How to build a PR strategy that genuinely prepares a company for fundraising?

TL;DR

All too often, the communications plan surrounding a funding round is reduced to the announcement itself: a moment of intense but short-lived visibility. Once those fifteen minutes of fame have passed, it primarily generates a flood of commercial enquiries, many of them poorly targeted.

A well-designed communications strategy should first and foremost help the company secure the funding round. That is the purpose of this article. Overcommunicating is a red flag, but remaining silent can be one too. Investors look for entrepreneurs capable of selling their vision when the time comes for shareholders to exit. As we will see, effective communication requires a learning curve that should be developed from the company’s earliest stages.

Think like an investor

Before investing, an angel investor or venture capital fund begins by observing. It searches for signals that will help identify the startups worth considering. Its first reflex is to check Google, Google News and, increasingly, ChatGPT. What appears there immediately shapes perceptions of your company.

Articles, interviews, press releases, coverage in trade publications and activity on LinkedIn all contribute to your credibility, whether owned, earned or paid. You must decide which essential messages should emerge: commercial traction, team strength, market vision, governance, growth or technology.

Remember that your perspective is not the investor’s. Where you see conviction, investors look for alignment with their investment thesis, scalability and evidence of execution. Reverse the logic. Ask which information is useful to them, which data strengthen your case and which signals validate your trajectory.

Position yourself against competitors

Examining your competitors’ media presence can also help refine your own narrative. Understanding how they are perceived in the press reveals your blind spots, sharpens your messages and clarifies your position within the market.

The objective is to develop a distinctive identity and avoid adopting language or positioning already associated with another company.

Build a timeline: start 10 to 18 months in advance

This preparation must follow a realistic timetable. A funding round now typically takes between eight and fourteen months. If you are targeting a January 2027 closing, communications work should begin now. That may appear distant, but you already know your deadlines and must plan accordingly.

Before approaching the media, you need to establish the founder’s credibility and public profile. This begins with a well-documented but restrained LinkedIn presence, a controlled digital footprint, content published through your own channels, including opinion pieces and expert analysis, targeted appearances on specialist podcasts and contributions to industry events.

This foundation creates genuine visibility that journalists will notice before you make first contact.

The purpose of this early stage is to establish credibility. By the time you begin reaching out to journalists, your profile should already be substantial, coherent and, above all, easy to understand.

Enter the media cycle

Once this groundwork is in place, you can begin contributing to the public debate. At seed stage, you will often need to do much of the work yourself. For subsequent funding rounds, however, working with a PR agency or consultant will both save time and accelerate the process.

Their role is to help define the strategy, refine your messages, avoid saturated angles, validate relevant topics and facilitate access to newsrooms. Their value lies not in a media database, but in the quality of the relationships they have built over the years, which can provide a valuable shortcut.

Business publications may offer the first point of entry, but European media have now become essential, even if your company is still operating exclusively in France.

Content creators and their specialist podcasts have also become credible channels. At the same time, your own platforms must remain active through opinion pieces, interviews, studies and appearances outside traditional media.

Adapt your angles to media expectations

Each public statement should contribute to a coherent narrative. Some messages need to be repeated before they take hold, but the angle must always be adapted to the publication and its audience.

Three approaches tend to dominate:

• Product and innovation: the problem being addressed and your value proposition.
• Market and expansion: traction, market share and ambition.
• Team and governance: founders, management and corporate culture.

Every publication has its own interests. Understanding its editorial positioning is essential.

Build a media action plan

The next step is to identify the publications investors genuinely read: financial outlets such as CFNEWS and Capital Finance, business media including Les Échos, FW.MEDIA and BFM Business, and specialist publications that validate your legitimacy within your market.

Targeting must be precise, as every newsroom has its specialists. Identify journalists whose angles, formats and style you know and genuinely appreciate. Read their latest work before contacting them. This prevents you from pitching a topic they have just covered and ensures that you can refer to one or two of their articles when you meet.

You should also pay attention to calls for contributors or sources posted on LinkedIn or X. These often provide the most direct route to a journalist. Bear in mind, however, that you will not be the only person responding. Tailor your approach by offering a well-documented perspective that will attract attention, rather than simply attempting to sell your product.

Prepare clear, usable messages

Preparing key messages means identifying the language that describes your business most accurately. Create briefing sheets for each major topic, list the words that embody your identity, identify those you want to avoid and establish clearly what must remain confidential.

Key figures are essential: growth, customer numbers, revenue, retention and headcount. You should be able to provide them without hesitation.

Prepare professional visual assets, including portraits, product images and logos. Making a journalist’s work easier increases the chances that your material will be used. If a figure is missing, simply say: “I’ll come back to you as soon as I have it,” rather than risk giving an inaccurate answer.

Treat media relations with care

Relationships with journalists should remain professional and free from calculated flattery. A simple and genuine “I enjoyed your article about…” is enough to begin a positive conversation. Journalists recognise bluffers immediately.

Pay attention to what the journalist needs, their deadline and how they may or may not include you in the story. Ask which topics they plan to cover next and do not hesitate to provide something useful, whether data, contacts or additional context.

Media training: an essential step

Media training is essential. Many entrepreneurs underperform in interviews because of stress or simply because they have misunderstood the format and are therefore unable to communicate their message effectively.

Media training prepares your posture, tone and ability to remain focused on your central messages. It corrects unhelpful habits, builds confidence and helps manage the pressure of appearing on camera.

It rests on three pillars:

• Posture and presence: a calm voice, measured gestures and controlled breathing.
• Message clarity: three essential messages, reformulated according to the questions asked.
• Control of sensitive issues: anticipating difficult questions about delays, the business model or governance.

Recorded simulations make it possible to adjust both substance and delivery. This is an investment that consistently proves worthwhile.

Prepare for the interview: press, podcast and television

Every format has its own requirements. Print journalism requires structured answers. Podcasts call for a slower pace. Video places greater demands on presence, eye contact and breathing.

Review the publication or programme’s previous work before taking part. This will help you understand its conventions, transitions and the moments when your key messages can be introduced naturally.

Prepare your opening and closing lines: the phrases that frame your remarks at the beginning and summarise them at the end. One or two strong lines can also be highly effective, provided they are not overused.

Conclude the conversation properly

Once the interview is over, do not leave too quickly. Take a few moments to confirm that the journalist has everything required: figures, visuals and background information. Ask whether they need anything else or intend to explore additional angles in the article. This consideration makes their work easier and improves the quality of the final piece.

Even when working with an agency, always provide your direct contact details. This allows the journalist to reach you quickly if a question or request for clarification arises. Direct contact creates a sense of trust and personal accountability that is often appreciated.

You may ask to verify your quotations, which can help prevent them from being shortened in a way that distorts their meaning, but do not request approval of the entire article.

Finally, accept that the journalist will place your comments in a broader context and may not even mention your brand explicitly. An article is not a press release, still less an advertisement. It must include nuance, contrasting viewpoints and comparisons with competitors. That is the nature of journalism.

And remember: communicating around a funding round should help you secure it, not merely celebrate it, even if the announcement itself has value. We will return to that subject in another article.

To contact the FW.MEDIA editorial team, email us at: editorial@fw.media