A few years ago, PR for startups followed a simple playbook: pitch TechCrunch, hope a journalist replies, and build momentum from there. Today, the media landscape looks very different. Newsrooms have changed, AI is reshaping discovery, and founders need a different approach if they really want to stand out.
Let's start with the uncomfortable truth: Most founders only think about PR for startups when they have something to announce.
A funding round, a product launch or a major partnership becomes the reason to contact journalists, after which the conversation usually stops until the next milestone arrives. The companies that earn consistent media coverage tend to do something different. They stay in touch with journalists, share useful insights and gradually build credibility over time rather than relying on a single announcement — good media relations, not a one-off pitch.
That approach matters more than ever because media coverage now has a much longer shelf life. A feature in a trusted publication doesn't just reach readers on the day it's published; it also becomes part of the information that AI search tools increasingly use to understand and explain a company.
Where Should UK Founders Pitch?
When TechCrunch closed its UK bureau, many founders carried on pitching the same publications as if nothing had changed. Still, the UK's startup media landscape looks very different today, and choosing the right outlet matters just as much as having a good story in PR for startups.
For most early-stage founders, UKTN is now one of the best places to start. It focuses entirely on the UK technology ecosystem and regularly covers Seed to Series B companies, funding rounds and regional startup stories. If your news matters to the UK startup community, UKTN is often a better first conversation than aiming for an international headline.
Sifted sits at the other end of that journey. Its audience includes founders, investors and operators across Europe, but its editorial bar is much higher. Funding rounds alone rarely make the cut unless they're genuinely significant or part of a larger trend, so it's often a publication founders grow into rather than start with.
If your story has a stronger commercial angle, City AM is usually a better fit. It covers fintech, scale-ups and businesses shaping London's economy, which means the story needs to be about the business itself rather than simply launching a new product.
For larger companies, The Financial Times, Bloomberg and The Times remain some of the most influential publications. Coverage there carries weight because it reaches investors, policymakers and business leaders, but it also comes with a much higher bar for what counts as news.
It's also worth remembering the publications that founders often overlook. Startups.co.uk and Startups Magazine regularly cover founder stories, practical guides and early-stage funding, making them valuable places to build visibility with the people you're actually trying to reach.
As for TechCrunch, UK stories haven't disappeared altogether, but they have become much less common since the bureau closed in 2025. Unless you're announcing a major funding round or a globally significant technology story, your time is often better spent building relationships with publications that actively cover the UK startup ecosystem.
What Makes a Good Pitch?
Most founders write pitch emails that are too long, too vague or too focused on their product. The data suggests a much simpler approach works better.
Pitch emails between 51 and 150 words achieved the highest response rate at 7.51%, more than double the overall average of 3.43%. The goal isn't to tell your company's entire story. It's to give a journalist enough reason to want the next conversation.
A strong pitch is surprisingly simple: what you do, why it matters now, what you're announcing, and one clear offer, whether that's exclusive access, a useful data point or a short call.
Timing matters too. Tuesday to Thursday, between 9am and 11am in the journalist's time zone tends to perform best. Mondays are crowded, Fridays are deadline-heavy, and after one follow-up five to seven days later, it's usually time to move on.
The subject line deserves just as much attention as the email itself. "Cambridge AI startup raises £12m to put self-driving on UK roads" is far more likely to earn an open than "Press Release: Company Announcement." Think of it as the headline for your story.
Finally, avoid letting AI write the entire pitch. Journalists receive hundreds of AI-generated emails every week, and the generic ones are always easy to spot.A short email that references a journalist's recent work that sounds like it was written by a real person will almost always stand out more than a perfectly polished template, one of the most reliable habits in PR for startups.
When to Announce Funding
In PR for startups, a funding round is only part of the story. The strongest announcements combine investment with evidence of progress, whether that's customer growth, product milestones or market traction.
How to write a press release well starts with understanding what an exclusive can do that a mass send can't. Start by offering one journalist an exclusive under embargo. That gives them the opportunity to report the story properly rather than simply rewriting a press release, which usually leads to deeper, more valuable coverage.
Knowing how to write a press release starts with having everything ready: customer quotes, product visuals, a short founder biography and a clear company overview. The easier you make a journalist's job, the more likely they are to tell your story.
Finally, add context. "We raised £8 million" is news. "We raised £8 million after onboarding 40 NHS trusts in the past year" explains why the funding matters.
And don't leave it until the last minute.
Part of learning how to write a press release is learning when to start it: good media coverage usually starts four to six weeks before publication, not a few days before the announcement.
The 2026 Angle Nobody's Talking About: AI Search Visibility
One of the biggest changes over the past year has happened quietly. AI tools such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews increasingly rely on trusted media coverage when answering questions about companies and industries.
A feature in Bloomberg or TechCrunch no longer reaches only human readers; it also helps shape how AI systems understand and describe your business.
Publishing original research strengthens that effect.
Founder surveys, market reports, or proprietary data give AI systems credible information to reference, creating long-term AI search visibility that a one-off funding announcement rarely achieves.
The implication is simple: PR for startups is no longer just about earning headlines. Every credible piece of coverage becomes part of your company's digital footprint and AI search visibility, influencing how both people and AI discover you long after the article is published
A Simple PR Framework for Founders
If you're not sure where to start with PR for startups, keep it simple.Build one relationship with a journalist every quarter by following their work, responding thoughtfully to their reporting or sharing useful insights. By the time you have news to share, your journalist pitch is no longer just another cold email.
Publish one piece of original research each quarter, whether that's a founder survey, customer data or an industry trend backed by numbers. Original data gives journalists a reason to return to your company, even when you're not announcing funding.
Then focus on one major announcement each year and do it well. Give it context, prepare the supporting material and pitch it strategically instead of spreading attention across several smaller updates.
Good PR for startups isn't about sending more emails or hiring the biggest agency. It's about building credibility over time. It's about building credibility over time. The founders who earn consistent coverage are usually the ones who make it easy for journalists to understand why their story matters.
Also read: The Forgotten UK Startup Funding: Why Founders Aren't Claiming SEIS, EIS, and R&D Credits
Sources: EasyPRWire pitch timing and word count data (July 2026) · BMV Startup PR Guide 2026 (May 2026) · OBA PR — AI Startup PR Strategy Guide (April 2026) · Spreckley UK Startup PR Agency Guide (January 2026) · Startupmag UK PR Agencies 2026 · BMV — AI search visibility and startup PR (June 2026) · Propel pitch behavioural analysis (Q1 2024, cited in 2026 PR guides) · Press Gazette — TechCrunch European bureau closure (June 2025) · Sifted — "How to pitch your news story to Sifted" (official editorial guidance) · Sifted newsroom update (February 2026) · Rosie Taylor — "What pitching will look like in 2026" (February 2026)
