How to Get Featured in TechCrunch in 2026

You get into TechCrunch by giving the reporter who covers your space real news before anyone else has it. Guest columns are no longer an option: TechCrunch's own guest columns page now says "We no longer accept guest columns." Here is what still works, step by step, based on TechCrunch's own pages as of 23 September 2026.

Step by step

1. Check you have news. A funding round, a launch, an acquisition, or data that nobody else has. A feature update or a new hire is rarely enough on its own (see the table below).
2. Find the one reporter who covers it. Not the newsroom, one person. The next section shows the exact search.
3. Get their email. TechCrunch author pages and bios are the first place to look; their social profiles are the second.
4. Decide what you can offer. An exclusive (they publish first), an embargo date and time, an interview with the founder, and a customer or investor who will talk.
5. Send a short pitch several days before the announcement, using the template below.
6. Follow up once after three or four working days if there is no reply. Then pitch the tips line or move on.

Finding the right reporter

TechCrunch reporters have beats: fintech, AI, climate, enterprise software, consumer apps, venture funding and so on. The fastest way to find yours:

1. Search Google for site:techcrunch.com "your category", for example site:techcrunch.com "payroll software".
2. Under Tools, set the time range to the past month or past year so you only see current coverage.
3. Open five or six recent articles about companies like yours and note the bylines. The name that keeps coming back is your reporter.
4. Open that reporter's author page and read their last ten headlines. Check they still write about your space, and note the story yours follows from; you will mention it in the pitch.

Also note who they covered. If a reporter wrote about your competitor's round last month, your round is a natural follow-up for them, and a much easier yes than for someone who has never written about the category.

Is your news TechCrunch news?

A pitch template for TechCrunch

Keep it to one screen. Put the news in the subject line and the most important fact in the first sentence. No attachments; link to details instead.

Subject: Exclusive: [Company] raises [amount] from [lead investor] to [what it does]

Hi [Name],

You covered [competitor or related company]'s round in [month], so I thought this might be useful: [Company] is announcing a [amount] [round] led by [investor] on [date, time, timezone]. We'd like to offer it to you first, under embargo until then.

[Company] [does what, for whom, in one sentence]. [One number that shows traction: customers, revenue growth, usage.] The money goes to [specific plan].

[Founder name] is free for a call [days], and [investor or customer] is happy to comment. Deck and details: [link].

Thanks,
[Name, role, phone]

For a launch, swap the first paragraph for what is launching and when; for data, lead with the single most surprising finding. More variations are in our pitch templates, and the media pitching playbook covers subject lines and timing in more detail.

The tips line

TechCrunch's "Got a tip?" page gives [email protected], plus Signal and WhatsApp numbers for sensitive tips (SecureDrop was listed as paused when we checked). Use it when you cannot identify a reporter, or when a reporter has not replied. The newsroom reads it, so the same rules apply: news in the subject line, facts in a few sentences, who is available to talk.

Do not use the general contact page for pitches. It says TechCrunch does not accept pitches or guest post submissions there, and points people with news to the tips address.

Startup Battlefield

Startup Battlefield is TechCrunch's startup competition: its page says 200 companies are selected each year and the winner gets a $100,000 equity-free prize. 2026 applications have closed (Disrupt runs 13 to 15 October 2026) and no date for the next round was posted. The page does not mention an application fee; we could not confirm either way.

One line matters: selection "does not guarantee editorial coverage." Battlefield gets you in front of TechCrunch's reporters and audience. You still need news to turn that into an article.

Paid options, and "guaranteed" offers

TechCrunch sells branded content through TechCrunch Brand Studio, and the guest columns page now points would-be writers there. It publishes no prices. Branded content runs as advertising, and readers can tell.

You will also see firms selling a "guaranteed" TechCrunch article: two of the top ten Google results for this question did on 23 September 2026. TechCrunch says it takes no guest columns and no pitches at its contact address, so before paying anyone, ask exactly which page the article will run on and how it will be labelled. If the answer is vague, keep your money.

If you do not have news yet

Most companies, most months, do not have TechCrunch news, and that is normal. Reporters at big outlets often find companies through smaller ones: niche blogs, trade publications and newsletters in your space. Those mentions are far easier to get and build the track record that makes a later TechCrunch pitch credible. That is the part MentionAgent automates: it finds the sites that cover your market, pitches the person who runs each one, and handles the replies.

For other outlets, see Forbes, Inc., Entrepreneur and Business Insider, or the overview, how to get featured in the news. Podcasts are another route: how to get on a podcast.

Related guides