1. Introduction and acceptance

These Terms and Conditions (“Terms”) govern your use of the Catalyst Hub website, marketplace, mobile app and membership programmes (Spark, Build, Grow), operated by Catalyst Arc Holdings (Pty) Ltd, trading as Catalyst Hub (“Catalyst Hub”, “we”, “us” or “our”, and together with the above, the “Platform”).

By creating an account, browsing the marketplace, or using any part of the Platform, you agree to these Terms. If you don’t agree, please don’t use the Platform.

These Terms should be read together with our Privacy Policy, which explains how we handle your personal information.

If you’re using the Platform on behalf of a business, you confirm that you have the authority to bind that business to these Terms.

2. Who we are

  • Registered name: Catalyst Arc Holdings (Pty) Ltd, trading as Catalyst Hub
  • Registration number: 2024/707126/07
  • Registered address: Corner of Oxford and Queen, Durbanville, 7550, South Africa
  • Website: www.catalysthub.co.za
  • Contact: support@catalysthub.co.za / +27 77 360 8999

3. Definitions

  • “Platform” means the Catalyst Hub website, marketplace, and mobile app, together.
  • “Member” means anyone with a registered Catalyst Hub account, on the Spark, Build or Grow tier.
  • “Vendor” means a Member who lists a product or service for sale on the marketplace.
  • “Buyer” means a Member or member of the public who purchases a product or service through the marketplace.
  • “Content” means any text, image, video, review, listing, or other material submitted to or published on the Platform.
  • “Order” means a confirmed purchase made through the marketplace.

4. Eligibility and your account

To use the Platform, you must:

  • be at least 18 years old, or have the consent of a parent or guardian;
  • have the legal capacity to enter into a binding agreement in South Africa; and
  • if registering on behalf of a business, be validly authorised to do so.

You’re responsible for keeping your account details, including your password, secure, and for anything that happens through your account, whether or not you personally authorised it, except where this results from our failure to keep the Platform reasonably secure. If you suspect unauthorised access to your account, tell us immediately.

You must provide accurate and up to date information when you register, and keep it updated. We may suspend or terminate accounts that contain false or misleading information.

5. Membership

Catalyst Hub offers tiered membership: Spark, Build and Grow. Each tier has different features, marketplace access, and pricing, as set out on the Platform and in our current fee schedule.

Membership fees are billed as described at signup, by card or debit order (including DebiCheck mandates, where applicable). We may change membership fees or what’s included in each tier from time to time. If we do, we’ll give you reasonable notice before the change applies to you, and you may cancel your membership if you don’t want to continue on the new terms.

6. How the marketplace works

Catalyst Hub operates a marketplace that connects Vendors (SMEs, entrepreneurs and creators) with Buyers. Unless we say otherwise on a specific listing, Catalyst Hub is not the seller of the products or services listed on the marketplace. The contract for each sale is between the Vendor and the Buyer. We facilitate that connection, process payment, and provide the platform and tools that make the transaction possible, but we’re not a party to it.

This means:

  • Vendors are responsible for the accuracy of their listings, the quality and lawfulness of what they sell, and fulfilling Orders.
  • Buyers are buying from the Vendor, not from Catalyst Hub, unless a listing specifically says the product or service is supplied by Catalyst Hub directly.
  • Any dispute about the product or service itself (quality, description, delivery, fitness for purpose) is primarily between the Buyer and the Vendor. We’ll help facilitate a resolution, but we don’t guarantee its outcome.

7. Vendor obligations

If you list products or services on the marketplace, you agree to:

  • only list products or services you’re legally entitled to sell;
  • describe them accurately, including price, availability and any material limitations;
  • comply with all laws that apply to your business and what you sell, including the Consumer Protection Act and, where you sell electronically through the Platform, the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act;
  • fulfil Orders promptly and keep Buyers reasonably informed of order status;
  • handle returns, exchanges and cancellations in line with section 9 below and any applicable law; and
  • hold any licences, registrations or permissions your business needs to operate lawfully.

We may remove a listing, suspend a Vendor account, or decline to onboard a Vendor, at our reasonable discretion, including where we believe a listing is unlawful, misleading, or breaches these Terms.

8. Buyer obligations and purchases

When you place an Order, you’re making an offer to buy from the Vendor at the listed price. The Vendor’s acceptance (or our order confirmation on their behalf) completes the sale.

You agree to:

  • provide accurate payment, contact and delivery information;
  • pay the full price shown at checkout, including any applicable delivery or service fees; and
  • use products and services you purchase lawfully and as intended.

Prices on the Platform are shown in South African Rand and, unless stated otherwise, include VAT where applicable. We and Vendors try to keep pricing and listing information accurate, but errors can happen. If we discover a pricing or listing error, we’ll contact you before completing the Order, and you can choose to proceed at the corrected price or cancel.

9. Cancellations, returns and your cooling-off right

Statutory cooling-off right. Where you’re a natural person (or a small business consumer as defined under the Consumer Protection Act) buying through the Platform, you may have the right under section 44 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act to cancel your purchase within 7 days, without reason or penalty, from the date you receive the goods or, for services, the date the agreement was concluded. You’ll only be responsible for the direct cost of returning any goods.

This right doesn’t apply to certain categories, including services you’ve already asked a Vendor to begin, and other exclusions recognised by law. Where a specific listing isn’t covered by this right, we or the Vendor will say so on the listing.

Vendor-specific policies. Individual Vendors may offer more generous return or cancellation terms than the law requires. Check the listing or contact the Vendor directly.

How to cancel. To cancel an eligible Order, contact us at support@catalysthub.co.za or use the cancellation option in your account, and we’ll coordinate the refund with the relevant Vendor.

Our right to cancel. We or a Vendor may cancel an Order, for example if an item is unavailable, if we suspect fraud, or if there’s a genuine error in the listing (including pricing). If this happens, we’ll refund any amount you’ve already paid for that Order.

10. Payments, fees and commission

Payments on the marketplace are processed through our payment gateway and Net Cash. Subscription and membership fees may be collected by card or DebiCheck debit order, as described at signup.

Vendors pay Catalyst Hub a commission on marketplace sales, and membership fees where applicable to their tier. Current commission rates, membership fees, and any applicable Buyer discounts are set out in our fee schedule, published on the Platform, and may be updated from time to time.

We’re not responsible for the security of your payment details once they leave our systems and are processed by a third-party payment provider, though we only work with providers that meet applicable security standards.

11. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

  • use the Platform for any unlawful purpose, or to sell or promote unlawful goods or services;
  • post false, misleading, defamatory, or infringing Content;
  • harass, threaten, or discriminate against other Members;
  • attempt to interfere with, disrupt, or gain unauthorised access to the Platform or other Members’ accounts;
  • use automated tools (bots, scrapers) to access or extract data from the Platform without our written permission; or
  • circumvent the marketplace to avoid paying applicable fees or commission, for example by arranging a transaction off-platform after connecting through Catalyst Hub, where that transaction was intended to occur on the Platform.

We may remove Content, and suspend or terminate accounts, that breach this section.

12. Content and intellectual property

Our IP. The Platform, including its design, software, the Catalyst Hub name and logo, our business sorting algorithm, and related content we create, belongs to Catalyst Hub or our licensors. Using the Platform doesn’t give you any ownership or licence to this, beyond what’s needed to use the Platform as intended.

Your content. You keep ownership of Content you submit (listings, reviews, photos, posts). By submitting it, you give Catalyst Hub a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use, display, and distribute that Content on the Platform and in related marketing, for as long as it remains published, or as needed to operate the Platform.

Featured content. If we invite you to appear in Catalyst Hub or The Clueless Founder content, for example a Partner Spotlight feature or podcast appearance, we’ll agree the specific terms of that separately with you.

Infringement. You must only submit Content you have the right to use. If you believe something on the Platform infringes your rights, contact us at support@catalysthub.co.za.

13. AI tools and recommendations

Catalyst Hub uses AI-powered tools, including a business sorting algorithm and an AI assistant (currently ALLI AI, with further AI integrations planned), to help personalise recommendations and support your experience on the Platform.

These tools are provided to help guide you, not as professional, legal, financial or business advice. You remain responsible for your own business decisions, and we recommend getting independent professional advice before acting on anything significant. Catalyst Hub is not a registered financial services provider, and nothing on the Platform should be read as regulated financial advice.

14. Disclaimers and limitation of liability

Please read this section carefully. It limits our liability to you.

We do our best to keep the Platform accurate, secure, and available, but like any online platform, we can’t guarantee it will always be fault-free or uninterrupted.

To the maximum extent permitted by law:

  • we provide the Platform “as is”, and don’t guarantee that it will be error-free, uninterrupted, or fit for a particular purpose beyond what we specifically commit to in these Terms;
  • we’re not liable for the acts or omissions of Vendors, or for the quality, safety, legality, or fitness for purpose of products and services sold by Vendors on the marketplace;
  • we’re not liable for delays, errors, or failures caused by circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including load shedding, internet or network failures, or failures of third-party service providers;
  • we’re not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential loss (like loss of profit or business opportunity) arising from your use of the Platform; and
  • our total liability to you for any claim arising from your use of the Platform is limited to the amount you’ve paid us directly (excluding amounts passed through to Vendors) in the 12 months before the claim arose.

Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes liability that can’t lawfully be limited or excluded, including liability for gross negligence, or any right you have under the Consumer Protection Act that can’t be waived.

15. Indemnity

You agree to indemnify Catalyst Hub against any claim, loss, or cost arising from your breach of these Terms, your Content, or, if you’re a Vendor, the products or services you sell, except to the extent this arises from our own breach or negligence.

16. Suspension and termination

You may close your account at any time by contacting us.

We may suspend or terminate your account, or restrict access to parts of the Platform, if you breach these Terms, if we reasonably suspect fraud or unlawful activity, or if required by law. Where reasonably possible, we’ll give you notice and a chance to resolve the issue first.

If your account is terminated, any outstanding obligations, like unpaid fees or Orders already placed, still need to be settled.

17. Dispute resolution and complaints

If something goes wrong, please contact us first at support@catalysthub.co.za. We want the chance to sort it out directly.

If we can’t resolve a complaint between us, you may refer it to the National Consumer Commission, or pursue any other right or remedy available to you under South African law.

These Terms are governed by the laws of South Africa. You and we agree that the South African courts have jurisdiction to resolve any dispute arising from these Terms, without prejudice to any right you have to approach another competent forum under the Consumer Protection Act.

18. General

  • Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and any fee schedule or policy we specifically reference, form the entire agreement between you and Catalyst Hub regarding the Platform.
  • Changes to these Terms. We may update these Terms from time to time. We’ll publish the updated version on the Platform with a new “last updated” date. Where changes are material, we’ll take reasonable steps to let you know.
  • Severability. If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest will still apply.
  • No waiver. If we don’t enforce a right under these Terms, that doesn’t mean we’ve given it up.
  • No cession. You may not transfer your rights or obligations under these Terms to anyone else without our consent. We may do so, for example if Catalyst Hub is restructured, sold, or merged, subject to the protections in our Privacy Policy.

19. Contact us

If you have questions about these Terms, contact us:

  • Email: support@catalysthub.co.za
  • Phone: +27 77 360 8999
  • Postal address: Corner of Oxford and Queen, Durbanville, 7550, South Africa