European startups are mourning TechCrunch’s withdrawal from the region after the leading industry outlet quietly shut down local operations, with many long-serving staff made redundant.
For more than a decade, TechCrunch’s European division was the first point of call for budding startups seeking publicity. The site covered now industry-leading companies like Revolut, Wise and Vinted before they were on the radar of most journalists, consumers or investors.
Word of TechCrunch’s European exit “hit hard”, says Chad West, who worked closely with the publication during his five years as Revolut’s comms lead. “This isn’t just another round of media layoffs. It’s a gut punch to the ecosystem.”
Serial entrepreneur Andrey Korchak, cofounder of fintech startup Monite, tells Sifted the publication was pivotal to his company’s growth: “The article instantly became a tool in our sales pitches, lending us validation with potential clients,” he says.
“It triggered a wave of investor interest, particularly from the US […] I personally know plenty of founders who got attention from Sequoia, Accel or a16z after being featured.”
Team
The retreat comes after Yahoo, TechCrunch’s former parent company, sold the business to private equity firm Regent in March. While TechCrunch has yet to confirm how many people have been laid off, several European editorial staff members announced via social media posts they were seeking new roles.
Two weeks ago Ingrid Lunden, a London-based news editor, announced via LinkedIn she had left the company in April, after 13 years. Natasha Lomas, a senior reporter, and Paul Sawers, a senior writer, said they had left the publication in recent weeks.
Romain Dillet, previously a senior reporter at TechCrunch who covered the French ecosystem, wrote on Linkedin: “This is a bittersweet moment for me, as I didn’t leave TechCrunch on my own terms.” Alluding to Regent’s recent takeover he said: “They thought international startup coverage wasn’t essential. I strongly disagree with that decision.”
Mike Butcher — for many synonymous with the brand in Europe — is yet to publicly announce anything, although his bio on TechCrunch’s site now says that he was “formerly editor-at-large”.
Sifted contacted each of the journalists for comment.
Legacy
Many who spoke to Sifted for this article cited the influence of Steve O’Hear, the London-based journalist who spearheaded TechCrunch’s European coverage for over a decade.
O’Hear left TechCrunch in 2021 to oversee strategy and comms at food delivery scaleup Zapp, eventually launching his own firm O’Hear & Co Advisory. Following a short illness, O’Hear’s team confirmed he had died in October 2024.
Hiroki Takeuchi, CEO of London-based fintech GoCardless, sat down for a lengthy interview with O’Hear in 2017; his first media appearance since a cycling accident left him paralysed the previous year.
“When I had my accident, Steve O’Hear was the one I wanted to speak to and TechCrunch was the place for it. Based on the readership I knew I’d only have to tell the story once and the entire community would know,” Takeuchi tells Sifted.
Being featured was always a pivotal moment in the journey of a startup and for a VC.
West, who now serves as CMO of crypto wallet company Argent, praised O’Hear and his former colleague Dillet for their work over the years. “They were in the trenches with us,” he tells Sifted. “Chronicling the chaos. Calling bullshit when needed. Giving European startups oxygen when nobody else was paying attention.”
At the time of writing, TechCrunch and new owner Regent had not responded to requests for comment.
Cathy White, a comms professional and angel investor who has worked in and around the industry for 15 years, tells Sifted: “Being featured was always a pivotal moment in the journey of a startup and for a VC. It was one of the ways you could ensure that American eyes would see European news.”
“With fewer media publications championing European stories, we have a gaping hole that will do us all a disservice,” says White. “For now: RIP TechCrunch — and thank you to all the journalists there we had the pleasure to work with.”
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/techcrunch-leaves-europe-shut-down-startups/
