How to Get Featured in TechCrunch in 2026

To get featured in TechCrunch, offer one beat reporter a genuinely newsworthy startup story (a significant funding round, a launch with real traction, or a notable pivot or hire) as an exclusive or under embargo, with the numbers, investors, and founder access to write it quickly. TechCrunch covers fewer stories with a smaller team than it used to, so precision matters more than volume.

TechCrunch remains the outlet most founders want for a funding announcement, and the one most investors and tech operators read. It has also changed substantially since 2024: new ownership, fewer reporters, and a tighter focus. Below is how it works now, what earns coverage, and how to pitch it.

How has TechCrunch changed since 2024?

TechCrunch is now a smaller, more focused newsroom under new ownership, which means each reporter covers more ground and filters pitches harder. Founders should expect fewer funding stories to run and should pitch only what clearly fits a reporter’s beat.

The key changes:

• Refocus on Silicon Valley startups and investors. In January 2024, TechCrunch shut down its TC+ subscription product and laid off about eight staff, with editor in chief Connie Loizos describing a refocus on the investors, founders, and startups of Silicon Valley.
• New ownership. In March 2025, Yahoo sold TechCrunch to Regent, a media investment firm, for an undisclosed amount.
• Less European coverage. In June 2025, Press Gazette reported that around ten staff were cut as TechCrunch pulled back from UK and European coverage, including reporters who had been with the site for more than a decade.

Meanwhile, competition for attention among startups has intensified. Crunchbase data shows AI companies captured close to 50% of global venture funding in 2025, up from 34% in 2024. When so many rounds are AI rounds, “AI startup raises Series A” is not a distinctive story.

What does TechCrunch cover in 2026?

TechCrunch covers the business of technology: startups and venture capital, AI, enterprise software, fintech, climate, mobility, hardware, security, and the big platforms. Its readers are founders, investors, and tech operators, so stories are judged by what they tell that audience about where technology and capital are going.

Story type	When TechCrunch tends to cover it	What makes it stronger
Funding round	Notable investors, meaningful size for the stage, or a category reporters are tracking	Traction metrics, a clear “why now,” a founder with a story
Product launch	A real product with users, a new category, or a challenge to incumbents	Customer proof, demo access, pricing
Pivot or strategic shift	A known company changes direction	Candid founder interview and the numbers behind it
Key executive hire	A recognizable leader joins a startup	Why they joined, what it signals
Acquisition	A startup is bought or buys another	Price or terms, rationale, what happens to the product
Data and trend stories	Original data on startups, AI adoption, or a sector	Clear method, sample size, a surprising finding

A 2019 TechCrunch guide to pitching by Danny Crichton ranked newsworthy moments in roughly that order (fundings, launches, pivots, key hires, partnerships) and warned that early funding rounds and launches are “really, really tough” to get covered. That was true then and is more true now.

How do you pitch a TechCrunch reporter?

Pitch one reporter whose recent coverage matches your story, by email, with a factual subject line and the essentials in the first three sentences: what happened, the numbers, and why it matters now. Offer an exclusive or an embargo, and give a reply deadline.

TechCrunch’s tips page accepts press releases and pitches by email and offers Signal and WhatsApp for sensitive information. But a press release sent to a general inbox is the weakest route. Reporters own beats, and a personal pitch to the right one is far more effective.

What a strong TechCrunch funding pitch includes:

1. Subject line with the news. “Exclusive: Acme raises $25M Series B led by [Firm] to automate freight billing.” Factual, specific, no adjectives.
2. The numbers. Round size, lead and notable investors, total raised, and at least one traction metric you are willing to publish (revenue growth, customers, usage).
3. Why now. The market shift your company is betting on, in one sentence.
4. The founder. One line on why this founder is credible on this problem.
5. The offer. Exclusive or embargo, date and time with time zone, interview availability, and assets (founder photos, product images).

Keep it under 200 words. Our journalist pitching guide includes a launch template that works for TechCrunch with minor edits.

How do exclusives and embargoes work with TechCrunch?

An exclusive gives one reporter the story first; an embargo shares the story with one or more reporters in advance on the condition that nobody publishes before an agreed time. Both are standard with TechCrunch, but each comes with etiquette that, if broken, damages the relationship.

TechCrunch’s own 2019 guidance is still the clearest summary:

• Ask before you send. Check that the reporter accepts the embargo before sharing embargoed details, because anything sent unasked is not bound by terms the reporter never agreed to.
• Always include the time zone. An embargo without a time zone is an invitation to a mistake.
• Give reasonable notice. Roughly two to three days is typical; more than five to seven days is rarely needed unless the story is complex.
• Exclusive means the whole story. Offer an exclusive for the story itself, not one component of it.
• Be transparent. If you combine an exclusive with embargoed briefings to other outlets, tell everyone involved.
• If an embargo breaks, tell everyone immediately.

For the full funding playbook, including the six-week timeline, see how to announce a funding round.

Approach	Best for	Trade-off
Exclusive to TechCrunch	Strong story where TechCrunch’s audience is your priority	Other outlets may skip the story or cover it briefly afterward
Embargo to a small group	Big news that several outlets will want	Less depth from any single outlet; more coordination
Exclusive elsewhere, TechCrunch later	A trade or regional outlet fits the story better	TechCrunch is unlikely to follow up on news already out
No outreach, press release only	Minor updates	Very unlikely to earn TechCrunch coverage

What is the step-by-step plan for TechCrunch coverage?

The plan below fits a funding round or launch, starting about six weeks out. It assumes you have real news; if you do not, put the effort into a data story or wait for a better moment.

1. Sharpen the story beyond the raise. Ask what the round or launch says about a market. “Raised $25M” is a fact; “freight brokers are abandoning spreadsheets, and this company’s revenue tripled because of it” is a story.
2. Prepare publishable numbers. Agree with your board and investors which figures are public: round size, lead investor, total raised, and at least one traction metric.
3. Pick one reporter on the beat. Read the last month of TechCrunch coverage in your category. Choose the reporter who has written about comparable companies, and a second choice.
4. Pitch an exclusive or embargo. Send the short pitch one to two weeks before launch, with a reply deadline. Once the reporter accepts the terms, share embargoed materials and set up the interview, always stating the time zone.
5. Brief the founder and prepare assets. Media-train the founder on likely questions (valuation, burn, competition, AI claims), and prepare high-resolution photos, product images, and an investor quote.
6. Extend the coverage. On launch day, post from the founder’s LinkedIn, update your newsroom page, email customers and candidates, and pitch trade or regional outlets with a fresh angle. Then measure what the story did, using a framework like the one in how to measure PR ROI.

Does Startup Battlefield or TechCrunch Disrupt help get coverage?

Yes, for early-stage startups. Startup Battlefield is TechCrunch’s startup competition, and the companies selected get exposure at Disrupt and in TechCrunch’s coverage. It is a different route from pitching a reporter, with its own timeline.

For 2026, TechCrunch extended Startup Battlefield 200 applications to June 8, aimed at early-stage startups with a working product (bootstrapped, pre-seed, and seed companies, with select Series A companies in capital-intensive sectors), with a $100,000 equity-free prize for the winner. Disrupt 2026 opened on October 13 at Moscone West in San Francisco. For Series A+ companies, Disrupt is more useful for meeting reporters and investors in person than as a coverage route.

How does TechCrunch compare with Bloomberg, Business Insider, and trade press?

TechCrunch is the startup community’s outlet of record, which makes it the natural home for venture news. Other outlets reach different audiences, and the best program often uses several.

Outlet	Audience	Best use for a venture-backed company
TechCrunch	Founders, VCs, tech operators	Funding and launch exclusives, startup trend stories
Bloomberg	Investors, bankers, executives	Later-stage raises, deals, market data
Business Insider	Professionals and executives	Founder essays, workplace and AI trend stories
Trade publications	Buyers in your vertical	Customer proof, product depth, early coverage

A trade story about an early round often lands more reliably than TechCrunch and reaches the buyers who matter. Later-stage companies frequently benefit more from Bloomberg coverage, and executives with a candid story may fit Business Insider better.

Why does TechCrunch coverage matter for AI search?

TechCrunch articles are widely read and frequently cited, and AI engines draw heavily on journalism when describing startups. A TechCrunch story that states your category, investors, and traction accurately becomes durable source material.

Muck Rack’s May 2026 Generative Pulse analysis of more than 25 million links cited by ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini found earned media accounted for 84% of citations and journalism for 27%, while paid and advertorial content made up just 0.3%. That is the case for treating a TechCrunch story as an asset, not a one-day spike: keep the same facts consistent on your site and profiles, and link to the coverage from your newsroom. We go deeper in why tier-one press is the fastest path to AI search citations.

Where Digitize fits

TechCrunch is one of the outlets where our clients have been featured. For venture-backed companies, our work around a TechCrunch push covers the story (what the round actually says about the market), the reporter strategy, embargo management, and the follow-through into messaging, digital, and AI search. If a raise or launch is on your calendar, our media relations team can help you decide whether TechCrunch is the right first outlet, or start a conversation.

Frequently asked questions

How big does a funding round need to be for TechCrunch to cover it?

TechCrunch does not publish a threshold. Coverage depends on the round relative to the stage, the investors involved, traction, and whether the category is one reporters are following. A modest round with a strong story and notable investors can run, while a large round with nothing new to say may not. Lead with the story, not just the amount.

Can I write a guest post for TechCrunch?

TechCrunch does not run an open guest post program, and one of its contact pages states that it does not accept guest post submissions. Executives who want bylines should look to trade publications and outlets with contributor programs, and approach TechCrunch as a source for reporters instead.

Should I send TechCrunch a press release?

You can, and TechCrunch’s tips page accepts press releases and pitches by email. But a release sent to a general inbox rarely becomes a story. A short, personal pitch to the reporter who covers your beat, offering an exclusive or embargo with founder access, is far more effective. Keep the release ready as a reference document.

What if TechCrunch does not respond to my pitch?

Follow up once, three to seven days later, with one new fact. If your reply deadline passes on an exclusive, tell the reporter you are moving on, then offer it to your second choice. Silence usually means the story is not a fit for that reporter right now, not that the relationship is over.

Does a TechCrunch article help with SEO?

It can help indirectly. A TechCrunch story raises awareness, can drive branded searches and referral traffic, and gives AI engines and other journalists an authoritative source on your company. Treat links as a bonus rather than the goal; the main value is credibility with founders, investors, candidates, and buyers who read TechCrunch.