Privacy Policy

Last updated: 12 October 2026

This policy explains what personal information Startup.Africa collects, why, who helps us process it and what your rights are under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA). It applies to www.startup.africa and to the emails we send.

Who we are

Startup.Africa is an online reference library of guides, analysis and a deal archive on how African startups raise money. For POPIA purposes Startup.Africa is the responsible party for the personal information described here. You can reach us at info@startup.africa.

What we collect

• When you subscribe: your email address and, if you give it, your name. If you tell us whether you are a founder, an investor or something else, we store that choice with your subscription.
• When you read our emails: whether an email was delivered and opened and which links were clicked, so we can tell which work is useful.
• When you use the website: standard usage information such as pages viewed, approximate location (country or city), device and browser type, and how you arrived. This is collected through cookies and similar technologies (see "Cookies and analytics" below).
• When you write to us: your email address and whatever you choose to include in your message.

We do not ask for, and do not want, special personal information (such as health, religion or political views), payment details or identity numbers.

Stored only on your device

Some features keep information in your own browser and never send it to us: the articles you save to read later, which guides you have already opened, and a copy of the glossary that makes definitions appear faster. You can delete this at any time by clearing your browser's site data.

Why we use it

• To send you the emails you asked for, and to stop when you unsubscribe.
• To understand which guides and analysis are useful, so we can improve the library.
• To answer your questions, corrections and tips.
• To keep the website secure and working.

We process your information with your consent (for example when you subscribe) or because it is necessary for our legitimate interest in running and improving the library, as POPIA allows. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for automated decisions about you.

Who helps us (operators)

We use a small number of service providers who process information on our behalf and under their own security obligations:

• Ghost (Ghost Foundation): hosts the website and manages subscriptions.
• Mailgun: delivers our emails.
• Google: Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager measure how the website is used; a Google advertising tag measures visits from Google campaigns.
• Microsoft Clarity and Hotjar: show us, in aggregate and as session recordings, how pages are used so we can fix confusing layouts. By default they mask what you type into forms.

Some of these providers store information outside South Africa. Where that happens, we rely on providers that are subject to data-protection laws or agreements offering protection comparable to POPIA, as section 72 of POPIA requires.

Cookies and analytics

Cookies are small files your browser stores. We use them to keep you signed in if you are a subscriber, and to measure how the website is used through the analytics tools listed above. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; the library will still work, although you may need to sign in again.

We do not currently show advertising on Startup.Africa. If that changes, we will update this policy first.

How long we keep it

We keep your subscription details until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete them. Messages you send us are kept for as long as needed to deal with them. Analytics information is kept according to each provider's retention settings.

Your rights

Under POPIA you may ask us to:

• confirm whether we hold personal information about you and give you a copy of it;
• correct or delete it;
• stop processing it, or object to processing based on our legitimate interests;
• withdraw your consent at any time (every email has a one-click unsubscribe link).

Email info@startup.africa and we will respond within a reasonable time. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Information Regulator of South Africa: inforegulator.org.za.

Security

We use reputable providers, encrypted connections (HTTPS) and limited staff access to protect your information. No system is completely secure; if a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as POPIA requires.

Children

Startup.Africa is written for founders, investors and professionals. It is not directed at children under 18, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page when our practices change and show the date of the latest version at the top.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your personal information: info@startup.africa.