How Indian Crypto Startups Get Covered in US Media

Indian startups get covered in US media when the story stops being "an Indian startup did something" and becomes a category story a US reader already follows, backed by proof that holds up outside India. In practice that means winning Indian business press first, then reframing for global crypto and tech desks with a category angle, a comparable metric and a founder who can comment on the US news cycle. Origin is rarely the news. What you're adding to the category is.

I'm an Indian PR consultant who also writes, as a freelance author for The Chainsaw and a contributor at CryptoDailyUK. I described myself on X this way a few weeks ago:

pr consultant and journalist from India ✨ Shilika Jain on X, 17 Sep 2026

So I see this problem from both sides of the inbox. Indian founders send global desks the pitch that worked at home, and the global desk can't see a reason to run it.

Why US media passes on most Indian startup news

Indian business press and US crypto press are answering different questions. An Indian outlet asks what this means for Indian founders, Indian capital and Indian users. A US crypto desk asks what this means for the category: payments, DePIN, AI agents, stablecoins, gaming. "Indian" is a strong hook at the first desk and almost no hook at the second.

Three things usually go wrong in the pitch itself:

• The pitch leads with geography. "India's first" tells a US reporter the story is local.
• The numbers don't travel. User counts, revenue in rupees and India-only partners are hard for a reporter to compare with the companies they already cover.
• The founder is unavailable in US hours. By the time the reporter replies, it's past midnight in Bengaluru, and the window closes.

I wrote this about launches in general, but it lands hardest on cross-border pitches:

every other launch is important to the company & promotional to the media of it doesn't have a high impact value associated w it! Shilika Jain on X, 11 Oct 2024

High impact value, for a US desk, means impact on something its readers already track.

What do Indian and US outlets each reward?

This is how I brief Indian founders before we write a single global pitch. It's a pattern from the campaigns I've run, not a rule every outlet follows.

If you only read one row, read "The lead". Most Indian pitches that fail abroad are good Indian pitches sent to the wrong column.

The four swaps that turn an India story into a global one

When an Indian founder wants global coverage, I don't start by rewriting the release. I make four swaps in the story, and then I write.

1. Swap geography for category. Take a made-up example: "Bengaluru startup raises $5M" becomes "a DePIN network bets that idle office GPUs can undercut cloud prices for AI inference." The city moves to the second paragraph.

2. Swap local numbers for comparable ones. Replace rupee figures and India-only metrics with numbers a US reporter can compare: transactions, active wallets, retention, nodes, developers. If you have on-chain data, use it. My notes on turning on-chain data into story hooks go deeper on this.

3. Swap the origin story for a thesis. The Indian profile is about how you started. The US interview is about what you believe the category gets wrong. Pick one sentence you'd defend on a podcast and repeat it everywhere.

4. Swap the announcement for commentary. Your first global placement often isn't your own news. It's a quote on someone else's. Offering a sharp view when a big story breaks gets an unknown founder into outlets that wouldn't run their funding news. I cover how to run this in reactive commentary for Web3 and AI founders.

A quick test before you pitch: delete every mention of India from your first paragraph. If the paragraph still has a reason to exist, it's ready for a US desk.

What the Bullieverse raise shows about the two tracks

Bullieverse, an Indian-founded metaverse gaming team, raised $4M in February 2022. The round ran on two tracks with the same facts.

In India it was a mainstream business story. Economic Times ran it as Bullieverse bagging $4 million in a round led by Web3 venture funds, and it also landed in Inc42, Entrackr, YourStory, VCCircle and Tech in Asia. No reframing needed. An Indian team raising from Web3 funds was the story.

The global side was different. It ran as a press release on Cointelegraph, on NewsBTC, as a founder interview on Hackernoon and on Investing.com, where the hook was the Chainlink VRF integration rather than the round. The CoinDesk piece was sponsored content, not earned, and I'd rather say that plainly than let it read as a tier-1 win.

The lesson I took from it: the Indian press came for the founders and the money, and the global tech pickup came for the integration, which was a category detail. The Bullieverse case study has the full list.

Build local, promote global: the sequence I use

I've used this line for years and it's still how I'd order the work:

Web3 funda: BUIDL local, promote global. Shilika Jain on X, 6 Dec 2022

For an Indian crypto founder, "promote global" works best as a sequence over a quarter, not a single launch day:

1. Win the Indian business press first. Economic Times, Inc42 and YourStory give you credibility you can point to, and they're the right audience for hiring and Indian partners. The India Web3 PR playbook covers this step.
2. Collect proof that travels. Usage numbers, on-chain data, a named partner a US reader recognises.
3. Build the founder's English-language footprint. Regular posts on X and LinkedIn around one thesis, so a reporter who looks you up finds a point of view.
4. Start with commentary. Two or three expert quotes in global crypto outlets before you ask anyone to cover your own news.
5. Pitch the next real milestone globally, with the category angle on top and an exclusive offered to one outlet.
6. Be reachable in US hours. Block two evenings a week, Indian time, for calls in the launch fortnight.

Step 6 sounds small. It's the one founders skip most, and it costs them the interview that was one reply away.

When chasing US media is the wrong goal

US coverage isn't always worth the effort, and the cost is real: a reframed narrative, weeks of commentary work and late nights.

Skip it, or push it later, when:

• Your users are in India. An Economic Times story reaches the people who'll download your app. A CoinDesk story mostly reaches people who won't.
• You don't have comparable proof yet. A global pitch without numbers a US reporter can check usually ends as a sponsored post, which won't do much for your credibility.
• Your founder can't commit to the time. Commentary only works if you're quick, and quick means available in US hours.

Go after it when you're raising from global funds, preparing an exchange relationship, hiring internationally or when your category is being decided in US media right now.

If you want help planning the order, my founder profiling service is built around exactly this kind of sequence.

FAQ

Do Indian founders need a US-based PR agency to get US coverage?

No. What you need is someone who knows which global crypto and tech reporters cover your category and how they like to be pitched. Location matters less than relationships, the angle and being reachable in US hours.

Is paid or sponsored coverage in US crypto outlets worth it for Indian startups?

It can help with search visibility and a listing on a well-known site, but it doesn't carry the credibility of earned coverage, and reporters can tell the difference. Treat it as distribution, label it honestly in your own reporting and don't build your story around it.

How long does it take an Indian crypto founder to get a first US placement?

Expert commentary can land within a few weeks if the founder has a clear view and answers quickly. A feature or exclusive on your own news usually takes longer, because it needs proof and a category angle the reporter can sell to their editor.

Should the founder mention being from India in global pitches?

Yes, where it adds something, like access to India's developer base or Indian users as proof of demand. Just don't make it the headline unless the story is specifically about India.

Indian founder aiming at CoinDesk or Decrypt next quarter? Book a 30-minute call and I'll show you which of the four swaps your story still needs.