Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how GrowthIQ Consultancy FZCO, trading as GrowthIQ and/or GiQ ("GrowthIQ", "we", "us" or "our"), collects, uses, stores, shares and protects personal data and business information when you use our website, platform, forms, services, communications or any related digital channels.

GrowthIQ operates a technology-enabled credit orchestration and lender-matching platform for small and medium-sized enterprises. We help businesses submit financing information, upload documents, assess preliminary eligibility, and connect with suitable banks, fintech lenders, private credit providers and other financing partners.

GrowthIQ is not a bank or lender. Final approval, pricing, credit limits, documentation requirements and disbursement decisions are made by the relevant financing provider.

By using our website or platform, submitting information, uploading documents, communicating with us, or authorising us to process information for a financing application, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

1. Who this Privacy Policy applies to

This Privacy Policy applies to:

1. visitors to our website
2. users of the GrowthIQ platform
3. business owners, directors, shareholders, authorised signatories, managers, finance teams and representatives who submit information to GrowthIQ
4. beneficial owners, directors, shareholders, guarantors, customers, suppliers, counterparties or other individuals whose data may appear in documents submitted to GrowthIQ
5. referral partners, channel partners, lenders, service providers and other business contacts; and
6. anyone who communicates with us by email, phone, WhatsApp, forms, social media, events or other channels

Where you provide personal data relating to another person, including directors, shareholders, beneficial owners, employees, customers, suppliers or counterparties, you confirm that you have the authority to do so and that you have informed them that their information may be processed by GrowthIQ in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

2. Information we collect

We collect information that is necessary to operate our website, provide our platform, assess financing requirements, prepare lender submissions, manage client relationships, comply with legal obligations and improve our services.

2.1 Information you provide directly

We may collect:

• name
• job title or role
• email address
• mobile number
• company name
• company address
• emirate or jurisdiction of incorporation
• trade licence details
• tax registration number
• VAT registration information
• industry, business activity and operating history
• annual revenue, monthly revenue and other financial information
• requested financing amount and product type
• existing liabilities, facilities or repayment obligations
• details of invoices, purchase orders, receivables, suppliers or customers
• information submitted through our website, forms, platform or onboarding flow
• information shared during calls, meetings, emails, WhatsApp messages or other communications

2.2 Business and financial documents

To assess financing options and prepare lender submissions, we may collect and process documents such as:

• trade licences
• memoranda of association, articles of association or equivalent constitutional documents
• passport copies
• Emirates ID copies
• visa copies
• shareholder, director, authorised signatory and beneficial owner documents
• VAT returns
• bank statements
• financial statements
• management accounts
• invoices
• receivables ageing reports
• customer or supplier contracts
• purchase orders
• tenancy contracts
• existing finance agreements
• repayment schedules
• documents requested by lenders, banks, fintechs, private credit providers or other financing partners

2.3 Information generated through our platform

When you use the GrowthIQ platform, we may generate or process information such as:

• application status
• eligibility indicators
• lender-matching outputs
• document completion status
• missing document requirements
• revenue analysis
• bank statement analysis
• VAT coverage analysis
• average balance metrics
• cash flow metrics
• debt burden indicators
• bounced cheque indicators
• transaction categorisation
• affordability indicators
• lender suitability analysis
• internal notes and workflow history

These outputs are used to support financing assessment and lender matching. They do not constitute a final lending decision.

2.4 Information from third parties

We may receive information from:

• banks, fintech lenders, private credit providers or other financing partners
• referral partners, brokers, accountants, consultants, free zones, business setup providers, corporate service providers or other channel partners
• publicly available sources
• company registries, licensing authorities or verification sources
• credit bureaus or credit information providers, where permitted and authorised
• service providers who support document processing, analytics, verification, workflow automation, hosting, storage, security or communications

2.5 Technical and website information

When you visit our website or use our platform, we may collect:

• IP address
• browser type
• device type
• operating system
• pages visited
• time spent on pages
• referral source
• form interactions
• cookies and similar technologies
• login and usage data
• security logs and audit logs

3. How we use information

We use personal data and business information for the following purposes.

3.1 To provide our services

We use information to:

• onboard businesses onto the GrowthIQ platform
• understand financing requirements
• collect and organise application information
• analyse submitted documents
• assess preliminary eligibility
• match businesses with suitable financing providers
• prepare lender-ready application packs
• submit information to selected lenders or financing partners
• manage application status and follow-ups
• support communication between the business and relevant financing providers

3.2 To assess eligibility and lender fit

We may use information to assess whether a business appears to meet certain lender criteria, including criteria relating to:

• revenue
• trading history
• cash flow
• bank statement performance
• VAT filings
• existing liabilities
• requested product type
• financing amount
• industry
• document completeness
• repayment capacity
• lender-specific eligibility requirements

This assessment is preliminary. It is used to improve matching and reduce unnecessary applications. It does not guarantee approval, pricing, disbursement or any financing outcome.

3.3 To share information with lenders and financing partners

Where you request financing, submit an application or authorise GrowthIQ to assist you, we may share relevant information and documents with banks, fintech lenders, private credit providers, financial institutions, credit providers, underwriting partners and other financing partners.

We share information for the purpose of assessing your application, obtaining indicative terms, progressing lender due diligence, preparing facility offers, completing underwriting, or supporting disbursement.

We do not sell your personal data.

3.4 To communicate with you

We may use your information to:

• respond to enquiries
• send application updates
• request missing documents
• arrange calls or meetings
• provide lender feedback
• send service-related messages
• provide platform notifications
• manage customer support

3.5 To improve our platform and services

We may use information to:

• improve lender-matching logic
• improve document collection workflows
• improve analytics and reporting
• develop new features
• troubleshoot errors
• improve user experience
• monitor platform performance
• train internal teams
• understand customer needs and service usage

3.6 To meet legal, regulatory and compliance requirements

We may use information to:

• verify identity or authority
• detect and prevent fraud, misuse or unauthorised activity
• maintain audit records
• comply with applicable laws and regulations
• respond to lawful requests from courts, regulators, public authorities or law enforcement
• enforce our contracts, terms and legal rights
• comply with accounting, tax, recordkeeping, anti-fraud and dispute-resolution obligations

Where possible, we use aggregated or anonymised information for analytics and product improvement.

4. Legal basis for processing

We process personal data where one or more of the following grounds apply:

1. you have given consent
2. processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract
3. processing is necessary to perform a contract with you or the business you represent
4. processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights
5. processing is necessary to comply with legal or regulatory obligations
6. processing is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims
7. processing is otherwise permitted under applicable law

For lender submissions and financing applications, we generally rely on your consent, your request for our services, contractual necessity, legitimate interests and applicable legal or compliance requirements.

5. Consent to lender sharing

By submitting a financing enquiry, completing an application, uploading documents, or asking GrowthIQ to assist with financing, you authorise GrowthIQ to process and share relevant information with selected financing providers and related parties for the purpose of assessing, processing, approving, declining, pricing, structuring or disbursing financing.

This may include sharing information with:

• banks
• fintech lenders
• private credit providers
• alternative lenders
• invoice finance providers
• revenue-based finance providers
• supplier finance providers
• credit underwriters
• credit committees
• legal, compliance or operations teams of financing providers
• technology and verification partners used by those providers

Where a financing provider requires additional consents, disclosures, forms or authorisations, those will be handled separately by the relevant provider.

6. Automated analysis and lender matching

GrowthIQ may use technology, automation, analytics, rules-based logic, artificial intelligence or machine-assisted workflows to analyse documents, extract information, calculate indicators and match businesses with potential financing providers.

This may include analysis of:

• bank statements
• VAT returns
• revenue patterns
• cash flow
• average balances
• inflows and outflows
• returned payments
• bounced cheques
• transaction categories
• existing debt obligations
• invoice or receivables data
• lender eligibility criteria

Automated analysis is used to support efficiency, consistency and lender matching. It does not replace lender underwriting. Final financing decisions are made by the relevant financing provider.

If you believe that information generated by our platform is inaccurate, you may contact us and request a review.

7. Credit bureau and external checks

GrowthIQ may ask for your consent to obtain, review or facilitate credit-related information from credit bureaus, lenders or verification providers, where applicable and permitted by law.

Some lenders may independently perform credit bureau checks, fraud checks, sanctions checks, anti-money laundering checks, know-your-customer checks or other due diligence. Those checks are carried out by the relevant lender or financing provider in accordance with its own policies, consents and privacy notices.

GrowthIQ does not control lender approval decisions or lender credit checks.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website and platform may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• operate the website
• remember user preferences
• improve website performance
• understand website traffic
• analyse user behaviour
• support security
• improve marketing and communication effectiveness

You may be able to control cookies through your browser settings. If you disable cookies, some website or platform features may not function properly.

Where required, we may display a cookie notice or request your consent for non-essential cookies.

9. Marketing communications

We may use your contact details to send you relevant updates about GrowthIQ, SME financing, platform features, financing products, lender insights or related services.

You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us.

Even if you opt out of marketing, we may still send you service-related communications, including application updates, document requests, security messages and contractual notices.

10. Who we share information with

We may share information with:

1. lenders, banks, fintechs, private credit providers and financing partners
2. credit underwriters, verification providers and due diligence partners
3. cloud hosting, storage, security and infrastructure providers
4. document processing, OCR, automation and analytics providers
5. CRM, email, messaging and customer support providers
6. professional advisers, including lawyers, accountants, auditors and consultants
7. referral partners or channel partners involved in your application, where relevant
8. regulators, courts, government authorities or law enforcement where required by law
9. potential investors, acquirers, successors or corporate transaction parties, subject to appropriate confidentiality protections

We require service providers to process information only for authorised purposes and to apply appropriate confidentiality, security and data protection safeguards.

11. International data transfers

Some of our service providers, technology partners, cloud infrastructure providers or financing partners may process or store information outside the United Arab Emirates.

Where information is transferred outside the UAE, we take steps designed to ensure that the information receives appropriate protection. These steps may include contractual safeguards, confidentiality obligations, technical security measures, access controls and due diligence on service providers.

12. Data protection and security

GrowthIQ is committed to protecting personal data, business information, financial records and documents submitted through our website, platform and related services.

We apply appropriate technical, organisational and administrative safeguards designed to protect information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, disclosure or destruction. These safeguards may include encryption, secure transmission protocols, access controls, authentication controls, database-level permissions, secure cloud storage, activity logging, restricted administrative access, monitoring and periodic review of our security practices.

Information transmitted between your browser and our platform is protected using secure transmission protocols such as TLS/HTTPS. Documents uploaded to the platform, including bank statements, VAT records, financial statements and other application documents, are stored in secure cloud infrastructure and are accessed only through controlled access methods. Where applicable, document access may be provided through time-limited secure links rather than permanent public links.

GrowthIQ restricts access to personal data, business information and financial documents to authorised users, employees, contractors, service providers, lenders and financing partners who require access for legitimate business, operational, legal, compliance or financing-related purposes.

Our platform is designed to apply access controls so that users may only access information that they are authorised to view. Administrative access is restricted and is granted only where necessary for platform operation, support, security, compliance or service delivery.

We may maintain activity logs and security records to monitor platform usage, investigate suspicious activity, support audit requirements and protect the integrity of our systems.

Where we use third-party service providers for hosting, storage, document processing, analytics, communications, workflow automation or other platform functions, we require them to apply appropriate confidentiality, security and data protection safeguards.

In the event of a personal data breach or security incident affecting information processed by GrowthIQ, we will take reasonable steps to investigate, contain and remediate the incident. Where required by applicable law, we will notify the relevant UAE authority, affected users, clients, partners or other relevant parties.

While no website, platform, cloud service or electronic transmission method can be guaranteed to be completely secure, GrowthIQ continuously reviews and improves its technical and organisational safeguards to protect the information entrusted to us.

13. Data retention

We keep personal data and business information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

Retention periods may depend on:

• the nature of the application
• whether financing was approved, declined or withdrawn
• lender requirements
• contractual obligations
• legal, accounting, tax, regulatory or audit requirements
• fraud prevention and dispute-resolution needs
• whether you remain an active client, partner or user

Where information is no longer required, we may delete, anonymise or archive it in accordance with our internal retention practices and applicable law.

14. Your rights

Subject to applicable law, you may have rights in relation to your personal data, including the right to:

1. request information about the personal data we process
2. request access to your personal data
3. request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data
4. request deletion of personal data, where applicable
5. request restriction or suspension of processing, where applicable
6. object to certain processing activities, including direct marketing
7. withdraw consent where processing is based on consent
8. request transfer of personal data, where technically feasible and legally applicable
9. object to decisions based solely on automated processing, where applicable
10. submit a complaint to the relevant authority

To exercise your rights, contact us using the details in Section 21.

We may need to verify your identity and authority before responding to a request. Some requests may be limited where we need to retain information for legal, regulatory, contractual, lender, fraud prevention or dispute-resolution purposes.

15. Accuracy of information

You are responsible for ensuring that information and documents submitted to GrowthIQ are accurate, complete and up to date.

If you provide inaccurate, incomplete or outdated information, this may affect lender matching, eligibility assessment, application processing, approval chances or financing terms.

If your information changes, you should notify us promptly.

16. Information relating to third parties

Documents submitted to GrowthIQ may contain information relating to third parties, including employees, shareholders, directors, customers, suppliers, counterparties, guarantors or beneficial owners.

By submitting such documents, you confirm that:

1. you are authorised to provide the information
2. the information is relevant to the financing application or service requested
3. where required, you have informed the relevant individuals that their information may be shared with GrowthIQ and financing providers
4. the information may be processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy

You should avoid uploading information that is not relevant to the financing application or service requested.

17. Children’s data

Our website and services are intended for businesses and adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

If you believe that a child has provided personal data to us, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps.

18. Third-party websites and services

Our website, platform or communications may contain links to third-party websites, platforms, tools or services.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, security or content of third-party websites or services. You should review the privacy policies of any third party you interact with.

Lenders and financing providers may have their own privacy notices, terms, consent forms and data processing practices. Those are separate from this Privacy Policy.

19. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology, legal requirements, lender processes or business operations.

The updated version will be posted on our website with a revised Last updated date.

Where changes are material, we may take additional steps to notify you, where appropriate.

20. UAE-specific note

GrowthIQ is based in the United Arab Emirates and processes information in connection with UAE SME financing, lender matching and related business services.

We aim to process personal data in accordance with applicable UAE data protection requirements, including the UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data, to the extent applicable to our activities.

Where additional sector-specific rules apply to a lender, bank, financing provider or regulated financial institution, that party remains responsible for complying with its own regulatory obligations.

21. Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, how we process personal data, or how to exercise your rights, you may contact us at:

GrowthIQ Consultancy FZCO

Email: team@growthiq.ae

Website: www.growthiq.ae

Registered address: Building A1, Dubai Digital Park, Dubai Silicon Oasis, Dubai, United Arab Emirates