Privacy Policy

Swiss Hospitality Investment Club GmbH, operating the Hospitality Venture Club(“HVC”, “we”, “us”), takes the protection of your personal data seriously. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect when you use this website or submit an application to the Hospitality Venture Club, how we use it, with whom we may share it, and what rights you have under applicable data protection laws, including the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (“FADP”) and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).

The responsible entity for the processing of personal data is:

Swiss Hospitality Investment Club GmbH

Email: karin.emmenegger@hospitalityinvestmentclub.ch

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

• Contact details, such as your name, email address, phone number and company affiliation.
• Startup and company information, such as company name, website, business model, industry focus and team information.
• Application materials, including pitch decks, presentations, documents, links and other information you submit through the application form.
• Communication data, including emails or messages exchanged with us.
• Technical data generated when you use the website, such as IP address, browser type, device information, access times and log data collected by our hosting provider for security and operational purposes.

Please do not submit confidential trade secrets, highly sensitive information or special categories of personal data (such as data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, or data concerning health) or other personal data that is not necessary for the application process. If you inadvertently submit such information, we cannot accept liability for any resulting consequences and will handle the data in accordance with this Privacy Policy to the best of our ability.

We process your personal data for the following purposes:

• To receive, review and administer your application.
• To assess your suitability for participation in the Hospitality Venture Club.
• To communicate with you about your application and the programme.
• To organise pitch sessions, jury reviews, investor introductions and related programme activities.
• To operate, maintain and secure the website.
• To comply with legal obligations and protect our legitimate interests.

If you give your explicit consent in the application form, we may share selected application materials with jury members, mentors and invited investors involved in the programme.

Where the GDPR applies, we rely on the following legal bases:

• Performance of a contract or pre-contractual steps where we process your data to review and administer your application.
• Legitimate interests where we operate and secure the website, manage the programme and communicate with applicants.
• Consent where we ask for your permission to share application materials with selected jury members, mentors or investors, or for any optional communications.
• Legal obligations where we are required to retain or disclose information under applicable law.

Under Swiss data protection law, we process personal databased on a justification, such as your consent, a legal obligation, or an overriding private or public interest. Our processing is always carried out in accordance with the principles of lawfulness, transparency, proportionality, purpose limitation and data security.

We do not sell your personal data.

We may share personal data with:

• Members of the organising team.
• Selected jury members, mentors and invited investors involved in the programme, where you have consented to such sharing.
• Service providers and processors that support the website, application process, email communication, hosting, storage or administration of the programme.
• Authorities or third parties where required by law or necessary to protect our rights.

Where we use third-party processors, we take appropriate contractual and organisational measures to ensure that personal data is processed securely and only for the agreed purposes.

Some service providers, jury members, mentors or investors may be located outside Switzerland or the European Economic Area. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we take appropriate measures to protect it, such as using recognised safeguards, contractual protections or relying on applicable legal exceptions.

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

Application data and submitted materials are generally retained for the duration of the application process and the programme. After completion of the application process or programme, we may retain them for up to 24 months for documentation, follow-up and legitimate business purposes, unless a longer retention period is required by law or you request deletion and no legal retention obligation or overriding legitimate interest applies.

Technical log data is usually retained for a limited period necessary for security, troubleshooting and website operation.

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration. However, no online transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Depending on the applicable law, you may have the right to:

• Request access to your personal data.
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Request deletion of your personal data.
• Request restriction of processing.
• Object to certain processing activities.
• Withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
• Request data portability, where applicable.
• Lodge a complaint with a competent data protection authority.

To exercise your rights, please contact us at: karin.emmenegger@hospitalityinvestmentclub.ch.

This website may use technically necessary cookies or similar technologies to operate securely and efficiently.

If we use analytics, marketing cookies or third-party tracking technologies, we will provide additional information and, where required, request your consent before any such technologies are activated.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The version published on this website is the current version.