Privacy Policy

Last Updated: November 15, 2025 | Effective Date: January 1, 2025

1. Introduction and Overview

Milestone AI Ventures, LLC ("Milestone AI Ventures," "we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information with transparency, care, and respect. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect personal information when you visit our website at mstone-ai.com (the "Site"), interact with us through our contact forms, subscribe to our newsletter or updates, attend our events, or engage with us in connection with investment activities or business development.

Milestone AI Ventures is headquartered at 535 Mission Street, Suite 1600, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States. We are a venture capital fund investing in seed-stage artificial intelligence and machine learning companies.

This Privacy Policy applies to all individuals who interact with us, including prospective portfolio companies (founders and their employees), limited partners and prospective limited partners, job applicants, website visitors, newsletter subscribers, event attendees, service providers, and other business contacts. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using our Site or services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide Directly

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us through various channels:

Contact Form Submissions: When you submit our website contact form or pitch submission form, we collect your name, email address, company name, company website URL, phone number (if provided), and the content of your message or pitch description.
Email Communications: When you email us directly at any of our contact addresses, we collect and store the email address from which you sent the message, any other personal information included in the email body, and all email metadata.
Newsletter and Update Subscriptions: When you subscribe to our investor newsletter or market analysis updates, we collect your name, email address, company affiliation, and investment focus areas.
Event Registration: When you register for Milestone AI Ventures events, webinars, or conferences, we collect your name, email, company, job title, dietary restrictions (for in-person events), and any other information requested in the registration form.
Investment Diligence: If your company is under investment consideration, we collect detailed information including company financial data, team member information, product documentation, legal entity information, capitalization table data, and other information relevant to investment due diligence. This information is subject to the confidentiality terms we agree to with founders separately from this Privacy Policy.
LP and Investor Relations: If you are a limited partner or prospective limited partner, we collect investor accreditation documentation, financial information required for fund administration, tax identification information, and other information required under applicable securities laws and fund administration requirements.

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically

When you visit our Site, we automatically collect certain technical information through cookies and similar tracking technologies:

Log Data: Your IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, time spent on pages, and the date and time of your visit.
Device Information: Device type (desktop, mobile, tablet), device operating system, screen resolution, and browser language preferences.
Cookies and Tracking Pixels: Persistent and session cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies that collect information about your browsing behavior on our Site. See Section 11 (Cookie Policy Reference) and our separate Cookie Policy for detailed information.
Analytics Data: Aggregated and de-identified information about Site usage patterns, including popular pages, traffic sources, and user flow data collected through web analytics services.

2.3 Information from Third Parties

We may receive personal information about you from third-party sources, including:

Professional Networks: Publicly available information from LinkedIn, Crunchbase, PitchBook, and similar professional platforms, particularly for sourcing and evaluating investment opportunities.
Referrals: When other founders, investors, or professionals refer you to us, we may receive your contact information and basic background from the referring party.
Data Enrichment Services: We may supplement the information we collect directly with publicly available information from data enrichment providers to maintain accurate contact records.
Background Check Services: In connection with investment due diligence, we may obtain background check information from third-party screening services, subject to applicable legal requirements and your consent where required.

3. How We Use Your Information

3.1 Investment Activities

For founders, startups, and companies seeking investment, we use your information to:

Evaluate and respond to investment inquiries and pitch submissions
Conduct investment due diligence, including technical, financial, legal, and market analysis
Communicate with you about investment terms, conditions, and decisions
Maintain records of investment relationships and portfolio company information
Fulfill our obligations as investors in portfolio companies, including board representation and ongoing reporting requirements
Source and track investment opportunities across our target sectors

3.2 Business Communications and Marketing

We use contact information to:

Send our monthly newsletter and market analysis updates to subscribers who have opted in
Notify you about Milestone AI Ventures events, webinars, and conferences
Share portfolio company news and fund announcements with interested parties
Respond to your inquiries and communications
Maintain and update our contact database for business development purposes

3.3 Site Operations and Analytics

We use automatically collected information to:

Operate, maintain, and improve our website
Analyze Site performance, traffic patterns, and user behavior
Diagnose technical problems and ensure Site security
Optimize content and user experience
Detect and prevent fraudulent or unauthorized access to our Site

3.4 Legal and Compliance

We process personal information as required to:

Comply with applicable securities laws, fund regulations, and reporting requirements
Conduct Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) verification for investors
Respond to lawful requests from regulatory authorities, law enforcement, and courts
Enforce our legal rights and defend against legal claims
Maintain records required by applicable financial regulations

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

For individuals located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or other jurisdictions with similar laws, we process your personal information under the following legal bases as provided in Article 6 of the GDPR:

Legitimate Interests (Article 6(1)(f)): Processing necessary for our legitimate interests in conducting investment activities, sourcing deals, maintaining business relationships, and operating our website, provided these interests are not overridden by your privacy rights and freedoms. This includes most of our investment-related processing and business communications.
Contract Performance (Article 6(1)(b)): Processing necessary to perform a contract to which you are a party, or to take steps at your request prior to entering a contract. This includes investment term negotiations, due diligence, and fund administration.
Legal Obligation (Article 6(1)(c)): Processing necessary to comply with applicable law, including securities regulations, tax law, and anti-money laundering requirements.
Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): Where we have obtained your explicit consent, such as for newsletter subscriptions or marketing communications. You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before withdrawal.
Vital Interests (Article 6(1)(d)): Processing necessary to protect the vital interests of you or another natural person, in exceptional circumstances.

5. Sharing of Personal Information

5.1 Service Providers

We share personal information with trusted third-party service providers who assist us in operating our business, including:

CRM and deal tracking software providers (for managing investment pipeline and relationships)
Email marketing platform providers (for newsletter and communication delivery)
Website hosting and analytics providers
Legal counsel and accounting firms
Fund administration and compliance service providers
Background check and verification service providers

All service providers are required to use personal information only as directed by Milestone AI Ventures and consistent with this Privacy Policy, and are prohibited from using or disclosing personal information for their own commercial purposes.

5.2 Co-Investors and Investment Partners

In connection with investment activities, we may share information about founders and companies with other investors participating in or considering a particular investment round, subject to appropriate confidentiality agreements. We will notify you if your information will be shared with co-investors and will limit such sharing to information relevant to the investment opportunity.

5.3 Legal Requirements and Safety

We may disclose personal information if required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or when we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to prevent fraud, protect the safety of persons or property, or enforce our rights.

5.4 Business Transfers

If Milestone AI Ventures is involved in a merger, acquisition, restructuring, bankruptcy, or sale of fund assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of such transaction. We will notify you of any change in ownership or use of your personal information, or any choices you may have regarding your information.

5.5 No Sale of Personal Information

Milestone AI Ventures does not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to third parties for their own marketing or commercial purposes. We do not participate in data broker arrangements or personal information exchanges.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and to comply with our legal obligations:

Investment Opportunities (Not Invested): We retain information about companies we evaluated but did not invest in for three years after the final decision, in case the opportunity is revisited or for market analysis purposes.
Portfolio Company Information: We retain information about portfolio companies for the duration of the investment plus ten years after exit, as required for fund accounting and legal purposes.
LP Records: We retain limited partner information for the duration of the fund plus fifteen years, as required by securities regulations and fund administration requirements.
Newsletter Subscribers: We retain subscriber information for the duration of the subscription plus two years after unsubscription.
General Contact Records: We retain business contact information for five years from the last meaningful interaction, or until you request deletion, whichever is earlier.
Website Analytics Data: Aggregated and anonymized analytics data is retained for three years. IP addresses are anonymized within 90 days of collection.
Compliance Records: KYC, AML, and regulatory compliance records are retained for the periods required by applicable law, typically seven to ten years.

We regularly review our retention practices and securely delete or anonymize personal information when it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected.

7. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. Our security measures include:

Encryption of personal data in transit using TLS/SSL protocols
Encryption of personal data at rest for sensitive categories of information
Access controls and role-based permissions limiting access to personal information to employees who need it
Regular security assessments and penetration testing of our systems
Employee training on data protection and information security practices
Incident response procedures for detecting, reporting, and addressing data breaches
Vendor security assessments for third-party service providers handling personal information

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure. While we take reasonable precautions to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach that is likely to result in high risk to individuals, we will notify affected individuals and relevant supervisory authorities as required by applicable law.

8. International Data Transfers

Milestone AI Ventures is based in the United States. If you are located outside the United States, please be aware that your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, which may have different data protection laws than your home country.

For individuals in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland, we ensure that international transfers of personal information are protected by appropriate safeguards, including:

Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission
The UK's International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA)
Other lawful transfer mechanisms as appropriate under applicable data protection laws

9. Your Privacy Rights

9.1 GDPR Rights (EEA/UK Residents)

If you are located in the EEA or UK, you have the following rights under the GDPR and UK GDPR:

Right of Access (Article 15): You have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether we process personal information about you, and if so, access to that information and supplementary details about our processing.
Right to Rectification (Article 16): You have the right to have inaccurate personal information corrected and incomplete personal information completed.
Right to Erasure / Right to be Forgotten (Article 17): You have the right to request deletion of your personal information in certain circumstances, including when the information is no longer necessary for the purposes it was collected or when you withdraw consent.
Right to Restriction of Processing (Article 18): You have the right to request that we limit processing of your personal information in certain circumstances, such as when the accuracy of the information is contested.
Right to Data Portability (Article 20): You have the right to receive personal information you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and to transmit that information to another controller.
Right to Object (Article 21): You have the right to object to processing of your personal information where we rely on legitimate interests, and to object to direct marketing at any time.
Rights Related to Automated Decision-Making (Article 22): You have the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling, that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.
Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

9.2 CCPA Rights (California Residents)

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

Right to Know: You have the right to request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources from which it was collected, the business purpose for collecting it, and the categories of third parties to whom it was disclosed.
Right to Delete: You have the right to request deletion of personal information we have collected about you, subject to certain exceptions.
Right to Correct: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information we maintain about you.
Right to Opt Out of Sale or Sharing: You have the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information. Milestone AI Ventures does not sell personal information as defined under CCPA.
Right to Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information: You have the right to limit our use of sensitive personal information to uses necessary for providing our services.
Right to Non-Discrimination: You have the right not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising your CCPA rights.

To exercise any California privacy rights, contact us at privacy@mstone-ai.com or by phone at +1 (415) 867-5309. We will respond to verifiable requests within 45 days, with one possible 45-day extension when reasonably necessary.

10. Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any privacy rights described in this Policy, please contact us through one of the following channels:

Privacy Team: privacy@mstone-ai.com
Data Protection Officer: dpo@mstone-ai.com
EU Representative: eu-privacy@mstone-ai.com
UK Representative: uk-privacy@mstone-ai.com
Postal Mail: Privacy Team, Milestone AI Ventures, LLC, 535 Mission Street, Suite 1600, San Francisco, CA 94105, USA
Phone: +1 (415) 867-5309 (9:00 AM - 6:00 PM PT, Monday-Friday)

We will respond to rights requests within 30 days for GDPR requests and 45 days for CCPA requests. We may require verification of your identity before processing your request. We will not charge a fee for responding to rights requests unless they are excessive or repetitive.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your privacy rights request, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your national or regional data protection authority. For EEA residents, this is the data protection supervisory authority in your EU member state. For UK residents, this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). For California residents, this is the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA).

11. Cookie Policy Reference

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies on our Site. For detailed information about the types of cookies we use, their purposes, and how to manage your cookie preferences, please see our Cookie Policy. You can manage cookie settings through your browser settings or through our cookie consent manager.

12. Children's Privacy

Our Site and services are not directed to individuals under the age of 18 ("children" or "minors"). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have collected personal information from a child without appropriate parental consent where required, we will take steps to delete that information. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@mstone-ai.com.

13. Links to Third-Party Websites

Our Site may contain links to third-party websites, including portfolio company websites, co-investor websites, news publications, and professional networking platforms. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these third-party sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party sites you visit through links on our Site. This Privacy Policy applies only to information collected by Milestone AI Ventures through our Site and services.

14. Do Not Track

Some browsers include a "Do Not Track" feature that signals to websites that you do not want to have your online activities tracked. Because there is no common standard for interpreting DNT signals, our Site does not currently respond to DNT signals. You can control tracking technologies through your browser settings and through our cookie consent manager. See our Cookie Policy for more information.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of material changes by:

Posting the updated Privacy Policy on our Site with a new "Last Updated" date
Sending an email notification to subscribers and registered contacts
Displaying a prominent notice on our Site for a period following the change

We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal information. Your continued use of our Site after the effective date of any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

16. Contact Information

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact us:

Privacy Team: privacy@mstone-ai.com
Mailing Address: Milestone AI Ventures, LLC, Attn: Privacy Team, 535 Mission Street, Suite 1600, San Francisco, CA 94105, United States
Phone: +1 (415) 867-5309
General Website: mstone-ai.com

We are committed to resolving privacy-related complaints promptly and transparently. If you have an unresolved concern, you may have the right to complain to a supervisory authority in the jurisdiction where you reside, work, or where the alleged infringement occurred.