Last updated · reviewed by the Essentras editorial team
Segment playbook
To announce a funding round, set the date around your Form D (due within 15 days after the first sale, and public on EDGAR), offer 1 reporter an exclusive under an embargo they accept, then publish the release, a founder post and any paid placements the same day. On Essentras, AP News costs $317 and Medium $97.
Sources: the SEC, Crunchbase, TechCrunch, agency and wire pages, and 1,174 technology, business and finance listings in the Essentras API
The cheapest real basket for a funding announcement, the business catalog sorted by price, and an AI agent recipe that prices the classic release route for you. None needs an account.
The announcement, on the record
$414
Your release on AP News and the founder's "why we raised" letter on Medium.
Published with a sponsored or partner label.
Publish on AP News; Press ReleasePublished as a standard editorial article, with no sponsored label.
Publish on MediumBusiness outlets, cheapest first
Every business listing with its price, turnaround, link policy and label, before you pay.
Let your AI assistant price it
The agent recipe shows the exact API calls an assistant makes to price a release on Yahoo Finance and AP News, and hands you the checkout link. The agent never pays.
Paid placements are paid: they are not earned coverage, and each runs with the label its listing states. AP News runs the release with a sponsored or partner label; Medium is a publishing platform, not a news outlet. Counts from the public API, 19 Oct 2026.
What it does
It turns a private transaction into a public, dated record that investors, candidates, customers, databases and AI assistants can find. It does not raise the next round, and it does not make the company notable for Wikipedia.
| Audience | What the announcement can do | What it cannot do |
|---|---|---|
| Future investors | Leave a dated record of the round, the investors and the milestones | Replace metrics or introductions: in a 2016 survey of 885 VCs, over 30% of deals came through professional networks and 10% inbound from founders |
| Candidates | Show outside proof that the company is funded and hiring | Replace employer reviews, which 83% of job seekers are likely to research before applying |
| Customers | Reassure buyers that you will be around, and give sales a link to send | Close deals |
| Databases | Feed Crunchbase, which says it tracks government filings and more than 1,000 news publications | Stop the Form D from appearing on EDGAR whenever you file it |
| Search and AI | Rank for searches on your name and give AI assistants a source to cite | Decide what AI says: earned media was 84% of AI citations in Muck Rack's May 2026 study |
| Wikipedia | Nothing on its own | Count toward notability: the company guideline lists raised capital among trivial coverage and counts only unpaid sources |
Step by step
Firebrand, an agency, puts the whole process at 5 to 7 weeks (Aug 2024). Steps 1 to 4 happen before the day; steps 5 to 8 on and after it. Confirm the Form D timing with your counsel: this is not legal advice.
The SEC says a Form D is due within 15 days after the first sale, the day the first investor is irrevocably committed, and filings are public on EDGAR. Pick an announcement date before your filing can tell the story for you.
The amount (or the choice not to state it), the investors you may name, the lead investor's quote, customer names and the use of funds.
The release states the facts in the first paragraph; the founder letter says why you raised and what changes. Use the outline below.
Ask first whether they accept the embargo, then send the details. Firebrand notes you cannot embargo what is already public in a Form D.
Post the release and the letter on your site, send the release on a wire if you use one, and have booked placements go live with the label each listing states.
Customers, candidates in your pipeline and your team hear it from you on the day, with the link.
Crunchbase lets a registered, authenticated user add a closed round with at least the funding type and announcement date. Update LinkedIn and your careers page the same day.
Trade outlets and newsletters in your sector, with data or a customer story rather than the amount.
How to email a press release (embargo wording) How to distribute a press release
The TechCrunch reality
Earned TechCrunch coverage is a reporter's choice, and its reporters say in public how selective they are. A paid TechCrunch page exists, at a price most seed rounds will not spend, and it carries a label.
"We receive more pitches than we can respond to, many of them already written by AI chatbots."
"I realized that to continue covering 10 funding rounds a week was not really doing our readers a favor."
"We do not accept pitches or guest post submissions."
In the same 2022 piece, the reporter listed what she looked for: something novel, revenue figures or financial specifics, a compelling origin story, specifics on how the raise came together, and a story that runs counter to the trend.
The catalog's only TechCrunch listing costs $23,333, takes 2 to 3 weeks and is published with a sponsored or partner label. It is advertising, not coverage, and you should never call it "featured in TechCrunch" without the label.
Most rounds are better served by the outlets your investors, candidates and customers read: the business and finance sites where a release lands with its label, trade outlets in your sector, and tech readers such as The Next Web ($3,333) or VentureBeat ($6,667) when the story fits.
The 4 routes
Pitching and agencies aim at earned coverage, which a journalist decides. A wire publishes your release on its network at the time you choose. A paid placement buys a page on a named outlet at a listed price, with the label its listing states.
| Route | What it costs, as published | Time to a live page | Who decides | What readers see |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pitch reporters yourself | $0 plus your time | The embargo time, if a reporter accepts it; otherwise no date | The reporter and the editor | A news story (earned) |
| Hire a PR agency | $8,000 to $15,000 for a funding announcement (Firebrand); retainers from $5,000 a month (PressFriendly, seed and Series A) to $25,000 (Beantown's range) | Firebrand puts the process at 5 to 7 weeks | The agency pitches; reporters decide | Earned stories, when they land |
| Send a wire release | From $120 (PRWeb Basic) and $149 (EIN Presswire Basic) to $865 (ACCESS Newswire National) | The minute you schedule | You send it; partner sites repost it | Your release, credited to the wire |
| Buy paid placements on Essentras | AP News $317; Business Insider, Yahoo and AP News $833; median $1,792 across 1,174 listings | 3 to 5 business days for the 3-site listing; book ahead of the date | You pick the outlet and approve the draft | The label the listing states (a paid placement) |
What they find
After the announcement, people check you in a few places. Make sure each tells the same story as your release.
| Where they look | What it shows | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| EDGAR (SEC) | Your Form D: the offering and the amount sold, free to search | Expect reporters and databases to see it; align your announcement date and numbers |
| Crunchbase | Rounds, investors, people; editing can be limited to verified employees with a company email | Verify your account and add the closed round on the day |
| Your site and LinkedIn | The release, the founder letter, open roles | Publish both, link the coverage, update the careers page |
| Employer reviews | Glassdoor and Indeed reviews; 67% of 750 job seekers in an Indeed survey said employer reviews influenced their decision | Reply to reviews and keep the careers page honest about stage and pay |
| Press and AI answers | Coverage and placements, and what AI assistants summarize from them | Check the free AI visibility score; fix wrong facts at the source |
3 budget baskets
3 baskets built from the public catalog on 19 Oct 2026 and priced with the quote API, volume discount included. 1,174 technology, business and finance listings sit behind them (median $1,792). Swap any outlet; every listing states its price, turnaround, link policy and label.
Pre-seed or seed
$414
The release on AP News and the founder letter on Medium. 2 placements: no volume discount.
3 to 5 business days. Nofollow. Published with a sponsored or partner label.
1 business day. Nofollow. Published as a standard editorial article, with no sponsored label.
Seed or Series A with a story for investors and candidates
$2,234.70
Business Insider, Yahoo and AP News in 1 listing, Benzinga for finance readers, HackerNoon for technical candidates. 3 placements: 10% off.
3 to 5 business days. Nofollow. Published with a discreet disclosure.
1 week. Nofollow. Published with a discreet disclosure.
1 week. Nofollow. Published as a standard editorial article, with no sponsored label.
Series A and later, or a round with a category story
$5,026.05
Adds The Next Web for tech readers and Medium for the founder letter. 5 placements: 15% off.
3 to 5 business days. Nofollow. Published with a discreet disclosure.
1 week. Nofollow. Published with a discreet disclosure.
1 week. Nofollow. Published as a standard editorial article, with no sponsored label.
1 week. Nofollow. Published as a standard editorial article, with no sponsored label.
1 business day. Nofollow. Published as a standard editorial article, with no sponsored label.
Totals quoted with the public API (POST /api/agent/v1/quote) on 19 Oct 2026, volume discount included. A quote reserves nothing; prices can change, and checkout shows the price that applies. The 3-site listing costs $833, against $1,404 for its 3 parts bought separately. Every listing is refunded if it is not published or its turnaround is missed (listing terms).
| Outlet | Price | Turnaround | Label, as the listing states it | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PRNewsWire / Yahoo Finance | $667 | 3 to 5 business days | Published with a sponsored or partner label. | Nofollow |
| Yahoo News/Finance; Press Release | $667 | 3 to 5 business days | Published with a discreet disclosure. | Nofollow |
| Street Insider; Press Release | $1,047 | 3 to 5 business days | Published with a discreet disclosure. | Nofollow |
| Investing.com | $1,727 | 1 to 2 weeks | Published as a standard editorial article, with no sponsored label. | Nofollow |
| Reuters; Press Release | $3,000 | 1 to 2 weeks | Published with a sponsored or partner label. | Dofollow |
30, 60, 90 days
Day 0 is the announcement. The paid items are optional.
Cost: $0, or $414 for the starter basket
Cost: your time
Cost: $0, or Press Monthly at $97 a month
Templates
Placeholders are in [brackets]. Name investors and customers only with written approval, and state numbers you can stand behind.
Funding announcement outline
The release. Facts first; quotes add meaning, not adjectives.
Headline: [Company] raises [$amount] [round] to [what changes for customers] Subhead: Led by [lead investor], with [other investors] [City], [date]: [Company], which [what it does, for whom, in 1 line], has raised [$amount] in a [round] led by [lead]. [Other investors] joined. The money will fund [2 or 3 concrete uses]. [1 traction fact you may state, with its source]. "[Why now, what changes]," said [founder, title]. "[Why the investor backed it]," said [investor, title, firm]. About [Company]: [2 lines, founding year, location, link] Media contact: [name, email]
Exclusive and embargo offer
Ask first. Send details only after the reporter accepts.
Subject: Exclusive offer: [Company] [round] news, embargoed to [date, time, time zone] Hi [first name], You covered [their recent story]. Would you like the exclusive on our [round] led by [lead investor]? It would be embargoed until [date, time, time zone]. If you accept the embargo, I will send the release, the numbers we can share and times for [founder]. No reply needed if it is not a fit. [Name], [title], [phone]
Investor quote and approval request
To the lead investor's partner or platform team, 2 weeks before the date.
Subject: Quote and approval for our [round] announcement on [date] Hi [name], We plan to announce on [date] at [time]. Could you: 1. Send a 1 to 2 sentence quote from [partner] on why [firm] invested. 2. Confirm we may name [firm] and [partner] as lead. 3. Confirm the amount we state: [$amount or "not disclosed"]. 4. Approve the attached draft by [date]. Thank you, [Founder]
Founder post for LinkedIn
On the announcement day, linking the release or the founder letter.
We raised [$amount] led by [lead investor]. Why: [the problem, 1 line]. What changes for customers: [1 or 2 concrete things]. What we are hiring for: [roles], link: [careers page]. Thank you to [team, early customers, investors you may name]. Full story: [link]
Customer email
From the founder, the same hour the news goes public.
Subject: News from [Company], and what it means for you Hi [first name], Today we announced [$amount] in funding led by [lead]. You hear it from me first because you made it possible. What changes for you: [support, roadmap item, pricing commitment you can keep]. What does not change: [contract, team, data handling]. Questions? Reply to this email. [Founder]
Mistakes
Filings are public on EDGAR. If yours is out first, reporters and databases may tell the story before you do.
An embargo binds only a reporter who accepted it in advance. Sending details first invites an early story.
The amount is not the story. Say what changes for customers, and why now.
Get the lead investor's written approval of names, amount and quote.
A placement is published with the label its listing states. Never present it as a story a journalist chose.
Crunchbase, LinkedIn and the careers page are what investors and candidates check next.
Optional. You can do everything on this page without any of these.
Business Insider, Yahoo and AP News in 1 order
$833 instead of $1,404
The classic funding release route on 3 recognizable sites. The listing states: "Published with a discreet disclosure."
See the bundle7 named outlets in 1 order
$999 or $1,399
7 outlets bought as 1 package; $1,399 adds syndication to 170 outlets. The page lists the outlets and refund terms first.
See the 7 outletsA Knowledge Panel for the company or founder
$650 or $1,200
Once coverage exists, a panel can sum up the company in search. Google decides whether a panel shows.
See the Knowledge Panel serviceTrack what AI assistants say
$49 a month
The AI Visibility Tracker asks investor and buyer questions to AI assistants every week and keeps every answer.
See the trackerA release on AP News only
$317, 3 to 5 business days
The cheapest named news domain for the release. The listing states: "Published with a sponsored or partner label."
Publish on AP NewsPress Monthly
$97 a month
1 press placement every month, matched to your niche and shown to you before we write. Cancel any time; plan months have no fixed turnaround.
See Press MonthlyA free shortlist
$0
Describe the company in 1 sentence and get outlets that fit, with the price next to each.
Get a shortlistFAQ
Set the date around your Form D, get approvals in writing, write the release and a founder letter, offer 1 reporter an exclusive under an accepted embargo, publish everything at the same time, tell customers and candidates, and update Crunchbase and LinkedIn.
The SEC says within 15 days after the first sale, the day the first investor is irrevocably committed; there is no SEC filing fee. Filings are public on EDGAR, so plan the date with counsel before your filing tells the story.
Pitch a reporter who covers your space with what is new, numbers you can share and how the raise came together, under an embargo they accept. TechCrunch says it gets more pitches than it can answer. Its only catalog listing costs $23,333, with a sponsored or partner label.
Pitching costs your time. Firebrand prices agency support at $8,000 to $15,000. A wire release costs $120 to $865. Paid placements start at $317 for AP News; the 3 baskets above cost $414, $2,234.70 and $5,026.05.
Usually not. A clear release, 1 exclusive offer and a few booked pages cover most seed rounds. Agencies help when the round carries a bigger story, interviews or several markets; get scope and term in writing.
An agreement that a reporter will not publish information before a set date and time. It binds only a reporter who accepted it before seeing the details, and you cannot embargo facts already public in a Form D.
Register and authenticate a Crunchbase account, then add the round with at least the funding type and announcement date. Crunchbase recommends adding closed rounds only, and some profiles accept edits only from verified employees with a company email.
No. It is a page you buy, published with the label its listing states. It puts the news on a named domain by a date; earned coverage is a reporter's decision.
Unlikely on its own. Wikipedia's guideline for companies lists raised capital among trivial coverage that does not count toward notability, and it counts only unpaid sources.
No. Essentras sells paid placements on 3,886 named outlets at listed prices, with the label each listing states. For earned coverage, pitch reporters yourself or hire an agency.
Ask counsel about the Form D date
Then set the announcement date.
Collect approvals in writing
Amount, investors, quotes, customers.
Write the release and the founder letter
Use the outline above.
Offer 1 exclusive under an accepted embargo
Ask first, then send.
Book the pages you want live on the day
Start from a basket above.
Put the release on a news domain
AP News ($317) and Medium ($97): $414 quoted today, with price and label shown before you pay.
Publish on AP News Or the 3-site listing at $833Checked on . Every Essentras price, turnaround, link policy, label, count and basket total on this page comes from the public catalog API, read on this date (baskets priced with the quote endpoint). Every outside figure carries its source and date below. Buy 3 or more placements for 10% off the basket, 5 or more for 15%.
General information, not legal or investment advice: confirm Form D timing and any securities question with counsel. Essentras sells paid placements on named outlets and does not sell earned PR. Paid placements are not earned coverage.
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