Terms and Conditions

1. Scope and provider

These Terms and Conditions govern the use of the Polytender platform (the "Platform") and all services offered through it. The provider and contracting party is HeyQQ GmbH, Wasagasse 23, 1090 Vienna, Austria (company register no. FN 572680b, Commercial Court of Vienna, VAT ID ATU77744201), hereinafter "we" or "provider". Polytender is a product of Run Labs, the product studio of HeyQQ GmbH.

The Platform is directed exclusively at entrepreneurs within the meaning of section 1 of the Austrian Consumer Protection Act (KSchG) and at public bodies, not at consumers. By using the Platform, the user confirms that they are acting in the exercise of their commercial or professional activity.

Only these Terms apply. We object to any deviating or supplementary terms of the user; such terms only become part of the contract if we expressly agree to them in writing.

Where further contractual documents have been agreed in addition to these Terms (in particular an individual quotation, an order confirmation, a statement of work or an enterprise agreement), the provisions of those documents prevail over these Terms in the event of a conflict. These Terms otherwise apply in addition.

2. Subject matter and limits of the service

Polytender aggregates publicly available notices of public tenders from official procurement portals and sources (for example TED as well as national and regional portals) and makes them available in a structured, searchable form in one central place.

Using AI-based methods, notices are matched against the search profile stored by the user, presented by relevance and, on request, communicated by email. The specific scope of functions follows from the current description on the Platform and from the plan selected.

What we owe is access to the Platform in its respective form and the automated matching of the sources we have actually connected against the user's search profile. The subject matter of the contract is therefore a research and processing service, expressly not the exhaustive capture of all published notices, and not an undertaking that every tender relevant to the user will be captured, recognised, scored as a match or communicated. There is no entitlement to the completeness, accuracy or timeliness of the tender data provided. This provision describes the scope of the service owed itself; it is not a subsequent limitation of any wider undertaking.

As a rule, the connected sources are retrieved automatically every day. We do not owe retrieval on any particular rhythm, at a particular time of day, in real time, or within a particular period after a notice is published. There is therefore always a delay between publication at the source and display on the Platform, and it varies by source and by that source's availability. The most recent retrieval for each source can be seen in the user account (the "Sources" area).

Retrieval, processing, scoring and delivery are fully automated. Faults, outages, delays and errors in these processes cannot be entirely avoided technically; they are therefore not carved out of the service owed but form part of its limits. Section 14 governs the resulting liability.

The sources connected at any given time are set out in the source overview in the user account (the "Sources" area). We are entitled to add, change or remove sources and to further develop functions of the Platform or replace them with equivalent ones, provided the purpose of the contract is not materially impaired. This applies in particular where a source operator ceases publication, changes its format or interface, restricts access technically or legally, or introduces charges for access.

We are not ourselves a contracting authority, procurement body or an agent of one. We do not publish our own tenders but merely process information published by third parties. No contractual, procurement or advisory relationship between the user and the contracting authority arises from the use of the Platform. We do not owe legal, procurement or business advice; in particular, the Platform does not replace a legal review of a procurement procedure.

3. No guarantee of completeness, accuracy or timeliness

The content shown on the Platform originates from third-party sources over which we have no control. In addition to section 2, we do not warrant that all relevant tenders are captured or that the information shown is complete, correct, up to date, timely or free of errors.

Only the respective original notice of the contracting authority, together with the tender documents provided there, is authoritative and legally binding. In the event of any discrepancy between the presentation on the Platform and the original publication, the original publication always prevails.

In particular, delays, gaps, duplicates, subsequent amendments and cancellations, and translation, classification or processing errors may occur. The causes frequently lie outside our sphere of control, for instance in late, faulty or unstructured publication by the contracting authority, in outages or changes at the source portals, or in missing or incorrect information in the original notice.

Before submitting any bid or making any other decision, the user is obliged to inform themselves on the basis of the original source and the contact points named there, in particular regarding deadlines, tender documents, eligibility and award criteria and the current status of the procedure. This duty to verify is a material obligation of the user; its breach is taken into account against the user when apportioning damages under section 1304 of the Austrian Civil Code (ABGB).

4. Notice on AI-based processing

Parts of the service rely on automated processing by artificial intelligence, in particular large language models and embedding models. Their outputs, such as relevance scores, match scores, summaries, translations, reasons for a match, recommendations on whether to participate and drafts of bid content, may be incomplete, inaccurate or erroneous and may contain seemingly plausible but incorrect statements.

In particular, AI-based scoring may result in a notice that would in fact suit the user not being shown, or being shown with too low a relevance, or in an unsuitable notice being shown. No particular match score, number of matches or match quality is owed.

AI-generated content does not constitute legal, procurement, tax or other advice and does not replace your own professional review. The decision whether to participate in a procurement procedure and on the content of a bid rests solely with the user, on their own responsibility. We recommend verifying all information material to a participation against the original notice.

For the AI-based processing we do not transmit any personal contact data (in particular name, email address and phone number) to the AI providers used. Only the company website provided, including its publicly accessible content, and tender texts are processed for the purpose of matching.

Details of the data processing, including the services used and processing by AI, are described in our Privacy Policy.

5. Notifications and receipt of messages

Where we offer notifications (in particular daily match alerts, digests or real-time alerts by email), these are an additional delivery convenience. There is no entitlement to automated notifications of any kind, to their dispatch or delivery at a particular time or interval, or with particular content.

What is authoritative at all times is the state of the data and matches in the user account on the Platform. Information is deemed received upon being made available in the user account, irrespective of whether, when and with what content a notification was sent or reached the user.

The user is themselves responsible for the accuracy and continued reachability of the email address stored, and for ensuring that our messages are not blocked or delayed by spam and content filters, forwarding or archiving rules, full mailboxes, delivery restrictions imposed by their provider, or an unsubscribe from notifications. We recommend storing a role address and ensuring organisationally that incoming notifications are seen even when individual people are absent.

The user is expected to check their user account regularly for new matches and messages, at least on every business day while they have a live interest in procurement procedures. Relying exclusively on email notifications is at the user's own risk.

6. Search profile and user cooperation

The outcome and hit rate of the matching depend directly on the information provided by the user, in particular the company website stored, the description of activities and services, and the search terms, CPV codes, regions, value and deadline limits and other filters selected.

The user is obliged to keep their search profile complete, accurate and up to date, and in particular to adjust it when their services, target regions or capacities change. The user is aware that narrowly defined filters cause notices that would in fact suit them not to be shown as matches.

We are not liable for notices that are not shown or communicated, or not shown as matches, because of incorrect, incomplete, outdated or overly narrow information provided by the user. We are not responsible for delays or limitations in the service that result from missing, late or faulty cooperation by the user.

7. Formation of contract, registration and user account

The contract is concluded upon completion of registration and, for paid plans, upon our confirmation of the order. Certain functions may require the creation of a user account.

The user must provide the information requested during registration and use truthfully and completely and keep it up to date. We are entitled to verify that information in individual cases and, in the case of incorrect or incomplete information, to suspend access or terminate the contract for good cause.

Access credentials and API keys must be kept confidential and protected from third-party access. The user must inform us without undue delay of any indication of misuse of their account. Actions taken through the user account or an associated API key are attributable to the user to the extent the user is responsible for them.

Information under sections 9 and 10 of the Austrian E-Commerce Act (ECG)

• Technical steps to conclude the contract: To register, the user enters their name, email address and password (or requests a sign-in link), accepts these Terms using the checkbox provided and submits the form; registration is complete once the email address has been confirmed via the link sent. For paid plans, the user selects the plan, billing period and scope in the user account under Billing, enters billing and payment details in Stripe's payment form, reviews the summary shown including the total price and places a binding order by clicking the order button. The contract is concluded upon our confirmation, which is shown in the user account and sent by email.
• Identifying and correcting input errors: Before submitting, all entries in the form fields can be reviewed and corrected at any time; for paid plans, the summary shown before ordering lists all essential details. After the contract is concluded, account, billing and payment details can be changed in the user account.
• Storage of the contract text: We do not store the contract text separately for each user. The Terms in force are available at any time at polytender.com/terms and can be permanently stored and reproduced using the browser's save and print functions. Order data and invoices are available in the user account under Billing.
• Contract languages: German and English. The German version is authoritative (section 20).
• Codes of conduct: We have not subscribed to any specific codes of conduct.

8. User obligations and permitted use

The user may only use the Platform within the framework of applicable law, the plan selected and these Terms. The following are prohibited in particular:

• automated or systematic extraction of content (scraping, crawling) outside the interfaces we provide for that purpose and without our prior written consent;
• actions liable to impair the availability, integrity or security of the Platform, as well as circumventing protection, access or usage restrictions;
• passing access credentials or API keys to third parties, and use of the access by more people than the selected plan covers;
• passing on, publishing, sub-licensing or reselling the processed data and content to third parties, and using it to build up or enrich a competing or equivalent service; internal use of the results for the user's own business activity and bid preparation remains expressly permitted;
• any unlawful, misleading or infringing use.

We are entitled to suspend or restrict access temporarily where there are specific indications of a material breach of these Terms, of a threat to the security, integrity or availability of the Platform, or where there is payment default under section 9. We will inform the user and lift the suspension as soon as its cause has ceased. Further rights, in particular termination for good cause, remain unaffected.

9. Prices and payment

Where paid services are offered, the prices displayed on the Platform at the time of ordering apply. Unless stated otherwise, all prices are in euro and exclusive of statutory VAT. Payment terms, billing periods and durations follow from the respective offer or selected service.

The contracting party for paid subscriptions is HeyQQ GmbH (section 1). Invoices are issued by HeyQQ GmbH. For businesses with a valid VAT identification number in another EU member state, the reverse charge mechanism applies; the VAT ID is collected during checkout. When a subscription is canceled, access remains available until the end of the billing period already paid for.

Unless stated otherwise, invoices are payable within 14 days of receipt without deduction. In the event of payment default, statutory default interest applies; we reserve the right to claim further damages caused by the delay and the costs of appropriate collection measures. The user may only set off against undisputed or legally established counterclaims.

A free trial is available before entering into a paid contract; no payment method is required for it. Billing periods already paid for are not refunded on a pro-rata basis. Increases in scope (a longer billing period, additional seats or search profiles) take effect immediately and are charged pro rata for the current period. Reductions (a shorter billing period, fewer seats or search profiles) take effect at the end of the current, already paid billing period; no credit or refund is issued for the current period. No statutory right of withdrawal applies, as the offering is directed exclusively at entrepreneurs (section 1). Refunds granted as a gesture of goodwill, in particular where we are responsible for a technical fault, remain unaffected.

Payment processing by Stripe

Payments for paid subscriptions are processed by our payment service provider Stripe Payments Europe, Limited, The One Building, 1 Grand Canal Street Lower, Dublin 2, Ireland ("Stripe"). Stripe acts solely as a payment service provider; the contract for the paid services is concluded exclusively between the user and us. The payment methods available are those displayed during checkout (for example credit card or SEPA direct debit).

By providing a payment method, the user authorises us to collect the fees due, including VAT, from that payment method via Stripe at the start of each billing period, as well as any pro rata amounts resulting from increases in scope, until the subscription ends. Where payment is made by SEPA direct debit, the user grants a corresponding SEPA direct debit mandate for this purpose.

The user must provide complete and accurate billing details (in particular company name, billing address and, where applicable, VAT identification number) and keep them up to date; the user is responsible for the validity of any VAT identification number provided. Billing details and the payment method can be changed at any time in the user account under Billing. Invoices are issued electronically and made available in the user account; the user agrees to receive invoices electronically.

Payment details are entered directly into the payment forms provided by Stripe and transmitted to Stripe in encrypted form. We neither receive nor store complete card or account numbers. Depending on the payment method and legal requirements, the user's bank may require additional authentication (strong customer authentication, such as 3-D Secure).

If a payment due cannot be collected, the user will be notified and asked to update the payment method; Stripe may automatically retry the collection over the following days. If the amount is still outstanding 14 days after receipt of this payment reminder, we are entitled to suspend access to the paid services until the outstanding amount has been paid. If the user initiates a chargeback or disputes a legitimate direct debit without justified reason, the user shall reimburse the fees and costs incurred by us as a result. Further rights in the event of payment default, in particular under sections 8 and 11, remain unaffected.

The processing of personal data in connection with payment processing is described in our privacy policy (section 8.2.8). Where Stripe processes data as an independent controller, Stripe's privacy policy (https://stripe.com/privacy) also applies.

10. Design partnership

The design partnership is a fixed-term plan for companies that adopt Polytender early and help shape its development with their feedback. It is concluded on the basis of an individual offer or order confirmation, which sets out the term, the price and the agreed cooperation (e.g. regular feedback sessions). These Terms apply in addition.

The plan covers up to 15 users in the organization, with no setup fee. It includes:

• Tender search and matching
• Search profiles
• Notifications
• Document access
• Translation
• Agent connection (AI connector)

For the duration of the term, every feature we newly release in this plan is also included at no extra cost.

Modules that we launch as standalone products with their own pricing are not included. Design partners get early access to test them and are then free to decide whether to add them for a fee.

11. Term and termination

Unless agreed otherwise, the contract runs for an indefinite period. Unless stated otherwise during the order process, paid plans are concluded for the billing period selected and renew for a further period of the same length in the absence of termination.

Either party may terminate the contract at any time with effect from the end of the current billing period; access remains available until the end of the period already paid for. Free access may be ended at any time without notice.

The right of both parties to terminate for good cause remains unaffected. Good cause exists for us in particular in the event of a material or repeated breach of section 8, of incorrect registration details, or of payment default of more than 30 days despite a reminder and a grace period.

Termination requires at least text form (e.g. an email to hello@polytender.com) or may be declared through the account settings where offered.

The right of use ends when the contract ends. At the user's request, which may be made in text form to hello@polytender.com until the end of the contract and within 30 days thereafter (retrieval period), we provide the user free of charge with the data they entered and the data generated through their use (in particular search profiles, company websites, favourites, notes and the list of members of their organisation) in a commonly used, machine-readable format (for example CSV or JSON). On request we also support switching to another provider in accordance with Art. 23 et seq. of Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act). Tender data from public sources and our processing of it are not subject to this provision of data.

After the retrieval period has expired, and no later than 90 days after the end of the contract, we delete the user's usage data unless statutory retention obligations prevent this; on request we confirm the deletion in text form. There is no claim to the provision, surrender or restoration of data after deletion.

12. Availability, maintenance and force majeure

We strive for high availability of the Platform but do not owe uninterrupted availability and give no availability guarantee. In particular, maintenance, further development, technical faults, attacks or third-party interference may lead to temporary restrictions or interruptions. There is no claim to specific functions or their continued existence.

We carry out maintenance outside normal business hours where possible. Given the structure of the internet, we have no influence on data transmission outside our sphere of control; we assume no responsibility for the availability, reliability and quality of telecommunications and data networks or third-party technical facilities.

We are released from our obligation to perform for the duration of an event of force majeure. Force majeure means any external event for which we are not responsible, in particular natural events, war, terrorist attacks, epidemics and official measures, industrial action, energy and telecommunications outages, cyber attacks, and the failure, discontinuation, change of format or restriction of access of third-party sources and other inputs.

13. Reporting faults and duties in the event of loss

If the user becomes aware of a malfunction, an identifiable gap in the data, an incorrect presentation or the failure of expected notifications, they must notify us without undue delay, and at the latest within seven days of becoming aware, in a comprehensible form at hello@polytender.com, so that we can take appropriate measures.

If the user fails to give this notice or gives it late, they may not rely on the circumstance concerned to the extent that we were thereby deprived of the opportunity to remedy the defect or to avert or mitigate the damage.

If the user continues to use the Platform in knowledge of a fault without verifying the information material to their decision against the original source, this is taken into account against the user when apportioning damages.

To the extent legally permissible, the user's claims against us become time-barred twelve months after the point at which the user became aware, or ought to have become aware absent gross negligence, of the damage and the party causing it. Statutory periods apply to claims based on intent, on injury to life, body or health, and under the Product Liability Act.

14. Liability

(1) We are liable without limitation for intent, for damage arising from injury to life, body or health, and under mandatory statutory provisions, in particular the Product Liability Act.

(2) Otherwise we are liable exclusively for gross negligence. Liability for slight negligence is excluded in its entirety, on any legal basis whatsoever, including default, warranty, damages and culpa in contrahendo. The user is an entrepreneur; this exclusion is expressly agreed for business-to-business dealings and has been taken into account in setting the fee.

(3) The burden of proving gross fault lies with the user.

(4) Within and subject to paragraphs 1 to 3 above, we are in particular not liable for lost profit, lost contracts or contracts not concluded, missed participation, bid, submission or challenge deadlines, wasted expenditure, reputational harm or other indirect and consequential damage arising from a notice not having been captured, displayed or communicated, or not having been captured, displayed or communicated completely, correctly, in time or as a match, or from the user relying on an AI-generated result. Responsibility for reviewing the original notice and for participating in a procurement procedure lies solely with the user.

(5) Retrieval, processing, scoring and delivery are fully automated (section 2). Faults, outages, delays and errors in these processes (in particular the failure, unavailability, access blocking or change of format or interface of a source, failed, aborted or incomplete retrievals, parsing, matching, deduplication, indexing and scoring errors, and failures of the infrastructure, language models or delivery providers used) cannot be entirely avoided technically even with due care, and do not in themselves constitute gross fault. We are not liable, subject to the paragraphs above, for notices that were not captured, displayed or communicated, or not captured, displayed or communicated completely or in time, for such a reason, nor for contracts lost as a result.

(6) Tender documents and other documents retrievable via the Platform originate from the contracting authorities. They are checked for malware only within the limits of the current state of the art and proportionality. We assume no liability for the content, accuracy, completeness and freedom from malware of those documents, for the content and availability of linked or embedded third-party sources, or for the conduct of contracting authorities.

(7) For services provided free of charge, in particular trial access, free plans and functions expressly marked as beta or preview, we are liable only for intent.

(8) Contributory fault on the part of the user, in particular breach of their duties and obligations under sections 3, 5, 6, 7 and 13 of these Terms, is taken into account in reduction of any claim. Where our liability is excluded or limited, this also applies to the personal liability of our officers, employees, representatives and vicarious agents. The foregoing limitations apply to the extent legally permissible and exclusively vis-à-vis entrepreneurs.

15. Indemnification

The user shall indemnify us against third-party claims asserted against us because the user has breached these Terms or applicable law, or because the user has passed on, published or otherwise exploited content of the Platform to third parties. The indemnity covers the reasonable costs of legal defence.

We will inform the user of such claims without undue delay, enable them to conduct the defence, and make no admissions without their consent.

16. Intellectual property

The Platform, including software, data processing, structure, databases, texts, design and trademark rights, is protected by copyright and ancillary rights. The user receives a simple, non-transferable and non-sublicensable right to use the Platform in accordance with the contract for the duration of the contract.

The underlying original notices are publicly accessible information of the respective contracting authorities; in this respect we acquire no rights and claim no rights beyond the processing.

17. Confidentiality

Each party shall treat confidential information of the other party that becomes known to it in the course of the contractual relationship as confidential and shall not make it accessible to third parties, unless this is necessary for performance of the contract or required by law or by an authority. This does not apply to information that is publicly known, independently developed or lawfully obtained from third parties.

The obligation continues for three years beyond the end of the contract. We may name the user as a reference customer, stating company name and logo, only with their prior consent; consent may be revoked at any time with effect for the future.

18. Data protection

Information on the processing of personal data can be found in our Privacy Policy. It is not part of these Terms but supplements them.

Where we process personal data on behalf of the user, the parties shall conclude a data processing agreement pursuant to Article 28 GDPR. It is made available on request at hello@polytender.com.

19. Changes to these Terms

We are entitled to amend these Terms for objectively justified reasons, in particular in the event of changes in the legal situation or case law, changes to the scope of services, the services used or the sources connected, or in order to close gaps in the provisions.

We will inform the user of the intended amendment at least six weeks before it takes effect, by email to the address stored. The notice will highlight the amended provisions and point out the objection period and the consequences of an objection and of a failure to object.

If the user does not object in text form within six weeks of receipt of the notice, their consent is deemed granted. If they object in time, the amendments do not take effect vis-à-vis them; in that case we are entitled to terminate the contract extraordinarily with effect from the date the amendment takes effect.

Changes to the fees and to the essential main obligations do not take effect under this procedure; they require the user's express consent.

Purely editorial adjustments and updates to contact and company details may be made without the procedure set out in the preceding paragraphs. The current version is available on the Platform.

20. Final provisions

Austrian law applies exclusively, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) and the conflict-of-law rules of private international law.

To the extent legally permissible, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising from or in connection with this contractual relationship is the court with subject-matter jurisdiction in Vienna; for commercial disputes, the Commercial Court of Vienna (Handelsgericht Wien) has jurisdiction. The place of performance is Vienna.

We are entitled to engage third parties as subcontractors in providing the services. Any transfer of the contract or of individual rights under it by the user requires our prior consent in text form; in the event of a reorganisation or transfer of business on our side, we are entitled to transfer the contractual relationship.

Should individual provisions of these Terms be or become invalid or unenforceable, the validity of the remaining provisions shall remain unaffected. The invalid provision shall be replaced by a provision that comes closest to the economic purpose of the invalid provision.

These Terms are available in German and English. In the event of any discrepancy, only the German version is authoritative.

Contact: HeyQQ GmbH, Wasagasse 23, 1090 Vienna, Austria, hello@polytender.com.