Tech in Asia aims to deliver information to our subscribers before anyone else. If you can provide us exclusive information either on an exclusive basis or two weeks ahead of other media, it increases the chances of us covering your company.

If you send us a a story that isn't unique or has been explored in other media, we're less likely to cover it. However, we'd like to maintain a relationship with you and collaborate on future stories.

Do note, however, that not all stories - even if they're offered exclusively - interests us. Do have a look at our existing coverage to see what might.

In general, we aim to:

• be the first to cover the top startups and tech companies in Asia;
• do exclusive in-depth stories on a significant tech company, rising startups, or tech initiative;
• be the first to cover a trend that's sweeping the industry;
• follow the money. The more money that's involved in the news or story, the more interested we are;
• do exclusive stories on a fundraise, either by a startup or investor.

The more information you give us, the better

The more information you can give us about the story, your company or organization, and the people involved, the better. Professionally created visuals matter too: product shots, team photos, office shots, can make the story more attractive to readers.

How we evaluate startups or new technology

Here’s how we decide which startups to cover. You don’t necessarily need to meet all the criteria to get coverage, of course:

• How will your tech eventually change the world? Sounds cliche, but there's no better way to put this. How is your product groundbreaking? What impact will it have on industry and society? What might your company look like 10 years down the road?
• Why are you the one that will change the world? Surely you're not the only one in your space. What makes you or your company special? How is your product better than similar startups or traditional solutions? Is it cheaper? More effective? What's the tech that goes behind your solution? What expertise does your team have that's hard to replicate?
• Are you on track to changing the world? We like strong organic traction, revenue, and growth. Maybe you've raised a lot of money. Maybe you have hundreds of thousands of active users or more, with double digit monthly growth. Maybe you've passed a crucial clinical trial, or have secured prominent enterprise clients on plump contracts. Or maybe you've bootstrapped your way to profitability. We’re interested - as long as you're not burning through an unsustainable amount of money to achieve those results. Unit economics matter.

Questions we typically ask startups

If we're profiling you or your company for the first time, or doing an in-depth story about your company, here are the questions we typically ask:

How will your tech eventually change the world?

• Why is this the right time to start your company? What has changed in the market and technological landscape that makes this the right time?
• How big is the opportunity in terms of market size and total addressable market (TAM)? What's the revenue potential if you capture a good chunk of the TAM? How big can your business potentially get to justify the risk of starting this company?
• What are the features of your product and solution? Where's the innovation? How is it better than the competition? In quantifiable terms, how does your product benefit the end-user?
• Who are your direct competitors, in terms of both incumbents and fellow startups?
• Are there similar startups in other regions? How have they progressed? Are they doing well, growing fast, profitable etc?
• What are your future plans, in terms of product/geographical/team expansion?

Why are you the one that will change the world?

• What's the professional history of you and/or your team? 
• Why did you decide to start this company? What problems are you solving? Why start a company to solve this problem?
• Why is your team best positioned to solve this problem?

Are you on track to changing the world? 

• How much funding have you raised? Who are the investors? What stage of funding is it? (Seed, pre-series-A, series A, series B etc)
• How much will you be planning to raise? How much, and by when?
• Will you be making acquisitions this year?
• What's the revenue model? How much will you charge customers?
• How much traction do you have, in terms of users or revenue? How much DAUs/MAUs/revenue do you have so far this year, and how does it compare to the same period last year?
• How are your unit economics, in terms of user acquisition costs, sales and marketing expenses, and customer lifetime value?
• If you have a subscription business model, what's your churn rate on a monthly or annual basis?
• Is the company net profitable or in position to be net profitable? How will it get there? What about gross profits?
• How much have you spent on marketing, in absolute terms and as a percentage of revenue? What are the gross margins? What's your customer acquisition cost against lifetime customer value? How do you see those numbers improving in the future?

Other questions

• Describe the most challenging moments in running your companies so far. What happened?
• What are the mistakes you've made and lessons you've learned from them?

You have issues with a story about your company. How should you address it?

Contact [email protected] or the writer directly. 

Reasons why we will edit an article after it has been published:

1. Correcting factual inaccuracies.

We correct factual inaccuracies as we spot them. Corrections are noted at the bottom of the article.

2. Adding facts, context, quotes, and analysis that are relevant to the story.

With news pieces especially, we're constantly adding relevant content to flesh them out as the day progresses. 

3. The story violates our ethical guidelines.

For example, if information that is off-the-record has been published or if a news embargo has been broken.

We won't edit articles for these reasons:

1. Removing information that is on-the-record.

Once an information is on-the-record, we will not retract it. This is a standard journalistic practice.

If readers discover that factual information has been removed from an article, they will question us. This could hurt our credibility.

2. Removing information that is in the public record.

An example would be financial statements from filings on ACRA's business filing portal. Any member of the public can obtain this information.

What happens if we don't cover you?

It's possible that your pitch isn't suitable for coverage by Tech in Asia's editorial team. Or it could just be bad judgment on our part. 

Here are some things you can do:

• Revise your pitch and send it to us again, or wait until you have a better story to tell.
• Write your own content and submit it to Tech in Asia via [email protected]. See our content guidelines.
• Engage our branded content team to craft a paid branded campaign to reach out to our audience. More info here.

We hope to maintain an ongoing relationship with you. Just because we don't cover you today doesn't mean we won't do so the next time. Let's stay in touch.

What happens if the story isn't flattering?

By and large, our stories are neutral or positive towards the people or company we cover.

However, our goal has always been to tell the real behind-the-scenes stories about the ecosystem. We do not think reporting only on positive spins put out by press releases or simply sharing the perspectives of the startups will help the ecosystem. Instead, it could be detrimental by creating a skewed image of the ecosystem.

We are also simply doing what our subscribers, who are members of the tech industry, want. They demand real stories about the positive and negative sides of tech companies. 

We expect that in fulfilling our mission, we will sometimes inconvenience companies that we write about, and we do write about many powerful companies and people. We acknowledge that it is possible that our coverage could have a negative commercial impact on the companies we write about. We do receive push-back from the people we cover, though we see it as part of our job to explain our approach.

We strive operate transparently. For sensitive stories, we will go out of our way to inform you about how we're approaching the story and the questions we have.

We also seek to understanding your situation and listening to your concerns. While we believe in independent journalism, we aim to do so in a way that minimizes harm for all concerned.

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