In recent years, startups have been reinventing how they communicate their funding announcements, rejecting cookie-cutter press releases and replacing them with creative videos, synth-pop tracks, and viral stunts. As someone who thrives on connecting disciplines and pushing boundaries, I find this trend fascinating, not necessarily because it promises immediate returns, but because it’s a signal of the broader cultural shifts in how businesses tell their stories. Authentic, engaging, and sometimes downright quirky approaches are shaping the competitive startup landscape.
Why Startups Are Turning To Robots and Synth-Pop
Do funding announcements matter if they're "fun"? Surprisingly, they do. In Europe, traditional press coverage of tech funding rounds has noticeably declined due to consolidation in the media landscape. With outlets like TechCrunch reducing coverage or focusing on later-stage startups, early-stage companies often find themselves overlooked. For these founders, investing in creative, shareable content is a way to fill this void and break through the noise on platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter.
The rise of DIY media also plays a crucial role. This shift empowers founders to self-publish announcements that don't just inform, they entertain, giving them an opportunity to showcase culture and creativity while building their brand. When paired with growing trends like gamification and storytelling (highly relevant to me after building Fe/male Switch), these announcements tap into the core of what younger tech talent and investors appreciate most: individuality.
Examples of Viral Startup Announcements
1. Peec AI (Berlin)
Peec AI's funding announcements have been playful, combining humor with sophistication. Their most recent effort was a dramatized LinkedIn video parodying stereotypical investor conversations. It was witty, self-aware, and a perfect fit for their audience. Interestingly, their second announcement, a meta-style brainstorming session video, went viral not because of high production value but because it amplified their team's personality. Learn more about Peec AI's creative announcements.
2. Forgis (Zurich)
Forgis chose interactive engagement with their audience for their funding announcement. Instead of traditional press releases, they organized a live campus event featuring a chess-playing robot. Their objective? To showcase their AI's capabilities in a relatable setting. Hundreds came to the event, bringing real-world attention to their innovation.
3. Beside (France)
Beside embraced their synth-pop meme, creating actual electronic music tracks to celebrate their funding round. It was bold, irreverent, and a little risky. But as CEO Maxime Germain comments, “When you’re a startup founder, public perception ends up shaping your narrative. Embrace it.”
4. Flexion (Italy)
This robotics startup released a compelling video of its bipedal robot casually strolling through the Alps, picking up litter as part of an environmental initiative. Simple and effective, the strategic use of scenery and motion made their video much more memorable than a generic press release.
So, Should You Try This For Your Announcements?
From my experience building multidisciplinary initiatives, I can safely say there’s no one-size-fits-all solution for startup communication strategies. Creative stunts like these are naturally effective when they align with your brand. For instance, using humor in announcements works if you’re building a product with consumer appeal. However, if your audience consists of institutions or investors, a quirky funding video might feel disconnected.
Here’s what you need to ask before embarking on this route:
- Is it relevant to your product or culture? Can a chess-playing robot or a synth-pop track be tied back to your overall branding narrative in a meaningful way?
- Who are you targeting? Creative announcements will only work if seen by the right people: ideal partners, hires, or customers. Ensure it aligns with their platforms and priorities.
- Do you have internal alignment? Creativity must resonate with your team as much as with your audience.
Making A Creative Announcement: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Define your objectives: Are you targeting media, recruitment, or customer engagement? Your goals will influence your approach.
- Start with authentic ideas: Draw from your unique culture, product, or founder story. Think outside the box but keep it connected to your brand.
- Leverage platforms like LinkedIn: Videos and stories on LinkedIn perform particularly well, ensure your idea translates into formats optimized for these platforms.
- Collaborate with professionals: While creativity is important, don’t sacrifice quality. Pair your ideas with skilled editors or videographers to enhance production value.
- Keep it concise: Your audience’s attention span is short. A one-minute video can outperform a ten-minute production.
Common Mistakes Founders Should Avoid
- Ignoring the “why”: Your announcement should connect back to your story, not just act as a publicity stunt for novelty’s sake.
- Overcomplicating the execution: Fancy gimmicks can quickly remind the audience of amateur theatrics if overdone. Authenticity combined with simplicity resonates deeper.
- Neglecting strategic distribution: Even the most creative content might flop without proper distribution. Carefully plan where to post (LinkedIn, Twitter) and whom to target.
Final Thoughts
Startups using robots and synth-pop to celebrate funding announcements are doing more than just making waves, they’re introducing a new form of gamification, social proof, and cultural storytelling. In a landscape where personal branding matters increasingly more than corporate stature, creative announcements are part of that broader mechanism for standing out. They’re a way to tell your story with fewer rules and more personality, a signal to the industry that your startup isn’t just solving problems but doing so in a way that connects with people.
My advice echoes what PR experts are saying: If you’re going this route, just be yourself. Authenticity doesn’t demand perfection; it demands relatability. And, as we see, sometimes hair-tossed chaos grenades in hoodies are better recruitment tools than sleek boardroom announcements.
For entrepreneurs debating their announcement strategy, remember: It’s not about mimicking robots or music tracks, it’s about showing the world who you really are. Be bold. Be memorable. Most importantly, be you.
FAQ
1. What is the main topic of the article?
The article focuses on how startups are using creative approaches, such as robots, synth-pop tracks, and viral stunts, for their funding announcements to stand out in a competitive landscape. Read the full article on Sifted
2. Why are startups ditching traditional press releases?
Startups are moving away from traditional press releases because media coverage of early-stage tech companies has declined, and they aim to attract attention on social platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter. Creative strategies help convey culture and creativity while connecting with the younger tech audience. Explore the trend on Sifted
3. How has Peec AI made its funding announcements unique?
Peec AI shared playful and witty videos, including a video parodying investor conversations and a humorous brainstorming session about funding announcements. Watch Peec AI’s brainstorming video on LinkedIn
4. What was Forgis’s creative stunt for its funding announcement?
Forgis used an interactive stunt involving a chess-playing robot at ETH Zurich, showcasing their AI capabilities and drawing attention to their funding round. Check out Forgis’s chess-playing robot video on LinkedIn
5. How did Beside leverage a synth-pop theme for their announcement?
Beside produced and released two electronic music tracks after jokingly embracing a meme about their founders resembling a synth-pop band. This bold move resonated with their audience. Learn about Beside’s release on LinkedIn
6. What strategy did Flexion use for their funding announcement?
Flexion released a video of their bipedal robot cleaning up litter in the Alps, aligning with their environmental values and showcasing their innovation effectively. See Flexion’s Alps robot video on LinkedIn
7. What drives the shift toward creative announcements?
Startups are responding to the shrinking tech media landscape and the need to stand out, focusing on individuality and engaging narratives to connect with their audience. Recruitment and brand-building through authenticity are also driving factors. Explore reasons for this trend on Sifted
8. What advice is given to startups considering creative announcements?
Startups should ensure their announcements align with their brand and audience, keep the content concise, and prioritize authenticity. Creativity should resonate internally and externally.
9. What role does authenticity play in these announcements?
Authenticity is crucial as it helps startups connect with their audience on a personal level, showcasing their culture and values, which can be more impactful than high production value alone.
10. Are creative funding announcements suitable for all startups?
No, creative announcements work only if they align with a company’s brand, product, and audience. Quirky stunts may not effectively engage institutional investors or corporate clients.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
Violetta Bonenkamp's expertise in CAD sector, IP protection and blockchain
Violetta Bonenkamp is recognized as a multidisciplinary expert with significant achievements in the CAD sector, intellectual property (IP) protection, and blockchain technology.
CAD Sector:
- Violetta is the CEO and co-founder of CADChain, a deep tech startup focused on developing IP management software specifically for CAD (Computer-Aided Design) data. CADChain addresses the lack of industry standards for CAD data protection and sharing, using innovative technology to secure and manage design data.
- She has led the company since its inception in 2018, overseeing R&D, PR, and business development, and driving the creation of products for platforms such as Autodesk Inventor, Blender, and SolidWorks.
- Her leadership has been instrumental in scaling CADChain from a small team to a significant player in the deeptech space, with a diverse, international team.
IP Protection:
- Violetta has built deep expertise in intellectual property, combining academic training with practical startup experience. She has taken specialized courses in IP from institutions like WIPO and the EU IPO.
- She is known for sharing actionable strategies for startup IP protection, leveraging both legal and technological approaches, and has published guides and content on this topic for the entrepreneurial community.
- Her work at CADChain directly addresses the need for robust IP protection in the engineering and design industries, integrating cybersecurity and compliance measures to safeguard digital assets.
Blockchain:
- Violetta’s entry into the blockchain sector began with the founding of CADChain, which uses blockchain as a core technology for securing and managing CAD data.
- She holds several certifications in blockchain and has participated in major hackathons and policy forums, such as the OECD Global Blockchain Policy Forum.
- Her expertise extends to applying blockchain for IP management, ensuring data integrity, traceability, and secure sharing in the CAD industry.
Violetta is a true multiple specialist who has built expertise in Linguistics, Education, Business Management, Blockchain, Entrepreneurship, Intellectual Property, Game Design, AI, SEO, Digital Marketing, cyber security and zero code automations. Her extensive educational journey includes a Master of Arts in Linguistics and Education, an Advanced Master in Linguistics from Belgium (2006-2007), an MBA from Blekinge Institute of Technology in Sweden (2006-2008), and an Erasmus Mundus joint program European Master of Higher Education from universities in Norway, Finland, and Portugal (2009).
She is the founder of Fe/male Switch, a startup game that encourages women to enter STEM fields, and also leads CADChain, and multiple other projects like the Directory of 1,000 Startup Cities with a proprietary MeanCEO Index that ranks cities for female entrepreneurs. Violetta created the "gamepreneurship" methodology, which forms the scientific basis of her startup game. She also builds a lot of SEO tools for startups. Her achievements include being named one of the top 100 women in Europe by EU Startups in 2022 and being nominated for Impact Person of the year at the Dutch Blockchain Week. She is an author with Sifted and a speaker at different Universities. Recently she published a book on Startup Idea Validation the right way: from zero to first customers and beyond, launched a Directory of 1,500+ websites for startups to list themselves in order to gain traction and build backlinks and is building MELA AI to help local restaurants in Malta get more visibility online.
For the past several years Violetta has been living between the Netherlands and Malta, while also regularly traveling to different destinations around the globe, usually due to her entrepreneurial activities. This has led her to start writing about different locations and amenities from the POV of an entrepreneur. Here’s her recent article about the best hotels in Italy to work from.
About the Publication
Fe/male Switch is an innovative startup platform designed to empower women entrepreneurs through an immersive, game-like experience. Founded in 2020 during the pandemic "without any funding and without any code," this non-profit initiative has evolved into a comprehensive educational tool for aspiring female entrepreneurs.The platform was co-founded by Violetta Shishkina-Bonenkamp, who serves as CEO and one of the lead authors of the Startup News branch.
Mission and Purpose
Fe/male Switch Foundation was created to address the gender gap in the tech and entrepreneurship space. The platform aims to skill-up future female tech leaders and empower them to create resilient and innovative tech startups through what they call "gamepreneurship". By putting players in a virtual startup village where they must survive and thrive, the startup game allows women to test their entrepreneurial abilities without financial risk.
Key Features
The platform offers a unique blend of news, resources,learning, networking, and practical application within a supportive, female-focused environment:
- Skill Lab: Micro-modules covering essential startup skills
- Virtual Startup Building: Create or join startups and tackle real-world challenges
- AI Co-founder (PlayPal): Guides users through the startup process
- SANDBOX: A testing environment for idea validation before launch
- Wellness Integration: Virtual activities to balance work and self-care
- Marketplace: Buy or sell expert sessions and tutorials
Impact and Growth
Since its inception, Fe/male Switch has shown impressive growth:
- 5,000+ female entrepreneurs in the community
- 100+ startup tools built
- 5,000+ pieces of articles and news written
- 1,000 unique business ideas for women created
Partnerships
Fe/male Switch has formed strategic partnerships to enhance its offerings. In January 2022, it teamed up with global website builder Tilda to provide free access to website building tools and mentorship services for Fe/male Switch participants.
Recognition
Fe/male Switch has received media attention for its innovative approach to closing the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship. The platform has been featured in various publications highlighting its unique "play to learn and earn" model.