In the event you haven’t heard the information, TechCrunch has a shiny new house. After years below the possession of Yahoo — which, in flip, is backed by Apollo Group — the model is now in recent arms. Its new mother or father firm: Regent, a dynamic non-public fairness agency with a various portfolio spanning media, retail, and manufacturing. Regent was based 12 years in the past by Michael Reinstein, a personable one-time startup founder who rapidly realized he might need a brighter future as a PE government and who has an simple ardour for TechCrunch.
Whereas the monetary phrases stay undisclosed, one factor is evident: Regent is buying an iconic model. TechCrunch isn’t only a tech information web site; it’s essentially the most influential voice chronicling innovation in Silicon Valley and past. Getting featured in TechCrunch has lengthy been a ceremony of passage for startups, however our mission extends far past the business insiders who make up our core readership. We intention to present completely everybody a front-row seat to the way forward for expertise. Whether or not you’re a founder, an investor, or somebody who’s interested by how tech is reshaping the world, we assist you to to see what’s subsequent by reporting the information, then placing the items collectively to share the larger image.
The very best half: This deal is structured to make sure minimal disruption to TechCrunch’s operations. You’ll be able to nearly consider it extra like a software program replace somewhat than a system overhaul. In San Francisco and New York, we’ll be transferring into new workplaces leased by Regent. (Goodbye, Monetary District; hi there, SoMa!) And Yahoo isn’t severing ties totally — it’s maintaining a small curiosity within the firm. (What can we are saying? It’s arduous to let go of TechCrunch.) Relatedly, my private due to Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone, who has been an unbelievable mentor and sounding board and to whom I’m deeply grateful.
However right here’s what actually issues: The identical crew of skilled journalists you recognize and belief will proceed bringing you the must-read tales of the tech world. Undoubtedly, that is the strongest TechCrunch crew we’ve ever had, and we’ve been lucky to work with some superb expertise over time.
TechCrunch has been on the coronary heart of Silicon Valley since Michael Arrington and Keith Teare based it in 2005. With the continuing help of our readers and advertisers, we’ve lined each main tech pattern, each billionaire brawl, and each business shake-up. And we’re simply getting began. Most of the founders and executives we’ve written about over time are actually shaping insurance policies in Washington, and we’ll be proper there, reporting on what occurs subsequent.
Yahoo determined to promote TechCrunch as a result of, in the long run, our DNA is just completely different from the remainder of its portfolio. Whereas Yahoo Sports activities, Yahoo Information, and Yahoo Finance excel at aggregation, TechCrunch has at all times been about unique reporting and information evaluation. The timing of the sale additionally is smart. Whereas a lot of the information business has been punched within the face by a bunch of challenges — from AI-generated summaries to Twitter’s evolution into X — TechCrunch has bucked the pattern over the past yr, steadily regrowing its readership. Our secret? We put readers first, ship must-know information with out bias, and showcase the wild, usually ridiculous, human facet of the tech world.
As shut followers of TechCrunch already know, this isn’t our first rodeo on the subject of new possession (all of us nonetheless have swag from AOL and Verizon). However what mattered most on this transition was guaranteeing that our crew retains the liberty and help to do what we do greatest. With Regent, we have now precisely that.
So to Yahoo, thanks for standing by us by some harder instances. And to Regent, we love your enthusiasm for what we do and we’re excited to embark on this subsequent chapter with you. Now, let’s do that thang.
P.S. Sure, our StrictlyVC model is a part of the general bundle, and by the best way, our first occasion of the yr in San Francisco takes place in a few weeks, with SF Mayor Daniel Lurie, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour, Forerunner founder Kirsten Inexperienced, and others. Don’t wait to enroll; we’re almost offered out.
