The new owner of US-based news brand Techcrunch said the brand is “doubling down” on coverage in Europe, despite sacking the editorial team based in the region.
But ex-Techcrunch staff and other tech journalists remain sceptical, with one calling the statement “hollow corporate doublespeak”.
Press Gazette reported this week that Techcrunch had decided to pull out of the UK and Europe shortly after being bought out by private equity firm Regent LP from Yahoo Inc.
Michael Reinstein, chairman at new owner Regent and now bylined as chairman and publisher of Techcrunch, has written a piece proclaiming: “Europe, we’re not leaving.”
Reinstein said reports that Techcrunch is pulling out of Europe and ending its coverage of European start-ups are “flat-out wrong”.
He added: “The recent changes at Techcrunch are not about retreat. They are about realignment and reinforcement. This new chapter is fueled by our partnership with our sister company, Foundry, which was brought under the same ownership to create a tech media entity with unparalleled global scope.”
Foundry, which was bought by Regent a week earlier than Techcrunch in March, owns tech brands like PC World, Macworld, Info World and Tech Advisor. Reinstein described Foundry as “a powerhouse of international technology journalism” with a network of journalists across Europe.
He added: “The suggestion that our new ownership believes international coverage is unessential is patently false. The entire purpose of bringing TechCrunch and Foundry together is to create a stronger, more globally focused media platform.”
Reinstein said the “strengths” of Techcrunch and Foundry are being integrated and that they will be on the ground in Europe, providing “relentless scrutiny”. “Techcrunch isn’t retreating from Europe. We’re doubling down,” he wrote.
Statement is poorly received by former Techcrunch staffers
However, not everyone was convinced. Catherine Shu, a senior reporter at Techcrunch between 2012 and 2024, wrote on Linkedin that she was “shocked by the cruelty of making a post like this weeks after laying off the entire Europe team”.
Robin Wauters, who worked at Techcrunch between 2008 and 2012 and later co-founded Tech.eu, said the site “is, in fact, very much retreating. And it isn’t (and won’t) be doubling down. Benefit of experience is that you can detect that bullshit a mile away… Don’t buy into it, folks.”
John Biggs, editor-at-large at Techcrunch until 2018, wrote: “Europeans: don’t believe this guy. He’s not actually part of TC and he fired literally the best tech/startup news team in the business so he could get cheaper writers. Don’t read their coverage and don’t offer interviews. TC’s value is way down and it will have no material benefit.”
Tech journalist Andrii Degeler said: “To me, the latest update on Techcrunch Europe sounds like classic PE: trying to find ‘synergies’ and ‘efficiencies’ in all the wrong places… Turns out, Regent expects to somehow substitute the European coverage previously done by the in-house team at TC with that of PCWorld, MacWorld, CIO, TechAdvisor, etc.”
Degeler added: “While I have nothing but respect for Foundry’s media brands, they have very clear focus, be it consumer tech, enterprise, or particular corporate functions. I don’t see any of them possessing a fraction of the expertise that TC lost with the departure of its in-house team reporting on European tech.
“So, no, this is not what doubling down looks like; this is just hollow corporate doublespeak. TC deserves so much better.”
Dan Taylor, former managing editor at Tech.eu, wrote: “Techcrunch’s European shutdown perfectly illustrates how financial engineering can obliterate editorial credibility. As much as it pains me to say this, TC’s response to the growing voice of pulling out of Europe is exactly how NOT to handle the situation.”
Taylor said Reinstein’s post had “managed to turn a business decision into a reputation disaster”, including by using “obvious corporate doublespeak” and because it “ignored the human cost” of the layoffs.
He added: “They’re misreading the audience. Nothing trumps authenticity and relationships. PE, synonymous with hollow corporate messaging, is using typical verbiage to address people who have just lost their trusted media contacts. This is the definition of ‘backfire’.”
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