to a specific subject of personal data without the use of additional information.

Destruction of personal data - Actions, as a result of which, it becomes impossible to restore the content of personal data in the information system of personal data and (or) as a result of which material carriers of personal data are destroyed.

Personal account – A portal on the website, to which the User receives access after registering on the Website by entering a unique username and password.

User - person agreed with the Rules of the Use of the Website and this Policy, and perform any accepted activity on the website through created personal account or not.

Cookies - Data that is automatically transmitted to the Company in the process of using the Website using the software installed on the User’s device, including the IP address, geographical location, information about the browser and the type of operating system of the User’s device, technical characteristics of the equipment and software used by the User, date and time of access to the Website. Cookies can be permanent (they are called persistent cookies) and are stored on the computer until the User deletes them, or temporary (such cookies are called session cookies), i.e., they are stored only until the browser is closed. In addition, cookies are divided into essential (they are installed directly by the visited Website) and third-party (installed by other websites).

“IP address” is a numerical label used by computers on a network to identify any computer that connects to the Internet.

1. What is the purpose of the data collection?

The purpose of data collection is to capture over time the institutional development (intrainstitutional, but never inter-institutional).

2. What information do we collect?

We gather two types of information about users collected automatically and directly provided by you. We may also augment the information we collect about you from targeted internet searches and may use third party sources.

When you use our Website, including when you create a personal account, updating your profile online, either by creating or registering for an event, communicating with us, submit your challenges, business idea, comment and/or answer, or when you ask a question through the Website, you may provide us with information that identifies you or your contacts (“personal information”), such as:

Registration and Log in Data

In order to fully use the platform, you need to fill the registration form on www.smartchannel.org and create a personal account, we collect basic biographic/contact information about you and/or your representative organization, including name, title, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, and social media contact information, other information that may identify you as an individual or company.

For recipients of our newsletter, we collect your name, surname and email address.

For visitors of our site, we collect and process analytical information—aggregated information related to web visitor activity and email marketing actions. In case you download any materials we equally collect your name, surname and email address

By registering as a COMPANIE, you can be a MENTOR and/or EVALUATOR or directly a COMPANY that publishes its challenges.

As Evaluator you share with us the following data: Name, Phone number, Email, Date of Birth, Сountry of residence, Address, Address validity proof photo, Passport number (if any), Language, Skills & Competencies, Work experience, Social network links, Professional Identification, Startup evaluation parameters, Achievements, OR Name, Phone number, Email, Date of Birth, Work experience, Social network links, Professional Identification/ Areas of expertise, Startup evaluation parameters, Company Details (Company Name, Description, Type of The Company, Headquarter location, Company Socials), Web Site, Social Networks Profile, Location, Founding year, Areas of expertise, Current team (nr. of persons), Contact Person Details

As Company you share with us the following data: Data of your representative - Name, Phone number, Email, Date of Birth, Work experience, Social network links, Professional Identification, Profile Photo, Banner Photo (logo), Company Details (Company Name, Description, Type of The Company, Headquarter location, Company Socials), Web Site, Social Networks Profile, Location, Founding year, Areas of expertise, Current team (nr. of persons), Contact Person Details.

By registering as a STUDENT, you can be a MENTOR and/or EVALUATOR or directly a COMPANY that publishes your business ideas for evaluation and submit your solution to challenges.

For STUDENTs: Profile Photo, Banner Photo, Name, Date of Birth, gender, Higher Education Institution, Course and Year, Language, Skills & Competencies, Work experience, Country of residence, current location, address, phone number, email addresses, social media contact information, focus area of business or open innovations, team members (must be able to add).

For Pre-Startup: Name, Short description of the Pre-Startup, Founding year (if any), Logo, Industry, Geographic market focus, Fundraising instruments, Capital seeking, Valuation Cap, Equity offering, Token sale info (Total tokens number, Tokens for sale, Token price, Hard cap), Business model type, Average monthly turnover (real or planned), Product status, Website, Google Play link, App Store link, Problem, Solution, Market, Business model, Pitch deck & Demo, Team and founders, Achievements, Contacts.

For Pre-Startup and Startup (further Startup): Name, Short description of the startup, Founding year (if any), Logo, Industry, Country of incorporation, Form of the legal entity, Headquarters, Geographic market focus, Fundraising instruments, Investment round, Capital seeking, Valuation Cap, Equity offering, Token sale info (Total tokens number, Tokens for sale, Token price, Hard cap), Business model type, Average monthly turnover (real or planned), Product status, Website, Google Play link, App Store link, Problem, Solution, Market, Business model, Pitch deck & Demo, Team and founders, Achievements, Contacts.

By filling in the online registration form, the User is considered to have given consent to the processing of his/her personal data when the consent checkbox “I agree our Terms and Conditions” is ticked at the moment of clicking on the “Continue” equal to “Register” button.

By authorization using personal data specified by the User in social networks or electronic services. The User is considered to have given consent to the processing of his/her personal data at the moment of clicking on the button that displays the social network or electronic service selected for authorization.

Shared Content: www.smartchannel.org let you interact with other users, download the materials or share content publicly, asking or answering questions/filling in form and/or challenges, updating your profile online, either by creating or registering for an event, creating a post for a blog, communicating with us. Such shared content and you full name may be publicly viewable by others.

Promotions and Surveys: We may invite you to participate in a promotion or complete a survey either through smartchannel.org website or a third-party platform. If you participate, we will collect and store the data you provide as part of participating, such as your name, email address, date of birth, level of education, age, position, organization and country you are coming from. That data is subject to this Privacy Policy unless otherwise stated in the official rules of the promotion or in another privacy policy. Where we use a third-party platform to administer a survey or promotion, the third party’s privacy policy will apply.

When filling in the feedback form – all personal data the User provides to the organisation when filling in the online feedback form on the Website and electronic services (Google, etc.). The User is considered to have given consent to the processing of his/her personal data entered in the fields of the feedback form at the moment of clicking on the button confirming the submission of the application (the buttons may be called “Send”, “Leave a request or comment” or in another similar way).

When subscribing to receive information and news materials from the www.smartchannel.org - by filling in an online form for subscribing to a newsletter. The User is considered to have given his/her consent to the processing of his/her personal data by ticking the checkbox “I hereby give my consent to the processing of personal data” at the moment of clicking on the “Subscribe” button.

Below there are some examples to help you better understand the data we collect by automated means, including:

System Data: Technical data about your computer or device, like your IP address, device type, operating system type and version, unique device identifiers, browser, browser language, domain and other systems data, and platform types.

Usage Data: Usage statistics about your interactions with www.smartchannel.org, including pages visited, time spent on pages, features used, your search queries, click data, date and time, and other data regarding your use of www.smartchannel.org.

Approximate Geographic Data: An approximate geographic location, including information like country, city, and geographic coordinates, calculated based on your IP address.

The above listed data is collected through the use of server log files and tracking technologies. We also use or may use cookies. The collected data is stored and associated with your account.

By accessing www.smartchannel.org via any means you agree to the terms of this Policy. You shouldn’t access www.smartchannel.org if you don’t agree with this Policy or any other agreement that governs your use of www.smartchannel.org.

3. How we use your personal information and when we share your personal information

We use your personal information for a number of legitimate purposes, including to provide you with services you have requested, all in support of www.smartchannel.org and its mission.

As a general rule, the management team of the processor and the website developer and administrator team have access to data by virtue of website administration. They are bound by the applicable requirements of the Directive 2002/58/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July, 2002 concerning the processing of personal data and the protection of privacy in the electronic communications sector (Directive on privacy and electronic communications) and Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27April, 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (hereinafter referred to as the Law), so it is ensured that no information collected will be communicated to anyone outside.

The service providers act as processors and are by contract bound to respect the confidentiality of any information brought to their attention in the performance of the work and that they will not divulge to third parties or use for their own benefit, or that of any third party, any document or information not available publicly - even after completion of the contract with the www.smartchannel.org administration company.

your personal information:

1. We use Data collected through automated means. We use data collected through automated means related to the use of SMART Project to:

• Perform statistical analysis of trends and traffic;

• Improve SMART Project and develop new products, services and features;

• Identify unique users across devices;

• Advertise SMART Project on the third-party websites.

• 2. We use personally identifiable data provided by you or via third parties. We use the collected data related to the use of SMART Project to:

• Provide you information, products and services requested from SMART Project;

• Provide technical support and to ensure security.

• To ensure that content from Website is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer. This is necessary for our legitimate project and business interests;

• To provide you with information that may be of interest to you, where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes;

• To carry out our obligations between you and us to provide information or services that you have requested and notify you about changes to our services.

If you have concerns about any of these purposes, or how we communicate with you, please contact us. We will always respect a request by you to stop processing your personal information (subject to our legal obligations). You can opt out of www.smartchannel.org communications at any time by clicking the “Unsubscribe” button at the bottom of any email we send or by emailing us your request to unsubscribe at [email protected]. You can also write to us at Association for Supporting Innovations and Sustainable Development “Impuls”.

4. We may share your data with third parties under the following circumstances or as otherwise described in this Policy:

The shared content is publicly viewable, including to public at large.

As a part of our use of third-party analytics tools like Google Analytics, Yandex Metrika, we share certain information, account data, system data, usage data, or de-identifiable data as needed. De-identified data means data where we’ve removed things like your name and email address and replaced it with a token ID.

We may use and share certain system data and usage data with third-party advertiser and networks to show general demographic and preference information among our users.

We may disclose your data to third parties if the disclosure is permitted by law; requested as part of a judicial, governmental, or legal inquiry, order, or proceeding; reasonably necessary to enforce our Rules of the use of the Website, Policy, and other legal agreements; required to detect, prevent, or address fraud, abuse, misuse, potential violations of law (or rule or regulation), or security or technical issues.

We will transfer your personal data to these partners only to the extent that these partners need access to your personally identifiable data in order to provide services to www.smartchannel.org for the purposes defined in this Policy. www.smartchannel.org has taken appropriate measures to ensure that in these cases your personally identifiable data will only be processed for the purposes mentioned in this Policy and in accordance with applicable legislation.

If we are, or believe in good faith that we are, under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation; or permitted by law in order to enforce or apply our Rules of the use of the Website and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of us, our customers, or others. This includes exchanging information with other companies and organizations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction.

We do not disclose information about identifiable individuals to our advertisers, but we may provide them with aggregate information about our users (for example, we may inform them that 500 men aged under 30 have clicked on their advertisement on any given day). We may also use such aggregate information to help advertisers reach the kind of audience they want to target. We may make use of the personal data we have collected from you to enable us to comply with our advertisers' wishes by displaying their advertisements to that target audience.

5. Security of personally identifiable data

SMART Project consider the confidentiality and security of your information as the highest importance. SMART Project takes appropriate security measures to protect against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction of your personally identifiable data that we collect and store. We will not share it with third parties, except as otherwise provided in this Policy, or unless such disclosure is necessary in special cases, such as a physical threat to you or others, as permitted by applicable law. Unfortunately, however, no system can be 100% secured, so we cannot guarantee the security of personally identifiable data and there is some risk that an unauthorized third party may find a way to circumvent our security systems or that transmission of your information over the Internet will be intercepted. It is your responsibility to protect the security of your login information, especially your password as it is an important part of security system.

If you reside or are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), you have the right to request that we:

• provide access to any personally identifiable data we hold about you;

• prevent the processing of your personally identifiable data for direct-marketing purposes;

• update any personally identifiable data which is out of date or incorrect;

• delete any personally identifiable data which we are holding about you;

• restrict the way that we process your personally identifiable data;

• provide your personally identifiable data to a third party provider of services; or

• provide you with a copy of any personally identifiable data which we hold about you.

6. Policy concerning children

We recognize the privacy interests of children and encourage parents and guardians to take an active role in their children’s online activities and interests. Children under 13 (or under 16 in the European Economic Area) should not use www.smartchannel.org. If we learn that we’ve collected personal data from a child under those ages, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

Parents who believe that www.smartchannel.org may have collected personal data from a child under those ages can submit a request that it be removed to [email protected]

7. How can you access your personal data, verify its accuracy and, if necessary, correct it or request its deletion?

You can access and modify certain personal information stored at the Website, if you have submitted this personal information when creating a user account. It is the Website user’s responsibility to ensure that the provided information is correct.

You may also delete your account. Upon deletion of your account, www.smartchannel.org team will delete your account from our Website servers.

In case of problems with the personal access to the system, the users can contact the processor ([email protected]) that manages the website.

If you have any question, suggestions and complains regarding our Policy, you may contact us via [email protected].

We try to answer email and provide our response within the time period stated by applicable law. When you email us with a request, we may ask that you provide us with information necessary to confirm your identity.

8. How long we keep your personal information?

We consider our relationship with our community of www.smartchannel.org teams to be lifelong. This means that we will maintain a record for you until such time as you tell us that you no longer wish us to keep in touch. For www.smartchannel.org teams will retain your information as long as necessary to provide you with access to the Website and its services. After such time, we will retain a core set of information for our historical and archival purposes.

9. Cookies and other technologies, third party websites, content and resources

Cookies: www.smartchannel.org uses cookie technology in line with applicable European legislation as part of the Website's statistical reporting and for other purposes related to making the Website available to you. A cookie is a small piece of information sent by a website that is saved on your hard disk by your computer's browser. It holds information a website may need to gather statistical data and thus personalise your experience.

If you prefer, you can configure your browser to reject all cookies, or to notify you when a cookie is set. Each browser is different, so check the "Help" menu of your browser to learn how to change your cookie and privacy preferences. For more information about HTTP cookies and how to disable them, or restrict the categories of cookies you wish to accept, you can consult the information at www.allaboutcookies.org/manage-cookies/. However, if you reject cookies, your use of the Website may be impaired.

Third party websites: Please be aware that when you are using the Website, you could be directed via links or other means to third party websites, content, and resources that are not affiliated with the Website. These third party websites, content, and resources may send their own cookies to visitors, collect data, or solicit and use your personal information in ways different than set forth in this Privacy Policy. The privacy policies of these third party websites, content, and resources may be very different from this Privacy Policy. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of the providers of these other websites, content, and resources and cannot guarantee the security of any of your personal information collected, used, or shared there.

10. Security

www.smartchannel.org takes all reasonable steps to protect the security and integrity of all personal information provided to this Website. The website is secured using industry standard SSL encryption which ensures that personal data are never sent over the Internet unencrypted and therefore cannot be read by third party viewer.

11. Privacy Policy Updates

From time to time, we may revise this Privacy Policy to reflect industry initiatives, changes in the law or technology, or changes in our privacy practices. If we make material revisions to this Privacy Policy, we will provide you with notice of those changes by either: (1) placing a notice on the Website or (2) taking other actions, as appropriate under the circumstances (including posting the revised version of this Privacy Policy online).

12. Jurisdiction

The server on which the CEPHEI website is operated is located in the European Union (EU). We strive to carry out all services related to our website using operators and services located within the EU or the European Economic Area (EEA). In some cases, however, services related to the use of our website may also be carried out by operators and on servers located in third countries. In such cases, your personal data may also be transferred outside the EU or EEA in accordance with applicable legislation. In regards to transfers of personal data to countries where local data protection legislation does not provide an adequate level of data protection, transfers are protected utilizing appropriate safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission, a competent supervisory authority, or binding corporate rules.

COOKIES Policy

Effective date: 20.06.2019

This policy explains how cookies are used on this website. The policy may be amended from time to time. When we do, we will let you know by appropriate means such as by posting the revised policy on this page with a new Effective date. By using this site you agree to the placement of cookies on your computer in accordance with the terms of this policy. If you do not wish to accept cookies from this site please either disable cookies or refrain from using this site.

WHAT ARE COOKIES?

A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on your computer’s hard disk so that the website can recognize you when you revisit and remember certain information about you. This can include which pages you have visited, choices you have made from menus, any specific information you have entered into forms and the time and date of your visit.

TYPES OF COOKIES

There are two main types of cookies:

Session cookies: these are temporary cookies that expire at the end of a browser session; that is, when you leave the site. Session cookies allow the website to recognize you as you navigate between pages during a single browser session and allow you to use the website most efficiently.

Persistent cookies: in contrast to session cookies, persistent cookies are stored on your equipment between browsing sessions until expiry or deletion. They therefore enable the website to “recognize” you on your return, remember your preferences, and tailor services to you.

Our use of cookies we currently use, and may use in the future, the following types of cookies on this website.

We use session cookies to:

help us maintain security and verify your details whilst you use the website as you navigate from page to page, which enables you to avoid having to re-enter your details each time you enter a new page.

We use persistent cookies to:

help us recognize you as a unique user when you return to our website so that you do not have to input your details multiple times as you move between our pages or services collect and compile anonymous, aggregated information for statistical and evaluation purposes to help us understand how users use the website and help us improve the structure of our website.

Many cookies are designed to give you optimal usage of the web. For example, we use cookies to enable you to improve your user experience when using our website, e.g. a cookie which recognizes if your browser supports specific technology features. This helps, for example, in enabling web pages to be loaded more quickly when you request the download of a large file. In addition to cookies which send information to us, we also use cookies which collect information and send it to third parties. An example of this is Google Analytics. We use Google Analytics to help collect and compile information like the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited. Visit Google’s site for an overview of privacy at Google and information on how to opt out of the Google Analytics cookie. As with first party cookies, you are able to block third party cookies through your browser settings. Some of our cookies may collect and store your personal information, such as your name or email address. We are committed to respecting and protecting your privacy and will ensure that all personal information collected by us is kept and treated in accordance with our privacy policy.

REFUSING COOKIES ON THIS SITE

Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. However, you have the ability to disable cookies if you wish, generally through changing your internet software browsing settings. It may also be possible to configure your browser settings to enable acceptance of specific cookies or to notify you each time a new cookie is about to be stored on your computer enabling you to decide whether to accept or reject the cookie. To manage your use of cookies there are various resources available to you, for example the “Help” section on your browser may assist you. You can also disable or delete the stored data used by technology similar to cookies, such as Local Shared Objects or Flash cookies, by managing your browser’s “add-on settings” or visiting the website of its manufacturer.

Accept