Legal

Privacy Policy

1. Controller and contact

The controller responsible for data processing on this website is:

SBI Ventures Europe GmbH
c/o Solaris SE
Cuvrystrasse 53
10997 Berlin
Germany

Managing Director: Shotaro Iwano. Further company details are in our Legal Notice.

2. Hosting and server log data

Our website is hosted by Webflow, Inc., 398 11th Street, 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103, USA. When you visit the website, Webflow’s servers and content delivery network automatically record technical data that your browser sends. This includes your IP address, the date and time of the request, the page visited, the referring page, and your browser and operating system.

We use this data to deliver the website, keep it stable and secure, and detect misuse. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in a secure and working website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Webflow may process data in the United States. Webflow is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. The transfer is therefore based on the European Commission’s adequacy decision of 10 July 2023 (Art. 45 GDPR). We have concluded a data processing agreement with Webflow.

Server log data is deleted after 30 days at the latest.

3. Contact form

You can contact us through the form on our Contact page. You first choose whether you are a founder, an investor, or have a general enquiry. We then ask for:

type of enquiry (founder, investor or general) – required
name – required
email address – required
company or organisation – required for founders and investors, optional for general enquiries
website – optional
your message – required
pitch deck link (founders only) – optional
confirmation that you have read this privacy policy – required

We use this data only to answer your enquiry and, for founders, to assess a possible investment. If you share a pitch deck link, we open the linked document to review it. The document stays with the service you use to share it (for example DocSend or Google Drive), and that service’s own privacy terms apply.

The legal basis is the steps you ask us to take before a possible contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and our legitimate interest in answering enquiries and reviewing investment opportunities (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

The form is processed by our host, Webflow, and the messages are sent to our team by email. We keep your data for as long as needed to handle your enquiry. We delete enquiries that do not lead to further contact after 6 months, unless statutory retention obligations apply. Investment-related records may be kept longer where this is needed for our deal records or required by law.

Spam protection. To protect our contact form and newsletter sign-up from automated spam, Webflow uses Cloudflare Turnstile, a service of Cloudflare, Inc., 101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA. Turnstile checks technical signals from your browser, such as your IP address and browser details, to tell humans from bots. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in protecting the form from abuse (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Cloudflare may process data in the United States. Cloudflare is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; the transfer is therefore based on the European Commission’s adequacy decision of 10 July 2023 (Art. 45 GDPR).

4. Newsletter

On our Insights page you can sign up for updates with your email address. We use your email address only to send you our news and research. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the unsubscribe link in every email or by writing to info.europe@sbigroup.co.jp. We then delete your address from the mailing list.

5. Cookies and cookie consent

When you first visit our website, a banner asks for your consent to cookies. Only cookies that are strictly necessary for the website to work are set without your consent. Other cookies, for example for statistics, are only set if you agree. You can change your choice at any time through the “Cookie settings” link in the footer of every page.

The cookie banner is part of our own website; no external provider is involved. To remember your choice, it stores a small cookie (sbi_consent) in your browser for 6 months.

The legal basis for strictly necessary cookies is § 25(2) TDDDG and our legitimate interest in a working website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The legal basis for all other cookies is your consent (§ 25(1) TDDDG and Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR).

6. Fonts, downloads and external links

Fonts. The fonts used on this website are stored on our host’s servers (Webflow) and are delivered together with the website. No connection to Google or any other font provider is made when you visit our website.

Downloads. Reports and other documents we offer for download are stored on our host’s servers (Webflow). Downloading them is processed like any other page request (see Section 2).

External links. Our website links to other websites, for example LinkedIn and our portfolio companies. When you follow such a link, the other website’s privacy policy applies. We have no control over how those websites process data.

7. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to:

get information about the personal data we hold about you (Art. 15)
have incorrect data corrected (Art. 16)
have your data deleted (Art. 17)
have the processing of your data restricted (Art. 18)
receive your data in a common electronic format (Art. 20)
object to processing based on our legitimate interest (Art. 21, see below)
withdraw any consent you gave, with effect for the future (Art. 7(3))

To exercise any of these rights, write to info.europe@sbigroup.co.jp.

Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR). Where we process your data on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), you have the right to object to this processing at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will then stop processing your data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or unless the processing serves the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. To object, write to info.europe@sbigroup.co.jp.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR). The authority responsible for us is the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit), Alt-Moabit 59–61, 10555 Berlin.