TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Southwestern Ontario Black Entrepreneurship Network (“SWOBEN”) Participant Terms and Conditions
Empowerment Squared (“Empowerment Squared”), through the Southwestern Ontario Black Entrepreneurship Network (“SWOBEN”), provides to individuals or groups of individuals (“Participant”) mentoring and educational, and informational services including, but not limited to, information about business planning, sales, marketing, financing, and funding strategies (the “Services”). The Services, effective as of the date first provided to a Participant, are subject to the following terms and conditions.
- The Participant agrees to cooperate with Empowerment Squared in the performance of the Services and to provide such support and information as may be reasonably required. All decisions and actions taken by the Participant in connection with its business or otherwise that may rely on any information or opinion received from an Empowerment Squared advisor during the provision of the Services are solely the responsibility of the Participant. The Participant acknowledges that any information provided as part of the Service is for business and educational purposes only and is not intended to constitute financial or legal opinions of any kind. Empowerment Squared shall not be deemed to have made any representations, warranties, or undertakings of any kind to a Participant in relation to the Services. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall be construed as precluding or limiting in any way the right of Empowerment Squared to provide similar Services to any person or entity as Empowerment Squared deems appropriate.
- The Participant is required to provide Empowerment Squared information about its business and milestone achievements including, but not limited to, business address, ownership, capital raised, jobs created, revenue generated, number of patents filed, and dates patents filed. Empowerment Squared will request regular updates to ensure it has the most up-to-date and accurate Participant information. When requested, Participants are required to complete surveys and provide feedback to Empowerment Squared in a timely manner. Failure to respond to reasonable requests for information may result in the termination of Empowerment Squared services.
- Empowerment Squared employees, advisors, contractors, and volunteers are under obligations of confidentiality. Both Empowerment Squared and the Participant will keep confidential all information disclosed by one to the other that is not in the public domain provided that Empowerment Squared may use certain confidential or personal information as disclosed herein. Despite the foregoing, the Participant acknowledges and agrees that Empowerment Squared, in providing the Services, leverages its network (including for example external advisors, mentors, business contacts, extended local startup ecosystem resource providers, and investors). The sharing of high-level information disclosed by the Participant regarding its business or technology by Empowerment Squared with its network, for the purpose of providing the Services or supporting the provision of services to Ontario startups and innovative companies generally, shall not constitute a breach of these Terms and Conditions. Empowerment Squared may disclose more detailed information: (a) to external advisors that are legally obligated to maintain the confidentiality of this information, or (b) to others with the verbal or written consent of the Client.
- Empowerment Squared respects the Participant’s privacy and will comply with applicable privacy laws with respect to the Participant’s personal information, as defined in applicable legislation, including all information provided in this document and subsequently provided by the Participant. The Participant expressly consents to Empowerment Squared including personal information collected from the Participant in its files and to the disclosure of the Participant’s personal information in order to provide the Participant with the Service. The use of the Participant’s personal information by Empowerment Squared shall otherwise be limited to that which is reasonably necessary to provide the Service improve its services, create aggregate information that does not identify the Participant or the Participant’s company, or to provide the Participant with related information that Empowerment Squared believes may be of interest. Empowerment Squared may disclose personal information to its employees, contractors, suppliers, agents, consultants and advisors on a “need to know” basis, provided that such individuals or organizations are required to maintain the privacy of the information. Empowerment Squared may also disclose such information where required by law.
- Empowerment Squared may use aggregate information gathered from Participants, that does not identify Participants, combined with third-party information for commercial and non-commercial purposes including, without limitation, its reporting requirements to government and other funders, to improve its services, coordinate services with business partners and promote innovation. Aggregate reporting may include analysis by time, sector, business stage, financing type or geography.
- Empowerment Squared and the Participant will promptly disclose to each other any conflicts of interest of which either becomes aware during the provision of the Services.
- Empowerment Squared requests that the Participant acknowledges Empowerment Squared as a source of support in any publicity, where appropriate. The Participant agrees however that it shall not, without the prior written consent of Empowerment Squared in each instance, use the trademarks or logo of Empowerment Squared in any advertising, publicity, or otherwise. Empowerment Squared reserves the right to publicly identify the Participant as a client of Empowerment Squared.
- Either party has the right to terminate the provision of the Services, without thereby incurring any liability to the other, by notice to the such effect given orally or in writing to that other. In the event of any termination, before any Services shall have been completed, the terminating party undertakes to provide the other with a reasonable explanation of the underlying reasons for doing so.
- The Participant agrees to indemnify, defend and hold Empowerment Squared and its affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, owners, agents, information providers, and licensors harmless from and against any and all claims, liability, losses, costs and expenses (including costs and legal fees) incurred in connection with any use of the Service. Empowerment Squared reserves the right, at the Participant’s expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any claim or other matter otherwise subject to indemnification by the Participant, and in such case, the Participant agrees to cooperate with Empowerment Squared’s defense of such claim. Empowerment Squared shall have no liability to a Participant or its business for any loss or damage whatsoever, whether direct, indirect, special or consequential, which arises in contract, tort, by statute or otherwise.
- This Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable in Ontario. The parties irrevocably agree to bring any action to enforce this Agreement solely and exclusively in the courts of Ontario.
- This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes all previous written or oral agreements between the parties with respect to such subject matter. All provisions hereof shall survive any termination of this Agreement as well as any other revisions which by their terms or sense are intended to survive any such termination.
- Empowerment Squared may, in its sole discretion, modify or update these Terms and Conditions from time to time, and post the update online at empowermentsquared.org or swoben.ca. Your continued use of the Service after any such change constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms and Conditions.