Utilizing PR with Investors

Utilizing PR with Investors

Publicity about how your company raised significant funds from an investor can help you attract more investors for your startup. A press release about the successful fundraising can definitely help elevate your profile in the investor community. It will spark the interest of other investors to want to know why another investor thought highly enough of your company to invest serious money. It will help lay the foundation for your next fundraising round.

A press release does not need to be fancy, long or wordy. It should be short, clear and direct to the point. The following is a standard template for a press release:

Headline

(i.e. ABC Investor Funds XYZ Company in Series A Round of Fundraising)

Subhead

(i.e. Well-positioned company for growth market demonstrates ability to accelerate traction in the market)

DATELINE (Location and Date) – [Name of the company], a [short description of the company], today announced….(short summary of the news about the fundraising / investing)

A paragraph about why the investor chose to invest (i.e. exciting growth market, experience of the leadership team, first-mover advantage, shifting market opportunity or exciting new technology, etc)

Quote from the investor who invested in your company (i.e. Why they choose to invest in your company)

Quote from you as Founder and CEO (Note: say more than just thanking the investor. Say something in your quote about the growth market and your company to convey your confidence and how you are able to execute and speed things up in the market)

A paragraph about what makes it a growth market and why your company is positioned to make money

Short description about what makes your product offering different – or – a summary of why the experience of you and your leadership team will make the company successful

Boilerplate description of your company

Boilerplate description of the investor’s entity

Trademark information in the fine print

Media contact name, phone number and email address

Of course, you cannot issue a press release until the deal is locked in. Don’t jump the gun. But when the time is right and you have the approval of the investor, go for it. Look at examples of real press releases from other startups. You can also ask public relations professionals for guidance and advice, whether a PR agency or an independent PR consultant.

Distribution of the press release also matters. You can issue a press release over an official newswire, such as BusinessWire, PR Newswire or GlobeNewswire (at a cost of between $600 and $1,000 per press release on average). You can also email it directly to reporters at different media outlets (contact info on the different websites). You can post it on your website and even blog about it, including a link in your blog to the press release. Tweet it and share the press release broadly on social media. Ask everyone in your network, including all your employees, to share it with their social networks.

Key takeaway: You can use the news release to get other people excited about your company. You’ve worked so hard to get funding. The next thing to do is make news about it.