Terms of use

1. Agreement

These Terms of use ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Swayam Community, operated from India. They apply together with the Privacy notice, Cookie policy, Community guidelines, Grievance redressal policy, and Disclaimer.

If you do not agree, do not use the website or submit an application.

2. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old to use this website to apply, contribute, or participate. You must be able to form a binding contract under the laws of India.

Programs are selective. Using the website or applying does not create a right to be admitted.

3. Nature of Swayam Community

Swayam Community is a selective, non-commercial community built through programs. Participation is not employment, internship, partnership, agency, joint venture, or an investment relationship.

Swayam Community is not a university, not a paid advisory firm, and not a fundraising or brokerage platform. Completing a program does not guarantee incubation, funding, customers, or any particular outcome.

4. Programs

Program descriptions on this website, including duration, size, format, and curriculum, describe current intent. Details may change. We will update the relevant program page when they do.

The Founder Cohort is offered at no fee. There is no membership fee to be part of Swayam Community as described on this website. Because there is no fee, there is no refund.

We may accept, waitlist, or decline an application. We do not have to give a reason, except where law requires it.

5. Applications and accounts

Information you submit in an application must be accurate and yours to share. Do not impersonate another person or submit another person's personal data without authority.

Swayam Community offers more than one program. Applications are submitted through the form published for that program on this website. Those forms may be hosted by third-party processors. Processors we may use include Airtable, Zoho, and other form, CRM, email, or similar tools we appoint from time to time. That host's terms and privacy notice also apply to the submission.

6. Expert contribution

Expert contribution is a role: time given to sessions, feedback, and technical depth. It is not a paid professional services engagement, not employment, and not a client relationship with founders, unless a separate written agreement says otherwise.

Experts must not use participation to solicit paid work from founders in a way that conflicts with the non-commercial nature of the program, unless Swayam Community has stated otherwise in writing.

7. Your work and our materials

Work you bring into a program or the community remains yours. Swayam Community does not claim ownership of your company, product, research, or code because you participated.

You grant Swayam Community a limited licence to use materials you submit, solely to operate the website, review applications, and run the relevant program or community activity. This licence is not a transfer of ownership.

Website text, marks, layout, and original content of Swayam Community remain ours or our licensors'. You may not copy the site for a competing community or commercial reuse without permission.

8. Conduct

You must follow the Community guidelines. You must not use the website or community to harass, defame, deceive, infringe intellectual property, share others' confidential work without permission, or commit an offence.

We may refuse, suspend, or end participation if you breach these Terms or the guidelines, or if we reasonably believe continued participation would harm others or the community.

9. Prohibited use

You must not use the website or any community channel to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update, or share information that is prohibited under applicable law, including the Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, as applicable. This includes information that:

• Belongs to another person and to which you have no right.
• Is defamatory, obscene, pornographic, paedophilic, invasive of privacy, insulting or harassing on the basis of gender, libellous, racially or ethnically objectionable, or otherwise inconsistent with or contrary to the laws of India.
• Is harmful to a child.
• Infringes any patent, trademark, copyright, or other proprietary rights.
• Deceives or misleads in relation to the origin of a message, or communicates misinformation or information that is patently false and untrue or misleading in nature.
• Impersonates another person.
• Threatens the unity, integrity, defence, security or sovereignty of India, friendly relations with foreign States, or public order, or causes incitement to the commission of any cognisable offence, or prevents investigation of any offence, or is insulting other nations.
• Contains a software virus or any other computer code designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of a computer resource.
• Is patently false and untrue, and is written or published with the intent to mislead or harass for financial gain or to cause injury.

10. No advice

Content on this website, in sessions, and in community discussion is for information and learning. It is not legal, financial, investment, tax, or professional advice. You are responsible for your own decisions.

11. Third-party services

The website may use third-party processors, including Airtable, Zoho, or similar tools, to receive applications and operate the site. Those services are not under our control. Your use of them is governed by their terms and notices, and by this notice where we are the Data Fiduciary.

12. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

The website and programs are provided on an as-is and as-available basis. To the maximum extent permitted by the laws of India, Swayam Community disclaims implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement.

We do not warrant that the website will be uninterrupted, secure, or free of errors, or that programs will produce any particular personal or commercial result.

To the maximum extent permitted by the laws of India, Swayam Community and the people acting for it are not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary loss, or for loss of profit, data, goodwill, or opportunity, arising from use of the website or participation.

Where liability cannot be excluded, it is limited to the amount you paid us for the relevant program in the twelve months before the claim. If you paid nothing, liability is limited to INR 1,000, except where law forbids that limit, including in cases of proven fraud or wilful misconduct.

13. Indemnity

You will indemnify and hold harmless Swayam Community, Swayam, and people acting for them, from claims, losses, and costs (including reasonable legal fees) arising from your breach of these Terms, your content, or your misuse of the website or community, to the extent permitted by law.

14. Suspension and end of access

We may suspend or end access to the website or participation if you breach these Terms, if required by law, or if we discontinue a program or the website. Provisions that by nature should survive, including intellectual property, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, and governing law, will survive.

15. Changes

These Terms are effective from 19 August 2026. We may update them. The current version will be posted on this page. Continued use after an update means you accept the updated Terms, except where law requires a different method of agreement.

16. Governing law and disputes

These Terms are governed by the laws of India, without regard to conflict-of-law rules.

Courts of competent jurisdiction in India shall have exclusive jurisdiction, subject to any mandatory consumer or other protection that applies to you.

Nothing in these Terms limits a Data Principal's right to approach the Grievance Officer or the Data Protection Board of India under the DPDP Act, 2023.

17. Contact

General: hello@swayam.community.

Legal notices: legal@swayam.community.

Grievance Officer: grievance@swayam.community.