Terms of Use

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of Founders’ Union, available at foundersunion.in and any associated pages (the “Platform”). By creating an account, or by using the Platform, you agree to these Terms and to our Privacy Policy, which forms part of this agreement. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

We have kept this short and in plain English deliberately. A document nobody reads protects nobody.

1. What the Platform is

Founders’ Union is a listing and discovery service. It lets people publish what they are building and what help they need, browse a library of published problem statements, and obtain another member’s contact details in order to reach them directly.

We are an intermediary. We host and display what members choose to publish. We are not a party to any arrangement, agreement, partnership, employment, internship or investment that you enter into with another member, and we do not participate in, supervise or guarantee anything that follows from a connection made here.

2. Who can join

• You must be at least 16 years of age.
• If you are under 18, Indian law does not permit you to enter into a binding contract on your own. By creating an account you confirm that your parent or legal guardian has read these Terms and the Privacy Policy, agrees to them on your behalf, and consents to your use of the Platform and to our processing of your personal data. Your guardian may withdraw that consent at any time by writing to us, and we will close the account.
• One account per person. Creating additional accounts to collect Spark, inflate a listing, evade a suspension, or appear as more than one person is prohibited.
• Use your own email address. Using an address belonging to someone else, or an institutional address that is not yours, is a breach of these Terms and will result in removal. The domain after the @ in your address determines which boards your account can see, so misrepresenting it misrepresents you to everyone else on the Platform.
• The information you give during sign-up must be accurate, and you must keep your contact details current.

3. Your account

Access is by a one-time code sent to your email address, or through Google. There is no password. You are responsible for keeping access to your email account secure, and for everything done through your account. Tell us immediately if you believe someone else has used it.

4. Your content, and originality

4.1 You keep what you write

You retain all rights you already hold in the listings, problem statements, comments and other material you publish (“Your Content”). By publishing it you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide licence to store, reproduce and display Your Content for the purpose of operating the Platform, for as long as you keep it published. That licence exists so that we can show your post to other members. It gives us nothing else. We do not claim ownership of your idea, and we will not use Your Content in advertising or promotion without asking you first.

4.2 Post only what is yours to post

You confirm that Your Content is your own, or that you have the right to publish it, and that publishing it does not infringe anyone’s copyright, trade mark, confidentiality or other rights.

4.3 Copying another member’s idea or listing

Copying material published by another member on this Platform is a breach of these Terms. Specifically, you must not copy, reproduce, adapt, republish or present as your own:

• another member’s listing, post or problem statement, in whole or in substantial part;
• the written pitch, description, plan, document or supporting material published with it;
• material that another member shared with you in confidence after you connected through the Platform.

4.4 Making a complaint about copying

If you believe another member has copied your idea or your content, write to rohit@foundersunion.in with:

• identification of your original listing or material;
• identification of the listing you say copies it;
• your evidence — for example that your version was published first, correspondence showing the material was disclosed to that person, drafts, files or records predating theirs, or anything else that establishes the point;
• a statement that the complaint is made in good faith and that what you have told us is true.

We will acknowledge your complaint within 24 hours and decide it within 15 days. We will normally put the substance of the complaint to the other member and consider what they say before deciding.

4.5 What we can do about it

Where a complaint is made out on the evidence provided, we may remove or unpublish the content, issue a warning, suspend the account, permanently remove the member from the Platform, and record the decision against that account. We may also act where the copying is obvious on its face, without waiting for a complaint.

4.6 What we cannot do — stated plainly

We are not a court and these Terms do not make us one. We cannot decide who legally owns an idea, award compensation, or order anyone to stop doing anything. A decision by us affects access to this Platform and nothing else, and it does not prevent either party from taking the matter further.

You should also know that under Indian law an idea, in the abstract, is not protected by copyright. The Copyright Act, 1957 protects the expression of an idea — the words you wrote, the document you made — not the concept behind it. Protection for the substance of a business idea, where it exists at all, generally comes from confidentiality, from a written agreement between the people involved, or from registered rights. If your idea genuinely matters to you, put arrangements in writing with the people you share it with, and take legal advice. Posting it here is not a substitute for either.

4.7 The record we keep

Every listing carries the date and time it was created, recorded by us rather than entered by the member. On request we will confirm that record to the member who created the listing, or produce it in response to a lawful demand. It is evidence of when something was published on this Platform. It is not evidence of who thought of it first.

5. What you must not post or do

• Anything unlawful, or anything that encourages or assists another person to break the law.
• Content that is defamatory, obscene, harassing, or that attacks a person or group on the basis of caste, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, region or ethnicity.
• Content that infringes the intellectual property, confidentiality or privacy rights of any person, including the contact details of someone who has not agreed to share them.
• Impersonating any person, or misrepresenting your identity, affiliation, institution or experience.
• Deceptive or fraudulent offers, investment solicitations, multi-level marketing, chain schemes, spam, or paid advertising presented as a member listing.
• Software, links or instructions intended to damage, disable or gain unauthorised access to any system, or to interfere with the operation of the Platform.
• Scraping, harvesting, bulk-extracting or reselling data from the Platform, including member details, by any automated means.
• Anything that threatens the sovereignty, integrity, defence, security or public order of India, or that is prohibited by the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the rules made under it.

6. Contacting other members

Unlocking a member’s contact details gives you permission to reach them once, about what they published. It is not permission to add them to a group, market to them, pass their details to anyone else, or keep messaging after they have declined. Contact details obtained here must not be used for bulk messaging, marketing lists, or any purpose unconnected with the listing they came from.

Misuse of another member’s contact details is treated as a serious breach and results in immediate removal.

7. Spark

Spark is an internal credit used to access features of the Platform. It is not money, not a security, not a deposit, and not a prepaid payment instrument. It has no cash value outside the Platform, and cannot be transferred between accounts, sold, or exchanged for currency.

• Publishing a listing costs 1 Spark, whether it appears on your own board, the national board, or both at once.
• Joining a campus community other than your own costs 8 Spark for 14 days. Your first community is free.
• Publishing a listing on a campus community you have joined but do not belong to costs 5 Spark. Only members of that community see it, and the membership must be current.
• Unlocking a member’s contact details costs 1 Spark, once. They remain unlocked for you permanently. Your own details are never charged for.
• You earn 1 Spark the first time a member on a verified institutional account starts building on a problem statement you published.

We may change these amounts as the Platform develops. Spark already credited to your account will continue to work; we will not devalue a balance you have earned or paid for. Spark associated with an account that is closed or removed is forfeited.

7.1 Buying Spark

Spark may be bought, and it may also be granted, earned or given as part of a promotion. Purchases are one-time: there is no subscription, no auto-renewal and no stored mandate, so nothing is charged again unless you buy again. Spark does not expire.

Payments are processed by Razorpay. Your card, UPI and bank details are handled by Razorpay and are never received or stored by Founders’ Union — see the Privacy Policy.

Spark is non-refundable once purchased. It is a digital credit delivered to your account immediately on payment, so the sale is final whether or not you go on to spend it. Where a payment itself goes wrong — money taken and no Spark credited, a duplicate charge, or an amount other than the one shown at checkout — we return it in full. Spark on an account removed for breaching these Terms is forfeited. The full position is in the Refund & Cancellation Policy, which forms part of these Terms.

8. Listings expire after 30 days

Every listing has a 30-day life and then stops being displayed. This is intentional. A board full of opportunities that closed months ago wastes the time of everyone reading it. If you are still looking, publish again.

9. Reporting content, and grievance redressal

If you find content or conduct on the Platform that breaches these Terms, report it to rohit@foundersunion.in. Tell us what you saw, where, and why it concerns you.

In accordance with the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, complaints and grievances may be addressed to our Grievance Officer:

• Grievance Officer, Founders’ Union
• Email: rohit@foundersunion.in

We will acknowledge a grievance within 24 hours of receiving it and dispose of it within 15 days. Content relating to the non-consensual sharing of intimate imagery will be removed within 24 hours of a valid complaint. We do not penalise anyone for making a report in good faith; we do act against people who use the reporting process to harass others.

10. Suspension and removal

We may suspend or remove an account, and remove any content, where these Terms have been breached, where we are required to by law, or where leaving it in place would put another member at risk. We will tell you the reason. In serious cases — harassment, impersonation, fraud, or anything endangering another person — removal is immediate and without prior notice.

You may close your account at any time by writing to rohit@foundersunion.in. What happens to your data then is described in the Privacy Policy.

11. What we do not promise

We verify that an email address works, and we read the domain after the @ to decide which board an account belongs to. That is the extent of our verification. We do not verify that a member is who they say they are, that their institution, course or experience is real, that a listing describes a genuine opportunity, or that anyone will honour what they promise you.

Do your own diligence before committing time, money or work to someone you met here. Meet them. Ask questions. Put arrangements in writing between yourselves. Never send money to someone on the strength of a listing.

The Platform is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We do not warrant that it will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that it will produce any particular result for you.

12. Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential loss, or for any loss of profit, opportunity, data or goodwill, arising out of your use of the Platform. We are not liable for the acts or omissions of other members, for anything you agree with another member, or for any loss arising from a connection made through the Platform.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited, including liability for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.

13. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify us against any claim, demand, loss or expense arising out of content you publish, your breach of these Terms, or your infringement of the rights of any other person.

14. Changes to these Terms

We may amend these Terms. When we do, we will update this page and the date at the top of it. If a change materially affects your rights or obligations we will notify members directly and, where appropriate, ask you to accept the revised Terms before continuing to use the Platform. Continuing to use the Platform after a change takes effect means you accept it.

15. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of India. The courts at Gurugram, Haryana shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising out of or in connection with these Terms or your use of the Platform.

Before commencing proceedings, both of us agree to try to resolve the matter by writing to rohit@foundersunion.in and allowing 30 days for a response.

16. General

If any provision of these Terms is held to be unenforceable, the rest continues in force. A failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of it. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between us regarding the Platform. You may not transfer your account or your rights under these Terms to anyone else.

17. Contact

Founders’ Union — rohit@foundersunion.in

Founders’ Union is an independent platform. It is not operated by, endorsed by, or affiliated with any college, university or institution, including any whose name appears on the site. These Terms are written in plain language for readability and are not legal advice; if you need a document reviewed for enforceability, have a lawyer look at it.