Privacy Policy

This notice explains how ARB TECHNOLOGY AND TRADE CONSULTING OÜ (trading as Grow in EMEA, "we", "us"), registered in the Estonian Business Register and based in Tallinn, Estonia, processes personal information you share with us through gie.vc.

1. Who is the data controller

The controller of your personal data is ARB TECHNOLOGY AND TRADE CONSULTING OÜ, Tallinn, Estonia. Reach us at email [at] growinemea.com for any privacy-related request.

2. What we collect

We collect only what you send us and the minimum technical data required to keep the site up:

• Pitch form — founder name, startup name, one-line description, market focus, an optional deck link and your email address.
• Newsletter form — your email address.
• Technical logs — IP address, browser user-agent and timestamps, kept by our infrastructure providers for a short window for security and abuse prevention.

We do not use cross-site advertising or behavioural tracking scripts. We use Ahrefs Analytics for aggregate site measurement. See our Cookie Policy.

3. Why and on what legal basis

Under the EU GDPR we rely on:

• Legitimate interest — reviewing pitches, replying to founders, protecting the site from abuse.
• Consent — when you subscribe to the newsletter or explicitly share information via a form.
• Legal obligation — where a law requires us to retain or share data.

4. Processors we use

Your data is handled by the following processors, each bound by a data processing agreement:

• Cloudflare, Inc. — DNS, CDN, WAF, Turnstile (bot mitigation). Data may be processed in the EU and the US.
• Ahrefs Pte. Ltd. — privacy-conscious web analytics for aggregate traffic measurement.
• Google Ireland Ltd / Google LLC — Google Analytics 4 for aggregate traffic measurement. Data may be processed in the EU and the US.
• Resend, Inc. — outbound email delivery for form submissions.
• Hetzner Online GmbH — origin hosting in Helsinki, Finland (EU).

5. Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We share it with the processors above, with professional advisers where necessary, and — in the case of pitches — with the partners and analysts at Grow in EMEA evaluating investment opportunities.

6. Retention

Pitch submissions are retained for up to twenty-four months from the last contact, then deleted or anonymised. Newsletter emails are retained for as long as you remain subscribed. Server logs are retained for up to fourteen days.

7. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, port and object to the processing of your personal data, and to withdraw consent at any time. Requests can be sent to email [at] growinemea.com. You may also lodge a complaint with the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate (Andmekaitse Inspektsioon).

8. International transfers

Our primary processing is in the EU. Where a processor transfers data outside the EU (for example, Cloudflare in the US), transfers are covered by the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and complementary safeguards.

9. Children

Our services are not directed at children under sixteen, and we do not knowingly process their data.

10. Updates

We may revise this notice from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent version.