This English version is a courtesy translation. The legally binding version is the German-language “Datenschutzerklärung”. In the event of any inconsistency between the German and English versions, the German version shall prevail.
The controller for this Website and for the processing of personal data is:
Founders Hive, an association under Swiss law domiciled in Maur, Switzerland (CHE-492.272.181).
For the registered address, please refer to: https://zh.chregister.ch/cr-portal/auszug/auszug.xhtml?uid=CHE-492.272.181
E-mail: info@founders-hive.ch
(“Founders Hive”, “we” or “us”). If you have any questions regarding our handling of personal data, or any other data‑protection‑related concerns, you may contact us using the contact details set out above.
We collect personal data through various channels, including in connection with your enquiries, the conduct or offering of the Ranking, and your use of the Website. We process the following categories of personal data for the following purposes:
We collect personal data which you, or someone acting on your behalf, provide to us in connection with the use of the Website or your participation in the Ranking. This includes, in particular, information provided in the course of registration, the creation of a user account, the completion of the self‑disclosure, and our communications with you.
Where ecosystem participants are not natural persons, this concerns, in particular, personal data relating to contact persons, representatives, members of governing bodies, employees, or other associated natural persons.
Depending on the case, this includes the following categories of personal data: name, function and affiliation with an organisation; business contact details (such as address, e‑mail address and telephone number); and further information provided in the course of the self‑disclosure or our communications.
Such processing takes place for the purpose of operating the Ranking, communicating with you, and the further purposes described in this Privacy Notice (see also Section 9).
In connection with the Ranking, we also process personal data which we do not collect directly from you. This concerns, in particular, personal data which we receive from other ecosystem participants or third parties in the form of assessments, evaluations or feedback (in particular so‑called peer feedback); and personal data which we collect from publicly accessible sources (e.g. websites, publications, databases, public registers, or other generally accessible sources of information).
We process such personal data for the purpose of operating, evaluating and further developing the Ranking, and for the related purposes set out in this Privacy Notice.
Certain data is collected automatically when you access and use the Website. This includes, in particular: browser, operating system, settings, date and time of access, IP address, pages visited and content viewed. Such data is collected automatically as soon as you access our Website.
We use this data to provide the functionality of the Website and to ensure its proper and secure operation. We also analyse this data for statistical purposes, for example to determine which pages are favoured or how many visits occur and when. Such analysis is carried out on an aggregated basis, so that, as a rule, the data cannot be linked directly to your person. The insights gained are used to improve and further develop our Website and our offerings.
If you wish to subscribe to a newsletter offered by us, we will require an e‑mail address from you, together with information enabling us to verify that you are the owner of the e‑mail address provided and that you consent to receiving the newsletter.
We use such data exclusively to send the requested information (in particular information about our ranking offerings, services, products, or events). You may withdraw your consent to the storage of the e‑mail address and its use for the dispatch of the newsletter at any time, for example via the “unsubscribe” link contained in the newsletter.
In addition to the purposes referred to above, we may also use the personal data collected to assert or enforce our legal claims, to defend ourselves in connection with legal disputes and proceedings before authorities, and to prevent and investigate criminal offences and the misuse of our services.
In connection with the Ranking, personal data is processed in part by automated means, in particular for the purpose of analysing the data collected, preparing evaluations and assessments, and determining classifications and placements within the Ranking.
This may also include profiling within the meaning of applicable data protection law, i.e. the automated processing of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects, in particular in respect of activity, track record, qualification, or market position in the relevant environment.
The evaluations and classifications carried out within the framework of the Ranking are not, however, based exclusively on automated processing; they also involve human assessment, in particular by the Provider, the research partner, and the experts retained.
Automated individual decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects within the meaning of applicable data protection law are not made.
We use cookies on our Website. These are files which are stored on the user’s device and which collect information about visitors and the use of our Website, or technically different tracking applications. Cookies enable the user to be identified and serve to provide more user‑friendly, effective and secure services via the Website.
Most of the cookies we use are so‑called “session cookies”. These are automatically deleted at the end of your visit to our Website. Other cookies remain stored on your device until you delete them. Such cookies enable us to recognise your browser on your next visit. Further information regarding the cookies and cookie‑like technologies used can be found in the provisions below.
You may configure your browser settings so that you are notified of the setting of cookies and may permit cookies only in individual cases, exclude the acceptance of cookies in certain situations or generally, and activate the automatic deletion of cookies upon closing the browser. Disabling cookies may limit the functionality of the Website (e.g. language selection).
Where required, we will obtain your consent for the use of cookies and similar technologies.
We also use cookies, analytics programs, and tracking technologies of third‑party providers (such as Google Analytics, LinkedIn Insight Tag, LinkedIn Matched Audiences, Meta Pixel, Meta Conversion API (CAPI), or comparable services) which measure and analyse your use of the Website in order to determine user behaviour, build target audiences, and optimise advertising. When you visit the Website, the following is recorded: when and for how long the Website is visited, which pages are accessed, which functions are clicked, and which content is displayed. This enables us to better understand how, and by which target audiences, the Website is used.
The third‑party providers’ programs use cookies, identifiers, and cookie‑like (tracking) technologies to identify the user. Some of these third‑party providers process personal data as their own controllers. Their data processing is governed exclusively by their own data protection notices. We have no influence over their data processing and assume no responsibility in this regard.
Where we cooperate with partners in connection with the Ranking (in particular research partners such as ZHAW or media partners such as NZZ), the processing of personal data is in principle carried out within separate areas of responsibility. Each such partner processes personal data for its own purposes and under its own data protection responsibility. The data processing carried out by such partners is governed by their respective data protection notices.
Within the framework of the Ranking, we also publish personal data via our Website and otherwise online or in print media, in particular through our media partners. This includes, in particular, the following categories of personal data: name, function, organisational affiliation, and ranking‑related information (including evaluation, classification, placement, or other Ranking results). Such publication takes place for the purpose of conducting, presenting, communicating, and marketing the Ranking and the related content and analyses. The processing and publication of such personal data is based on your consent, your participation in the Ranking pursuant to the T&Cs, and our overriding legitimate interests in the conduct and marketing of the Ranking.
Publication is based on the data provided by you; the accuracy of such data is not verified. The published information is not to be understood as reliable or verified information.
The Website and your data are hosted on servers located in Switzerland. Where we disclose data to recipients abroad, we take the precautions required by law to protect such personal data. Where we transfer personal data to a country without an adequate level of statutory data protection (in particular the United States), we ensure an appropriate level of protection in accordance with the law by entering into data protection clauses (standard contractual clauses) with the recipients of the data, unless they are already subject to an officially recognised framework for ensuring data protection (such as the Swiss‑U.S. Data Privacy Framework), or we rely on a statutory derogation. A derogation may apply, in particular, in the case of legal proceedings abroad, but also in cases of overriding public interest, where the performance of a contract requires such disclosure, where you have consented, or where the data have been made generally accessible by you and you have not objected to their processing. The documentation regarding such measures may, on request, be obtained from the contact set out in Section 1.
We retain personal data for as long as is necessary for the fulfilment of the purpose for which it was collected. Thereafter, the data is either deleted or anonymised, unless we exceptionally require it for a longer period, e.g. on the basis of statutory retention and documentation obligations, or our legitimate interests, such as for evidentiary purposes or for IT security. Data relating to the use of our Website (e.g. IP addresses) is, as a rule, anonymised or deleted after 12 months, unless, exceptionally, we continue to require it beyond that period, e.g. to safeguard our legitimate interests or to combat misuse.
We protect personal data by appropriate measures against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. To this end, we employ appropriate technical and organisational security measures, which are continuously improved in line with technological developments (e.g. SSL/TLS encryption, access restrictions, access controls, regular backups, two‑factor authentication for administrative access). We cannot, however, guarantee the absolute security of personal data.
For security reasons and in order to protect the transmission of confidential content — such as orders or enquiries which you send to us via the contact form — this Website uses SSL or TLS encryption. You can recognise an encrypted connection by the fact that the address bar of the browser changes from “http://” to “https://”, and by the lock icon in your browser bar. When SSL or TLS encryption is activated, the data which you transmit to us cannot be read by third parties.
We otherwise note that data transmission over the internet (e.g. when communicating by e‑mail) may have security gaps. Complete protection of data against access by third parties is not possible.
Persons whose data we process have the right, within the framework of the data protection law applicable to them, to obtain information about the personal data concerning them, to request its rectification or erasure, to request the restriction of its processing, and to object to the processing of their personal data. There is also a right to data portability/transmission (i.e. to receive a copy of their personal data in a common electronic format). These rights may, in individual cases, be subject to statutory limitations.
Where our processing is based on consent, every data subject also has the right to withdraw such consent at any time with effect for the future. To exercise such rights, please contact the contact point referred to in Section 1.
A data subject also has the right to lodge a complaint with the competent data protection authority. The competent data protection authority in Switzerland is the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (www.edoeb.admin.ch). If you are resident in the EU or the EEA, you additionally have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority within your member state. A list of the national data protection authorities in the EU is available at: https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/members_en.
The processing of your personal data is carried out in accordance with applicable data protection law, in particular the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP).
To the extent required or appropriate under applicable law, processing is in particular based on:
In all other respects, processing takes place within the framework of statutory requirements and for the purposes described in this Privacy Notice.
If you act as an intermediary or otherwise in the name or on behalf of a third party, or if you provide us with information regarding a third party (e.g. references to other ecosystem participants), you hereby declare that you are an authorised representative or agent of such third party and/or that you have obtained from such third parties all consents required (as may be demanded by applicable law) for the collection, processing, use, and disclosure of their personal data to us, or by us, and/or that you fulfil all other requirements under applicable law to enable us to process the relevant personal data of such third parties as described herein.
From time to time, amendments to this Privacy Notice may become necessary. As soon as a revised Privacy Notice is available on the Website, it shall become binding.
Should one or more provisions or parts of this Privacy Notice be or become invalid or void, this shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. Any invalid or void provision shall be replaced by an effective provision which most closely approximates the economic purpose of the invalid or void provision.
Subject to any mandatorily applicable data protection laws, this Privacy Notice is governed by substantive Swiss law, excluding its conflict-of-laws rules. The exclusive place of jurisdiction is the City of Zurich, Switzerland (Zurich 1).
Language. This Privacy Notice has been drawn up in German. The English version is provided as a courtesy translation. In the event of any discrepancy or inconsistency between the German and English versions, the German version shall prevail.
Founders Hive, 22.04.2026, Version 1.1