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Press Release Template for a Startup Launch (Free Download)
A startup launch press release has nine parts: a release line (immediate or embargoed), a headline under about 100 characters, a one-sentence subheadline, a dateline, a lead paragraph that answers who, what, when, where and why, a supporting paragraph with the proof, one or two quotes that add opinion rather than repeat facts, a short availability or pricing paragraph, and a boilerplate plus media contact. Keep it between 400 and 600 words. Use it as the reference document for a launch, and pitch reporters separately with a short personal email.
That last point matters more than the template. A press release is a record of facts. It's rarely what gets you covered. Below is the annotated template, a filled-in fictional example, your distribution options, and the situations where you shouldn't bother with a release at all.
The annotated press release template
Copy this and replace every bracket. The notes after each line explain what reporters look for.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(or: EMBARGOED UNTIL [Day, Date, Time, Time zone])
[HEADLINE: Company + strong verb + what's new + why it matters, under ~100 characters]
[Subheadline: one sentence adding the most important supporting detail]
[CITY, Country], [Month Day, Year] - [Company], a [plain category description],
today [announced / launched / released] [the news], [the main benefit or
outcome for a specific customer].
[Paragraph 2: The proof. Numbers, early customers, beta results, partners,
investors. Date every metric.]
[Paragraph 3: The context. Why now? What problem or market shift makes this
matter? One or two sentences of evidence a reporter could verify.]
"[Quote 1: opinion, conviction or a vivid way of explaining the problem.
Not a restatement of the headline.]" said [Full Name], [Title] of [Company].
[Paragraph 4: How it works, in plain language. Two to four sentences.]
"[Optional Quote 2: a customer, partner or investor adding outside
validation.]" said [Full Name], [Title], [Organisation].
[Paragraph 5: Availability. Pricing, regions, how to get access, date.]
About [Company]
[60 to 100 word boilerplate]
Media contact
[Name], [Email], [Phone or Telegram], [Time zone]
-ENDS-What each part is for
| Part | Job | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Release line | Tells the reporter when they can publish | Forgetting the time zone on an embargo |
| Headline | Makes the news obvious in one glance | Brand slogans instead of news |
| Subheadline | Adds the second most important fact | Repeating the headline in different words |
| Dateline and lead | Answers who, what, when, where, why | Opening with company history |
| Proof paragraph | Shows evidence the news is real | Vague claims with no numbers or dates |
| Context paragraph | Explains why this matters now | Generic market-size statistics |
| Quotes | Adds opinion and a human voice | Quotes that sound like a brochure |
| Availability | Tells readers how to get it | Missing pricing or dates |
| Boilerplate and contact | Gives standard facts and a real person | Generic press@ inbox nobody monitors |
The -ENDS- line (some writers use ### instead) is an old wire convention meaning "end of release". Some newsrooms still expect it. It costs nothing to include.
A worked example (fictional)
This is an illustration. The company, people and numbers are invented to show the template in use.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tallyform launches AI intake assistant that cuts law firm client onboarding from days to minutes
Early users across 40 small firms report average intake time falling from 3 days to under 2 hours
AUSTIN, United States, October 6, 2026 - Tallyform, a legal operations
software company for small and mid-sized law firms, today launched Tallyform
Intake, an AI assistant that collects client documents, runs conflict checks
and drafts engagement letters before a lawyer opens the file.
During a four-month beta that ended in September 2026, 40 firms with between
5 and 50 lawyers used Tallyform Intake on more than 6,000 new matters. Average
time from first contact to signed engagement letter fell from 3 days to 1 hour
and 50 minutes, based on the firms' own timestamps.
Small firms lose clients during intake because responses are slow and the
paperwork is manual. Most of these firms have no dedicated operations staff,
so a partner or paralegal handles intake between billable work.
"Lawyers didn't go to law school to chase PDFs," said Maya Ortiz, co-founder
and CEO of Tallyform. "Every hour a partner spends on intake is an hour they
aren't billing, and every day of delay is a day the client might call another
firm."
Tallyform Intake connects to a firm's existing practice management system,
sends clients a branded intake link, extracts details from uploaded documents
and flags potential conflicts for a human to review. Lawyers approve every
engagement letter before it is sent.
"We used to lose one or two prospective clients a month just because we
couldn't get back to them fast enough," said Daniel Reeve, managing partner
at a 12-lawyer firm in the beta. "That has mostly stopped."
Tallyform Intake is available today in the United States from $49 per user
per month, with a 14-day free trial.
About Tallyform
Tallyform builds legal operations software for small and mid-sized law
firms. Founded in 2024 and based in Austin, the company is backed by
[Investor] and [Investor]. Learn more at tallyform.example.
Media contact
[Name], [email], [phone], Central Time
-ENDS-Notice the quote from the CEO doesn't restate the numbers. It gives the reporter a line they can actually use. Notice the beta results come with a sample size, a time frame and a source. That's what turns a claim into something a journalist can print.
Headline formulas that work
Most release headlines fail because they read like taglines. A headline should tell a busy editor what happened.
- [Company] launches [product] to [specific outcome] for [specific customer]
- [Company] raises $[amount] [round] led by [investor] to [specific goal]
- [Company] partners with [known company] to [specific joint outcome]
- [Company] opens [office or market] to serve [customer] in [region]
- [Number] [customers or users] now use [product] to [outcome], [Company] says
- [Company] releases [report or data] showing [surprising finding]
Avoid "revolutionary", "next-generation", "industry-leading" and "AI-powered" as standalone adjectives. Show what the AI does instead.
Distribution options and what they actually get you
| Option | Typical cost | What it does well | What it doesn't do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Your own site and newsroom page | Free | Creates the official record, helps SEO and AI search | Reach anyone new on its own |
| Direct pitching to reporters | Free (time) | The way most real coverage happens | Scale without relationships |
| Wire services (Business Wire, PR Newswire, GlobeNewswire) | Hundreds to a few thousand dollars per release | Syndication, investor-relations compliance, financial terminals | Guarantee any journalist reads it |
| Niche crypto or tech wires | Low hundreds to low thousands | Syndication to category sites | Earn editorial coverage on tier-1 outlets |
| Paid placement packages | Varies widely | Guaranteed publication on specific sites | Editorial credibility; often labelled sponsored |
Prices vary by wire, word count and regions, so treat those as rough bands. For a deeper comparison on the crypto side, see the crypto press release service page.
Wire syndication puts your release on hundreds of sites. Very few humans read those copies. It can still be worth it for public-company disclosure, for search footprint, or when a partner insists. Just don't confuse syndication with coverage.
When not to use a press release
Releases are useful. They're also overused. Skip the release, or keep it as a quiet record on your own site, in these cases.
- The news isn't news. A feature update, a new hire below C-level or a minor integration. Post it on your blog and social instead.
- You want a tier-1 exclusive. Offer one reporter the story first, under embargo, with a personal pitch. Publish the release on your site after their story runs.
- The story is an idea, not an event. Trends, opinions and data insights land better as an op-ed or a pitched data story.
- You're in a crisis. Use a direct, signed statement from the founder, not a polished release.
- You have no proof yet. A release with no customers, numbers or credible names attached reads as an ad.
The decision between release, pitch and exclusive deserves its own walk-through, which you'll find in press release vs pitch vs exclusive. In crypto especially, reporters see so many releases that many have tuned them out. I wrote about that in press release blindness in Web3.
Pre-send checklist
Run every release through this before it goes anywhere.
- Headline states the news in under about 100 characters
- Lead paragraph answers who, what, when, where and why
- Every number has a date and a source
- Quotes add opinion and don't repeat the facts
- Embargo line includes date, time and time zone
- Names, titles and spellings checked against LinkedIn and the press page
- Boilerplate matches the current version on your site
- Media contact is a named person who will answer on launch day
- Links work, open without a login and include UTM tags where relevant
- Release is between 400 and 600 words
- Legal or compliance review done if you mention tokens, returns or regulated activity
- Press kit is live and linked
The press kit and launch PR template includes this release template as a fill-in document, plus a launch-day PR timeline. Pair it with a complete press kit so reporters have every asset they need.
How the release fits into a launch
On a well-run launch, the press release is the last thing a reporter reads, not the first. The sequence usually looks like this: a personal pitch to one or a few target reporters, an embargoed briefing with the founder, the release and press kit shared under embargo, then the release published on your site and, if you want it, the wire when the embargo lifts.
That's how MANTRA Chain's $11M raise became a CoinDesk exclusive on March 19, 2024, later re-reported across Decrypt, CryptoPotato, CryptoDaily and Milk Road. The release existed. The angle and the exclusive did the work. If you'd like help shaping that angle for your own launch, that's what I do on a launch sprint.
The template gets the facts right. Getting someone to care about them is a separate job.
Planning a launch and not sure whether to pitch, release or offer an exclusive? Book a 30-minute teardown with Shilika.