Terms and Conditions

1. Acceptance of These Terms

These Terms and Conditions (the "Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Founders League Institute, an Ohio nonprofit corporation (the "Institute," "we," "us," or "our"), which owns and operates the Ohio Founders League (the "League") and the websites, portals, and related services made available at ohiofoundersleague.org and its associated domains, including the MyVenture, MyCampus, and Scout portals (collectively, the "Platform").

By accessing or using the Platform, registering a venture, applying for or accepting a campus lead account, registering as a Scout, or otherwise participating in the League, you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into these Terms by reference. If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not access or use the Platform or participate in the League.

If you are using the Platform on behalf of a university, company, or other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you have authority to bind that entity to these Terms, and "you" refers to both you individually and that entity.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least eighteen (18) years of age and capable of forming a binding contract under applicable law to use the Platform or participate in the League. By using the Platform you represent and warrant that you satisfy this requirement.

Eligibility to compete as a venture is further limited to teams that satisfy the participation criteria published on the Platform for the applicable season, including, without limitation, that the venture is student-founded and student-led with majority student ownership, that at least one founder is an enrolled undergraduate or graduate student at a founding university (or a recent graduate who founded the venture while enrolled, within the period we specify), and that the venture does not fall within an excluded category for that season. We may verify eligibility at any time and may require documentation, including proof of enrollment and evidence of ownership.

Officials, judges, mentors, employees, directors, and contractors of the Institute, and members of their immediate households, are not eligible to compete as founders or to win prizes, and may participate as Scouts only to the extent permitted by our conflict-of-interest rules.

3. Accounts and Security

Access to the Platform is provided through single-use codes delivered to your email address or through a third-party sign-in provider you elect to use. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your email account and any device on which you remain signed in, and for all activity that occurs under your account. You agree to notify us promptly at the contact address below of any unauthorized use of your account.

You must provide accurate, current, and complete information when creating an account and must keep that information updated. You may not impersonate any person or entity, use another participant's account, or create an account for anyone other than yourself without that person's authorization.

4. Accuracy of Registration Information and Reported Data

The League operates on the information you supply. When you register a venture, complete the discovery assessment, mark challenges complete, submit weekly metrics, or submit evidence for a Stage Final Challenge, you represent and warrant that the information is true, accurate, and complete, that any documents or links you submit are genuine, and that you have the right to submit them.

Traction Scores, stage assignments, badges, leaderboard placements, Scout points, and other outputs of the Platform are computed from the data you and other participants report. You acknowledge that these outputs are only as reliable as that data and that the Institute does not independently verify every data point at the time it is submitted.

Knowingly submitting false, misleading, inflated, or fabricated information is a material breach of these Terms and may result in the remedies described in Section 5, disqualification from the League, forfeiture of any prize, and referral to your university under its own academic integrity or student conduct policies.

5. Verification, Audits, and Score Adjustments

The League includes stage gates ("Stage Final Challenges") at which an official of the Institute reviews the evidence a venture submits and the progress it has claimed. You agree that an official may, at his or her sole discretion, request additional evidence, interview founders, contact customers or other third parties identified in your submissions, and review any information available on the Platform in connection with that review.

If an official determines that any challenge, metric, or other claim cannot be substantiated, the Institute may, in its sole discretion, strike the unsubstantiated items, reduce the venture's points, apply an additional penalty, reverse a previously approved stage advancement, or take any combination of these actions (each an "Audit"). The outcome of an Audit, including the written reason for it, is displayed on the venture's public profile and in the activity feeds of the Platform, and holders of the venture in the Scout market are notified.

Audit determinations, stage advancements, and all other scoring decisions of the Institute are final and binding and are not subject to appeal, except that the Institute may, in its sole discretion, correct a determination it concludes was made in error.

6. Competition, Judging, and Prizes

The structure of each season, including the phases, dates, the number of ventures advancing at each phase, the judging criteria, the weighting of judging, traction, and Scout components, and the prizes, is described on the Platform and in the official rules for that season (the "Official Rules"). The Official Rules are incorporated into these Terms. In the event of a conflict between these Terms and the Official Rules, the Official Rules govern with respect to the competition.

Judging decisions are made by judges selected by the Institute in their discretion and are final. The Institute may substitute judges, adjust schedules, relocate or reschedule events, and modify the format of any event for any reason.

Prizes are awarded as non-dilutive grants. The Institute takes no equity, warrants, revenue share, or other interest in any venture as a condition of participation or as consideration for any prize. Prize amounts are stated in United States dollars. Prizes are subject to verification of eligibility, execution of any documentation the Institute reasonably requires (including tax forms and a release), and compliance with these Terms and the Official Rules. Each winning venture is solely responsible for all federal, state, and local taxes arising from a prize. The Institute may, in its sole discretion, award a prize to the venture's legal entity or to the founders identified in the venture's registration.

The Institute reserves the right to cancel, suspend, or modify the League or any season, in whole or in part, if fraud, technical failure, insufficient participation, force majeure, or any other cause beyond its reasonable control impairs the integrity or proper functioning of the League, as determined by the Institute in its sole discretion.

7. The Scout Program

The Scout portal is a fantasy game of skill offered for engagement and entertainment. Scouts select ventures for a board of fixed size and accrue points based on the Traction Scores those ventures earn after selection. Scout points are not money, have no cash or monetary value, cannot be purchased, sold, transferred, redeemed, or withdrawn, and do not represent any ownership, security, debt, or other interest in any venture or in the Institute.

Nothing on the Platform constitutes an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any security, and nothing on the Platform constitutes investment, financial, legal, or tax advice. A venture's "stock price" in the Scout market is a display of that venture's Traction Score and is not a valuation.

No purchase or payment of any kind is required to participate as a Scout, and no wagering is permitted. Recognition awarded to Scouts, if any, is described in the Official Rules for the applicable season. The Institute may adjust, reset, or void Scout boards, points, and rankings to correct errors, to apply an Audit, or to address conduct that violates these Terms.

8. Campus Leads and University Users

Campus lead accounts are issued by the Institute to individuals designated by a founding university. A campus lead may register ventures on behalf of founders at that university, contact founders, and nominate ventures for the Regional Championships. Ventures registered by a campus lead are not scored or displayed on leaderboards or in the Scout market until the founder has signed in, reviewed the profile, and accepted it.

Campus leads agree to use founder and venture information available through the MyCampus portal solely for purposes of administering the university's participation in the League and in accordance with the university's own policies and applicable law, including laws governing the privacy of student records. The relationship between the Institute and a founding university is governed by a separate written agreement; in the event of a conflict between that agreement and these Terms with respect to the university, that agreement governs.

9. Your Content

You retain all ownership rights in the venture descriptions, metrics, documents, images, links, pitch materials, and other content you submit to the Platform ("Your Content"). By submitting Your Content you grant the Institute a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, display, distribute, and create derivative works of Your Content for the purposes of operating the Platform and the League, verifying your submissions, publishing leaderboards, profiles, and season results, and promoting the League and its participants in any media, during and after your participation.

You represent and warrant that you own or have the necessary rights to Your Content, that Your Content does not infringe or misappropriate the intellectual property, privacy, or publicity rights of any third party, and that Your Content does not contain confidential information of any third party that you are not authorized to disclose.

You consent to the Institute's use of your name, likeness, voice, university affiliation, venture name, and biographical information in connection with the League, including in recordings of live events, in press materials, and on the Platform, without additional compensation.

10. Public Nature of Participation; No Confidentiality

The League is a public competition. You acknowledge and agree that your venture's name, description, university, founders, stage, Traction Score, challenge completions, badges, leaderboard position, Audit outcomes, and Stage Final Challenge results are displayed publicly on the Platform and may be discussed publicly by the Institute, the media, judges, mentors, and other participants.

The Institute, its judges, mentors, officials, and volunteers are under no obligation of confidentiality with respect to anything you submit or present, except as expressly agreed in a separate written agreement signed by an authorized officer of the Institute. Do not submit or present trade secrets or other information you require to be kept confidential. If you require confidential treatment of specific information in order to protect patent or other rights, it is your responsibility to obtain such protection before disclosure.

11. Prohibited Conduct

You agree not to, and not to assist or permit any third party to:

• submit false, misleading, or fabricated information, evidence, or metrics, or otherwise attempt to obtain points, stage advancement, Scout market gains, or prizes by deception;
• collude with other participants, Scouts, judges, or officials to manipulate scores, rankings, or the Scout market, or create multiple Scout accounts;
• harass, threaten, defame, or discriminate against any participant, official, judge, mentor, or Scout;
• access or attempt to access any account, data, or portion of the Platform you are not authorized to access, or probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Platform;
• use any automated means to access the Platform, scrape data, or submit reports, except through interfaces we expressly provide for that purpose;
• interfere with the operation of the Platform, introduce malicious code, or impose an unreasonable load on our infrastructure;
• use the Platform or information obtained from it to solicit participants for products or services, to send unsolicited communications, or for any purpose unrelated to the League without our written consent; or
• violate any applicable law, regulation, university policy, or third-party right in connection with your participation.

12. Intellectual Property of the Institute

The Platform, including its software, design, text, graphics, scoring methodology, challenge frameworks, Stage Final Challenge structure, and the compilation of data displayed on it, is owned by the Institute or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. Except for the limited right to use the Platform in accordance with these Terms, no license or right is granted to you by implication or otherwise.

"Ohio Founders League," "OFL," "Founders League Institute," "MyVenture," "MyCampus," "Traction Score," and the associated logos are trademarks of the Institute. You may not use these marks without our prior written permission, except to accurately identify your participation in the League in a manner that does not suggest endorsement of your venture by the Institute.

13. Third-Party Services

The Platform may rely on or link to services operated by third parties, including sign-in providers, email delivery providers, hosting providers, and university systems. Your use of those services is subject to their own terms and privacy policies. The Institute is not responsible for the availability, content, or practices of any third-party service.

14. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Platform, remove a venture from the League, void Scout boards, or disqualify any participant, at any time and for any reason, including any actual or suspected violation of these Terms or the Official Rules, with or without notice. Upon termination, your license to use the Platform ends immediately. Sections 4, 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 15 through 20 survive any termination.

You may stop using the Platform at any time. Withdrawing a venture from the League after nomination or advancement may affect other participants; you agree to notify us promptly if you intend to withdraw.

15. Disclaimers

THE PLATFORM AND THE LEAGUE ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE," WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE INSTITUTE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTY THAT THE PLATFORM WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR SECURE, OR THAT SCORES, RANKINGS, OR OTHER OUTPUTS WILL BE ACCURATE.

MENTORSHIP, FEEDBACK, INTRODUCTIONS, AND OTHER GUIDANCE PROVIDED THROUGH THE LEAGUE ARE PROVIDED FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DO NOT CONSTITUTE LEGAL, FINANCIAL, TAX, OR INVESTMENT ADVICE. YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR DECISIONS MADE REGARDING YOUR VENTURE.

16. Limitation of Liability

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL THE INSTITUTE OR ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, VOLUNTEERS, JUDGES, MENTORS, SPONSORS, FOUNDING UNIVERSITIES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS, THE PLATFORM, OR THE LEAGUE, HOWEVER CAUSED AND UNDER ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE INSTITUTE AND THE PARTIES IDENTIFIED ABOVE FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS, THE PLATFORM, OR THE LEAGUE WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED UNITED STATES DOLLARS (US $100). THE LIMITATIONS IN THIS SECTION ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN YOU AND THE INSTITUTE. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

17. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Institute and its directors, officers, employees, volunteers, judges, mentors, sponsors, founding universities, and agents from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of or relating to (a) Your Content, (b) your breach of these Terms or the Official Rules, (c) your violation of any law or the rights of any third party, or (d) any dispute between you and any co-founder, team member, or other participant.

18. Governing Law; Venue

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them, the Platform, or the League are governed by the laws of the State of Ohio, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. You and the Institute agree that the state and federal courts located in the State of Ohio have exclusive jurisdiction over any such dispute, and you consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts and waive any objection based on inconvenient forum.

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, YOU AND THE INSTITUTE EACH WAIVE ANY RIGHT TO A JURY TRIAL AND AGREE THAT ANY CLAIM MUST BE BROUGHT IN YOUR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. Any claim arising out of or relating to these Terms must be filed within one (1) year after the claim arose, or it is permanently barred.

19. Changes to These Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. The effective date at the top of this page indicates when the current version took effect. For material changes we will provide notice through the Platform or by email to the address associated with your account. Your continued use of the Platform after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms. Changes to the Official Rules during a season will be limited to those the Institute determines are necessary to preserve the integrity or feasibility of the season.

20. General Provisions

These Terms, the Privacy Policy, and the Official Rules constitute the entire agreement between you and the Institute regarding the Platform and the League and supersede all prior agreements and understandings on that subject. If any provision of these Terms is held unenforceable, it will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible and the remaining provisions will remain in full force. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later. You may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent; we may assign them without restriction. Nothing in these Terms creates a partnership, joint venture, employment, or agency relationship between you and the Institute. Notices to the Institute must be sent to the contact address below; notices to you may be sent to the email address associated with your account.

21. Contact

Questions about these Terms may be directed to Founders League Institute at hello@ohiofoundersleague.org.