PR and Media insights from the EU-Startups Summit 2026: what is effective and what isn’t

      A panel in Valletta created a practical guide for startup public relations, covering everything from the friends-and-family headline test to the argument for hiring an agency. Founders seeking media coverage at this year’s EU-Startups Summit in Valletta received a straightforward briefing from those who determine what gets published. The session, named “The Startup Media Landscape, PR Tips & Tricks,” assembled three editors and a moderator to guide early-stage entrepreneurs on what strategies are effective, what doesn’t work, and what has changed over the past year.

      The panel included Thomas Ohr, founder and CEO of EU-Startups; Akansha Dimri, founder and editor-in-chief of Tech Funding News; and Alexandru Stan, CEO of TNW. Cathy White, founder of CEW Communications, served as the moderator. This session was part of the main-stage program at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, which expects around 2,500 attendees for its two-day event.

      The key takeaway was practical rather than theoretical. Alexandru Stan pointed out that founders, particularly those at the seed and Series A stages, should think about collaborating with a PR agency. His argument was simple: major publications focusing on the European tech landscape receive numerous pitches daily, and having a professional experienced in navigating this deluge can be invaluable.

      He suggested that a founder crafting their own pitches during their free time is up against agencies that pitch the same outlets five days a week and know which journalists cover different topics. This argument was accompanied by a warning. Various speakers emphasized that founders should be cautious about relying too much on AI-generated press releases, which now clutter inboxes and often sound too similar across different companies.

      Instead, the advice was to emphasize authentic storytelling: clearly defining what the company does, who its audience is, and why this news is significant at this moment. Generic announcements, no matter how well formatted, are becoming increasingly easy to recognize and disregard.

      An important point was made early in the session and resonated with the audience: before pitching a journalist, take time to comprehend what the publication covers. Read recent articles, identify which writers handle which topics, and ensure the right story is sent to the appropriate person. This notion was unambiguous, but according to every editor, it remains the most frequent mistake made by startups.

      One of the most memorable pieces of advice presented was a test for headlines. The panel suggested that if a press release's headline is not captivating enough to grab the attention of friends and family, it is unlikely to engage media outlets either. The framing was intentionally straightforward, highlighting something that more complex PR strategies can overlook: editors sift through hundreds of subject lines daily, and the ones they open are those that resemble stories rather than corporate communications.

      The audience for the session mirrored the summit’s broader demographics. Founders constituted the largest group, accompanied by investors, marketers, agency professionals, and ecosystem leaders from across Europe. The discussion was intentionally focused less on how to manipulate media coverage and more on how to garner meaningful attention without viewing media as a shortcut to credibility.

      This perspective is important because the core issue the panel addressed persists. European founders consistently note that media coverage of the continent's companies tends to favor major markets and the best-funded rounds, leaving earlier-stage firms and those located outside London, Berlin, Paris, and Stockholm competing more fiercely for visibility. The selection of Malta for the summit and the panel’s targeted audience highlight this imbalance directly.

      During the session, the journalists present also inquired about Alexandru Stan’s acquisition of TNW from the Financial Times Group, which concluded in late 2025. While Stan acknowledged the topic, he did not reveal further details about the transaction, which was finalized through Tekpon, the SaaS marketplace he established in 2020.

      For the founders in attendance, the broader message from the panel was straightforward. Media coverage must be earned. The quick route, an AI-generated release sent to a mailing list sourced from a database, is now also the most congested. The more deliberate path, which involves understanding the publication, finding a story that reads like a narrative, and crafting a headline that appeals to friends, is still effective.

      Disclosure: Alexandru Stan is the CEO of TNW. This article was independently written and edited.