Press Kit Template for Startups: What Journalists Actually Use

A startup press kit is a single page or folder that gives a journalist everything they need to write about you without emailing back: a boilerplate paragraph, a one-page fact sheet, founder bios, high-resolution headshots, logos in light and dark versions, product screenshots, funding facts, recent announcements and a named press contact who answers within hours. Keep it on a public URL like yoursite.com/press, make every asset downloadable without a login, and update it every time something material changes.

That's the short version. Below is what each section should contain, an example boilerplate you can adapt, the mistakes I see most often, and a checklist to audit your own kit in 30 minutes.

I've sent a lot of press kits to reporters at CoinDesk, Cointelegraph, Decrypt, The Block and Forbes contributors. The kits that help are boring, complete and fast. The ones that hurt are beautiful PDFs with a missing logo file and a founder headshot from 2019.

Why a press kit still matters in 2026

A press kit does three jobs.

First, it saves a reporter time on deadline. When a journalist decides to include you in a story at 4pm for a 6pm filing, they'll pull whatever they can find. If your logo, founder title and funding figure are easy to grab, they'll be correct. If not, they'll guess or cut you.

Second, it sets the facts. Your boilerplate and fact sheet become the version of the company that gets repeated. Get the category description right here and it echoes through every story.

Third, it feeds AI search. Assistants like ChatGPT and Perplexity pull from pages that state facts clearly. A clean press page with a plain-language description of what you do, who founded it and when, and who backed you is exactly the kind of page they quote.

What goes in a startup press kit

The boilerplate

The boilerplate is the "About" paragraph at the bottom of every press release. It's the most copied text you'll ever write, so it should be plain, specific and short. Lead with what you do in words a non-specialist would understand. Add one proof point. End with location and links.

The fact sheet

The fact sheet is a one-page cheat sheet. A reporter should be able to answer "how many people work there?", "who led the round?" and "when was it founded?" in five seconds. Use a two-column table. No adjectives.

Founder bios

Write two lengths. The short version goes in story captions and event programs. The long one gives context for profiles. Lead with what the founder does now, then the one or two past roles that make them credible on this topic. Skip the hobbies unless they're relevant.

Headshots and logos

These are the files reporters most often can't find. Shoot headshots against a plain background, in good light, and offer both orientations. Give logos in SVG and transparent PNG, light and dark. Name files clearly: companyname-logo-dark.svg, firstname-lastname-headshot-1.jpg.

Product images and video

Screenshots should show the product doing something real, not an empty dashboard. For AI products, show an input and an output. For Web3 protocols, show the interface a user actually touches, plus a simple architecture diagram if the tech is the story.

Funding facts and press contact

State the round, amount, date and investors exactly as you want them repeated. Then give a real person as the press contact. A generic press@ inbox nobody checks is worse than no contact at all.

Example boilerplate you can adapt

Here's a fictional example for illustration. The company doesn't exist.

About Ledgerlight

Ledgerlight is an AI audit assistant that helps mid-sized accounting firms
review client ledgers for errors and fraud signals before year-end close.
Founded in 2024 and headquartered in Singapore, Ledgerlight is used by
accounting teams across Southeast Asia and is backed by [Lead Investor]
and [Investor 2]. Learn more at ledgerlight.example.

Press contact: [Name], [email], [phone or Telegram], responds within 4 hours, SGT.

Notice what's missing. No "leading", no "revolutionary", no "AI-powered platform leveraging". Reporters strip those words out, and AI assistants treat them as unverifiable claims.

A quick formula if you're starting from scratch:

[Company] is a [category in plain words] that helps [specific customer]
[do specific job] [so that / without specific pain]. Founded in [year]
and based in [city], [Company] [one proof point: customers, usage, partners
or investors]. Learn more at [URL].

Fact sheet template

Copy this into your press page and fill it in.

Company name:
Legal entity (if different):
Founded:
Headquarters:
Founders and titles:
Team size (approximate):
What we do (one sentence):
Category:
Total funding to date:
Most recent round (stage, amount, date):
Lead investor(s):
Other investors:
Key metric (customers, users, TVL, API calls, etc.) with date:
Key partners or integrations:
Website:
Press page URL:
Press contact (name, email, time zone):

Date every metric. "12,000 developers as of September 2026" ages well. "12,000 developers" without a date becomes wrong and nobody notices.

Where to host it

Put the press kit on your own domain, not a third-party file-sharing link that expires or asks for access. A simple structure works best: the boilerplate and fact sheet as text at the top of the page, then bios, then a download section with one zip file of all assets plus individual file links for people who only need a logo. Link the page from your site footer so reporters and crawlers can find it.

Keep a short changelog at the bottom ("Updated 14 September 2026: added Series A details"). It tells a reporter the page is maintained, and it gives you a reason to check the facts every time you touch it. If you have a Notion or Google Drive folder internally, fine, but the public version should be a normal web page that loads fast on a phone.

Common press kit mistakes

These are the problems I run into most often when I audit a startup's press page before a launch.

• Assets behind a form or a login. Reporters won't fill in a lead-capture form to get your logo.
• Only a PDF. PDFs are fine as a bonus, but the text should live on a crawlable web page.
• Out-of-date funding figures or team size from two rounds ago.
• Headshots that are cropped selfies or conference photos with other people's shoulders.
• Logos only in JPG with a white box around them.
• A boilerplate that's 250 words and three paragraphs long.
• No named press contact, or a contact in a time zone that can't answer before US or APAC deadlines.
• Mismatched facts between the press page, LinkedIn, Crunchbase and the latest release.

The last one causes more corrections than anything else. Before any announcement, check that your founding year, founder titles and funding totals match everywhere.

Web3 and AI additions

Some categories need extra sections.

Web3 protocols should add token details (ticker, contract addresses, chain, supply, links to official tokenomics), audit reports, a list of official channels so reporters can spot impersonators, and a short glossary if the tech is novel. On a mainnet or token launch, reporters will also ask for the exact date and time of the event in UTC.

AI startups should add a plain-language explanation of what the model or system does, what data it's trained on or uses (as much as you can share), a responsible-use or safety statement, and a short demo video. Reporters are increasingly sceptical of AI claims, and showing the product working is the fastest way past that.

Multi-market launches benefit from translated boilerplates. On RARI Chain's mainnet launch, the embargo lifted into coordinated APAC translations, and having localised copy ready meant regional outlets could publish at the same time as English ones. You can read how that came together in the RARI Chain case study.

Press kit audit checklist

Run through this before any launch or funding announcement.

• Press page lives at a short, public URL (for example /press)
• Boilerplate is under 100 words and matches the latest press release
• Fact sheet has every metric dated
• Each founder has a short and long bio
• At least two recent headshots per founder, in two orientations, 2000px or larger
• Logos in SVG and transparent PNG, light and dark
• 4 to 8 product screenshots that show real usage
• A short demo video link that works without a login
• Funding facts match Crunchbase, LinkedIn and your site
• Recent news and coverage lists are current
• Named press contact with time zone and response time
• All files download without a form, login or expired link
• Translated boilerplate ready if you're announcing in more than one market

The press kit and launch PR template includes a fill-in version of every section above, plus a launch-day PR timeline. If you're pitching alongside the kit, the journalist pitch email templates pair with it well, and press release template for a startup launch covers the release itself.

When a press kit isn't enough

A press kit makes coverage easier to write. It doesn't make anyone want to write it. The story, the timing and the relationship with the reporter do that.

If you're planning a launch where tier-1 coverage really matters, that's the part of the work I do on a Web3 PR campaign or launch sprint: the angle, the exclusive, the embargo and the follow-through. The press kit is just the bit the reporter sees last.

Build the kit anyway. A reporter who likes your story and can't find a usable logo will run the piece with a stock image of a robot.

Want your press page checked before a launch? Book a 30-minute teardown with Shilika.