Privacy Policy

The award is organized by UnternehmerTUM GmbH in collaboration with Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH as part of the SZ Business Summit. Applications are submitted via an online form at www.sz-gipfel.de/wirtschaftsgipfel/gipfelstuermer. Applications are submitted to UnternehmerTUM GmbH, which conducts an AI-supported preliminary selection and presents the results to a jury appointed by the editorial board of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, which determines the finalists and winners. The finalists are invited to the SZ Economic Summit in Berlin.

As part of the application process, we process the following categories of personal data in particular:

• Contact and identification information for the individual applicant or the persons acting on behalf of the startup (name, title, email address, phone number);
• Information about the startup (company name, date of incorporation, headquarters, website, team, founders);
• Content details from the application form (business model, product/technology description, market information, financial and growth metrics, sustainability, social, and impact aspects, scalability, etc.);
• Additional uploaded documents (e.g., pitch deck, images, videos), to the extent that you voluntarily provide them;
• Metadata related to the submission (time of submission, IP address if applicable, communication history).

We process the aforementioned data for the following purposes on the following legal grounds:

• Conducting the application and selection process (receipt, review, pre-selection, submission to the jury, notification of results, invitation of finalists) – Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (implementation of pre-contractual or participation-related measures) as well as our legitimate interest in the efficient and quality-assured implementation of the award, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.
• AI-supported evaluation of applications (see Use of AI) – Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR; where additionally required, we will obtain your consent pursuant to Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR via the application form.
• Communication with you regarding the application – Art. 6(1)(b) and (f) GDPR.
• Public relations activities related to the award (announcement of finalists and winners, reporting, photo/video recordings during the event) – Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, unless already carried out on the basis of separate consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) or the statutory provisions of the KUG.
• Compliance with legal obligations (in particular commercial and tax law retention obligations) – Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR.

We use AI-powered tools to pre-screen applications. Since transparency regarding this use is important to us and is also required by regulatory authorities, we are providing the following information:
We currently use the following AI services for the structured evaluation of applications: Claude (Anthropic PBC, USA / Anthropic Ireland Limited, Ireland) and/or Notion AI (Notion Labs, Inc., USA). We reserve the right to add or replace comparable services; we will then update this information accordingly.

The AI reads the information from the completed application forms and assigns each application to approximately 20 content categories (e.g., sustainability impact, social impact, scalability, etc.) based on written evaluation guidelines (“Guidelines”) provided by us. For each category, a rating is assigned on a scale from 1 (low) to 5 (high). The result serves exclusively as a structured decision-making aid for our subsequent human pre-selection.

No decision is made solely by automated means within the meaning of Article 22 of the GDPR. The AI evaluation serves solely as a preliminary screening process. Our employees independently preselect the applications submitted to the jury based on a review of the content of the applications; they may deviate from the AI evaluations at any time. The final decision regarding who becomes a finalist and who wins the award is made exclusively by the jury appointed by the editorial board of the Süddeutsche Zeitung on a human basis.

• Where necessary, we have entered into data processing agreements with the providers of the AI services we use, in accordance with Article 28 of the GDPR.
• We use these services in configurations where the transmitted data is not used by the providers to train the underlying AI models.
• To the extent that data is transferred to recipients in third countries (in particular the U.S.), this is done on the basis of appropriate safeguards within the meaning of Articles 44 et seq. of the GDPR, in particular EU Standard Contractual Clauses and/or an adequacy decision (EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework).
• Access to application data within UnternehmerTUM GmbH is restricted to those persons entrusted with the administration of the award.

You may object to the AI-assisted evaluation at any time by notifying us via email. In that case, we will evaluate your application exclusively by hand, without any disadvantage to you. In all other respects, the rights below apply.

Within UnternehmerTUM GmbH and Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH, access to your data is restricted to those departments that require it to fulfill the purposes stated above.

In addition, we disclose personal data to:

• IT service providers and providers of the AI tools mentioned in Section 6, as well as other processors (e.g., hosting, email);
• public bodies and authorities, to the extent required by law.

Your data will not be disclosed beyond this scope.

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes described above. Application materials are generally retained until the conclusion of the respective award cycle plus 12 months; longer retention periods may apply due to legal retention requirements. Data regarding award winners may remain publicly available indefinitely for the purposes of reporting on and documenting the award.

Providing your information is voluntary. However, we cannot consider your application without the information marked as required on the application form.

Süddeutsche Zeitung GmbH

Hultschiner Str. 8
D-81677 Munich

UnternehmerTUM GmbH

Lichtenbergstraße 6,
D-85748 Garching near Munich
Email: info@unternehmertum.de

atarax group of companies

Luitpold-Maier-Str. 7
D-91074 Herzogenaurach
Phone: 09132 79800
Email: swmh-datenschutz@atarax.de.

RA Alexander Stolberg-Stolberg

SVF Rechtsanwälte
Oberanger 30
D-80331 Munich
Email: datenschutz@unternehmertum.de

• In accordance with Art. 15 GDPR, you have the right to request information about your personal data processed by us. In this context, you also have the right to receive a copy of your personal data processed by us in accordance with Art. 15 para. 3-4 GDPR.
• In accordance with Art. 16 GDPR, you can immediately request the correction of incorrect or the completion of your personal data stored by us.
• In accordance with Art. 17 GDPR, you can request the erasure of your personal data stored by us.
• In accordance with Art. 18 GDPR, you can request the restriction of the processing of your personal data.
• In accordance with Art. 20 GDPR, you can request to receive your personal data that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and you can request the transfer to another controller.
• In accordance with Art. 7 para. 3 GDPR, you can revoke your consent once given to us at any time. This means that the processing carried out on the basis of the consent prior to the revocation was lawful and has the consequence that we may no longer continue the data processing based on this consent in the future.

Right to object

If your personal data is processed on the basis of legitimate interests in accordance with Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. f) GDPR or Art. 6 para. 1 sentence 1 lit. e) GDPR, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in accordance with Art. 21 GDPR. In the event of such an objection, we will no longer process your personal data unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override the interests, rights and freedoms of the data subject or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
In the case of direct marketing, you have the right to object at any time to the processing of personal data concerning you. If you object to processing for direct marketing purposes, the personal data will no longer be processed for these purposes.

Right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority against the processing of your personal data if you feel that your rights under the GDPR have been violated. As a rule, you can contact the supervisory authority of your usual place of residence, your workplace or our company headquarters.

We link to websites of other providers or have integrated elements from them into our website. This data protection information does not apply to them - we have no influence on these sites and cannot check that others comply with the applicable data protection regulations.

We reserve the right to change or adapt this privacy policy at any time in compliance with the applicable data protection regulations.