Privacy policy

1. Who we are

The controller of your personal data is Sheba Ventures Ltd, a private limited company registered in England and Wales, whose registered office is at 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom. You can contact us about this policy or your data at hello@sheba.ventures, by telephone on +44 7732 727296, or by post to our registered office.

We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. The personal data we collect

• Contact and identity data: name, email address, telephone number, job title, company and LinkedIn profile.
• Founder application data: information about your company, team, traction, fundraising and any documents or links you share with us (such as a pitch deck).
• Investor data: investor classification, country of residence, organisation, investment preferences, commitments and information we need for know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money-laundering (AML) checks.
• Account data: your login credentials (passwords are stored in hashed form by our authentication provider) and your activity within our founder and investor portals.
• Communications: messages you send through our contact forms, portals or by email, and your newsletter preferences.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type and server logs needed to operate and secure the website.

3. How and why we use your data

We only use personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so:

• Legitimate interests: to assess investment opportunities, respond to enquiries, manage relationships with founders and investors, keep our services secure and improve the website.
• Contract: to provide portal accounts and to administer investments and fund commitments you enter into with us.
• Legal obligation: to carry out KYC/AML checks, keep financial records and meet regulatory requirements.
• Consent: to send you our newsletter. You can withdraw consent at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email or by contacting us.

We do not sell your personal data and we do not use it for automated decision-making that has legal effects on you.

4. Who we share it with

We share personal data only where necessary, with:

• Service providers who host and operate our website and portals (including cloud hosting and authentication providers);
• Professional advisers such as lawyers, accountants, auditors and fund administrators;
• Identity verification and AML screening providers;
• Co-investors, only with your knowledge and where relevant to an investment you are discussing with us;
• Regulators, law enforcement or other authorities where required by law.

All service providers act on our instructions and are bound by appropriate confidentiality and data protection terms.

5. International transfers

Some of our service providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, we ensure an appropriate safeguard is in place, such as UK adequacy regulations or the International Data Transfer Agreement / UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

6. How long we keep it

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes above. As a guide: unsuccessful founder applications for up to three years (so we can follow your progress); investor and KYC records for at least five years after the end of our relationship, as required by AML regulations; newsletter data until you unsubscribe; and general enquiries for up to two years.

7. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• have inaccurate data corrected;
• have your data erased in certain circumstances;
• restrict or object to our processing, including for direct marketing;
• data portability; and
• withdraw consent where we rely on it.

To exercise any of these rights, email hello@sheba.ventures. We will respond within one month. We may need to verify your identity first.

8. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please contact us first so we can try to resolve it. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection, at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

9. Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including encryption in transit, access controls and role-based permissions in our portals. No system is perfectly secure, so please contact us immediately if you believe your account has been compromised.

10. Cookies

We use only a single strictly necessary cookie to keep you signed in. See our cookie policy for details.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top shows when it was last revised.