Privacy and data policy

What we collect

Your name, email, phone number, city and state; your eligibility answers; details of your idea or company; and the documents you upload. For registered startups this includes incorporation and compliance documents. We record the IP address and timestamp at which you gave consent, because that record is what protects both of us in a dispute.

Who sees it

The verification team sees your documents in order to verify them. Assigned jurors see your submission, but not your name, contact details, track or fee — scoring is blind by design. Finance staff see payment records but cannot score. Nobody outside the programme sees your documents.

What is published

Nothing about you is published unless you consented to publication at registration. Where you did consent, the public cohort page may show your startup name, sector, a short summary and your final presentation. Contact details are never published.

How long we keep it

Application data is retained for three years after a cohort ends, so that certificates can be verified and disputes resolved. Payment records are retained for eight years as required for tax and audit purposes. You can ask for your data to be deleted before then by writing to trust@bharatstartupgrant.org, and we will delete everything not required by law.

Security

Payment card details never reach our servers — Razorpay handles the payment page. Our stored secrets are encrypted at rest. Uploaded documents are stored outside the public web directory and are not reachable by URL guessing.

Last updated 25 Jul 2026. Questions: trust@bharatstartupgrant.org