The Gradient Descending Summit 2026 - Privacy Notice

Who we are

Earlybird Venture Capital UK Ltd. organises The Gradient Descending Summit 2026 and operates gdsummit.ai.

Earlybird Venture Capital UK Ltd. is affiliated with other entities within the Earlybird group. References in this notice to "Earlybird", "Earlybird VC", "Earlybird Venture Capital", "we" or "us" refer to Earlybird Venture Capital UK Ltd. and, where relevant, its affiliated Earlybird entities.

For the personal data described in this notice, the relevant Earlybird entity acts as controller as described below.

Contact: dataprotection@earlybird.com

Data protection officer

datenschutz nord GmbH
Zweigstelle Berlin-Charlottenburg
Kurfürstendamm 212
10719 Berlin, Germany
office@datenschutz-nord.de

What we collect when you register

When you apply for or register for the Summit through Typeform or Luma, we may collect your:

• name and email address;
• LinkedIn profile;
• role, company and company stage;
• information about what you hope to get out of the Summit;
• transport and activity preferences;
• confirmation of the attendance policy;
• dietary requirements, if you choose to provide them; and
• sponsor-related preferences and answers, only where you choose to engage with the relevant sponsor section of the registration form.

Why we process it

• Running your registration, the waitlist and event logistics (transport seats, activity groups, catering headcounts): Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
• Dietary requirements: your explicit consent, Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR, because dietary information can reveal health or religious details. The field is optional, you can withdraw consent any time before the event, and we delete answers within 30 days after it.
• Keeping a record of attendance, cancellations and no-shows to manage invitations to future Earlybird events: our legitimate interest, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.
• Maintaining our professional network: after the event we add registrants to Earlybird's CRM and internal data platform: legitimate interest, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. You can object at any time.
• News and invitations for future Earlybird events by email: only with your consent, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, revocable any time via the unsubscribe link.
• Photos and video at the event, for Earlybird's event documentation and channels: legitimate interest, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. Tell the crew on site or write to dataprotection@earlybird.com if you do not want to appear.
• We do not use analytics or advertising cookies on this website.

Summit Sponsors

The Gradient Descending Summit is supported by HSBC Innovation Banking, Deel, Notion and Stripe.

During registration, you may choose whether you would like to hear from one or more of these partners about products, services, startup programmes, offers or other opportunities that may be relevant to you or your company.

We will only share your personal data with a Summit partner where you have expressly consented to us doing so.

Giving this consent is entirely optional. You can apply for, register for and attend the Summit regardless of whether you consent to your information being shared with a partner.

Where you consent, we may share your name, email address, role, company and relevant sponsor-related responses with the partner you have selected so that they can contact you about the relevant products, services, programmes or opportunities.

Once your information has been shared, that partner will process it as an independent controller in accordance with its own privacy notice.

You will be provided with a link to the relevant partner's privacy notice before choosing whether to consent to your information being shared.

• HSBC Innovation Banking
• Deel
• Notion
• Stripe

Who processes data for us

Typeform S.L., Barcelona, Spain (registration forms, EU); Luma (event registration, US); Lovable (website hosting); Cloudflare (content delivery and security); the Beaverbrook estate and its caterer (aggregate catering numbers and transport lists). Where providers process data in the US, transfers rest on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and/or standard contractual clauses.

How long we keep it

Logistics data (dietary, transport, activity choices) is deleted no later than 30 days after the event. Registration and attendance records are retained for up to one year from your most recent interaction with an Earlybird event. After that, they are deleted or irreversibly anonymised. If you consent to receive news and invitations, we retain your contact details until you withdraw your consent or for a maximum of three years after your last interaction with us, whichever occurs first.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you may have rights including access to your personal data, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection to certain processing.

Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

To exercise your rights or ask a question about how we process your information, contact: dataprotection@earlybird.com

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Cookies and tracking

This website does not use analytics, advertising cookies or other optional tracking technologies.

We may use strictly necessary cookies provided by our hosting and infrastructure providers, including Cloudflare, where required for the security and basic operation of the website. These cookies cannot be switched off because they are necessary for the website to function.

This website does not use any additional tracking.