Terms
of service.

Who can use Originn

To create an account, you must:

• Be at least 18 years old
• Have the legal capacity to enter binding contracts under Indian law
• Provide accurate, current, and complete information about yourself
• Comply with applicable local, state, national, and international laws

Account responsibilities

• Keep your login credentials confidential
• You're responsible for all activity that takes place under your account
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorised access

Identity verification

We may verify your identity, educational affiliations, and professional history through documents, third-party services, or by contacting your institutions or referees. By using the Platform, you consent to this verification.

Originn is a two-sided platform. On one side are verified Indian startups. On the other are users — students, professionals, researchers, and early adopters.

You can interact with these startups in four ways:

• Discover verified ventures
• Apply to job openings
• Collaborate by bringing IP, research, or taking executive roles
• Pre-order upcoming products through escrow-protected campaigns

Originn provides the infrastructure, verification, trust mechanisms, and matching. We don't provide investment advice, legal counsel, or financial recommendations.

What a pre-order is

A pre-order is a conditional purchase of a product that hasn't yet been manufactured or shipped. By placing a pre-order, you agree to:

• Pay the listed amount upfront
• Have your funds held in an RBI-regulated escrow account
• Receive the product upon successful delivery
• Receive an automatic full refund if the startup fails to deliver at any stage

What a pre-order is not

• Not an investment — you acquire no equity, ownership, or stake
• Not a loan or debt — no interest, dividends, or returns
• Not a donation — you're receiving a future product in exchange
• Not a guarantee of future product success or market viability

How the money moves

All pre-order funds are held in an RBI-regulated escrow account. Originn does not hold the funds directly. Money releases to the startup in tranches as we verify each milestone — never before.

Your rights as a backer

• View any campaign you've backed, including its milestone status
• See the escrow balance and tranche release history
• Communicate with the startup through the platform
• Receive the product on successful delivery — or a full refund if the startup fails to deliver

Your responsibilities

• Use a payment method you're legally entitled to use
• Provide accurate shipping information when required
• Acknowledge that delivery dates are estimates, not guarantees
• Don't back a campaign with fraudulent intent or for chargeback abuse

Delivery timelines

Delivery dates communicated by startups are good-faith estimates. Reasonable delays — manufacturing issues, supply chain disruptions — do not automatically trigger a refund unless an associated milestone is also missed.

Automatic full refunds on failure to deliver

If a startup fails to deliver at any stage, you get the full amount you paid — refunded automatically. You don't need to file a claim or chase anyone.

The 30-day grace period

Short delays do not trigger a refund — startups may extend a milestone with reasonable cause. But if a milestone is missed by more than 30 days without resolution, the campaign is marked as failed and your full amount is refunded from escrow.

Refund method

Refunds are issued to your original payment method. Processing times depend on your bank or payment provider — typically 5–10 business days.

Successful delivery

Once a campaign delivers successfully and you receive the product, the transaction is complete. After that, the startup's warranty and Indian consumer protection laws apply to any product defects.

A Builder Profile is your verified portfolio on Originn — a public, shareable identity that documents the work you have done at startups.

Profile content

• Ventures you've worked on (subject to founder approval — see below)
• External professional experience
• Skills, education, and certifications
• Project showcases and portfolio items
• Links to your personal sites, GitHub, LinkedIn, etc.

Founder approval for venture roles

When you claim a role at a listed startup, the founder must confirm it. Until approval, the role stays hidden from public view or marked as pending.

Auto-synced metrics

Some profile metrics are derived from your activity on the platform and are not manually editable. That is what makes them trustworthy.

Visibility

By default, your Builder Profile is publicly accessible at originn.co.in/@yourusername. You can adjust visibility from your account settings.

Accuracy

You are responsible for the accuracy of everything you add to your Builder Profile. Misrepresentation may result in profile removal or account suspension.

You may post content on the Platform — Builder Profile entries, comments, collaboration proposals, and feedback.

Ownership

You retain ownership of the content you create.

Licence to Originn

By posting content on the Platform, you grant Originn a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sub-licensable, and transferable licence to use, host, display, reproduce, and distribute your content — solely for the purposes of operating, promoting, and improving the Platform.

Acceptable use — you agree not to:

• Misrepresent your identity, affiliations, or contributions
• Use the Platform for any unlawful or fraudulent purpose, including money laundering or sanctioned transactions
• Scrape, copy, or extract data from the Platform without written permission
• Use bots, scripts, or crawlers to access the Platform
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, or interfere with the Platform
• Spam, harass, threaten, or intimidate other users
• Circumvent verification, escrow, or security mechanisms — including pre-order fraud or chargeback abuse

Removal

We reserve the right to remove or modify any content that violates these Terms or applicable law.

Your data is governed by our Privacy Policy and complies with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act).

In summary:

• We collect only the data necessary to operate the Platform
• We do not sell your personal data to third parties
• You have rights to access, correct, and delete your personal data
• We use industry-standard security to protect your information
• Cross-border data transfers, if any, comply with applicable law

See our Privacy Policy for full details, or write to contact@originn.co.in.

About verification

We review startups before listing — checking team, product, market, and execution readiness. Verification is a quality filter, not an endorsement. It does not guarantee commercial success, on-time delivery, or freedom from operational, financial, or market risks.

Platform provided "as is"

The Platform is provided "as is" and "as available", without warranties of any kind — express or implied. We do not warrant merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.

Not advice

Nothing on Originn constitutes investment, legal, financial, or tax advice. Consult appropriate professionals before making decisions involving money, equity, or contractual obligations.

Limitation of liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

• Originn's total aggregate liability for any claim shall not exceed the amount you paid Originn (excluding pre-order amounts paid into escrow) in the twelve months preceding the claim, or ₹10,000 — whichever is greater
• Originn is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, or consequential damages — including loss of profits, data, goodwill, or business opportunity
• Originn is not liable for the acts, omissions, or representations of any startup, third-party service provider, or other user

Nothing in this section limits liability that cannot legally be excluded under Indian law.

Your right to close your account

You can close your account at any time through your account settings. Active pre-orders, escrow obligations, and unresolved disputes continue under these Terms until resolved.

Our right to suspend or terminate

We may suspend or terminate your account, with or without notice, if:

• You violate these Terms
• You misrepresent your identity or affiliation
• You engage in fraudulent or illegal activity
• We are required to do so by law or by a regulatory authority

Effect of termination

• Your access to the Platform is revoked
• Your Builder Profile and contributions may be retained, removed, or anonymised at our discretion
• Provisions that should survive termination (IP, indemnification, dispute resolution) continue to apply

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of India.

Any dispute arising from these Terms or the Platform is subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.

At Originn's discretion, disputes may be referred to arbitration under the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996, conducted in English by a sole arbitrator with the seat in Chennai.

Informal resolution first

Before initiating formal proceedings, the parties agree to attempt good-faith resolution by contacting contact@originn.co.in and providing 30 days for response.