The challenge

The venture capital landscape is noisier than ever, and securing coverage for early-stage funding rounds has become increasingly difficult. Method partnered on an innovative offering with Lightspeed whereby we added value to their investments by helping portfolio companies maximize early-stage funding news.

The goal wasn’t just securing coverage; it was also education, guidance and maximizing their launch moment to ensure founders felt the difference of a Lightspeed investment. Our challenge was to optimize the story and our relationships to convert standardized funding announcements into celebratory milestones, all while building trust with early-stage leadership teams.

The solution

Acting as an extension of the Lightspeed team, we provided white-glove support to founders navigating their major announcements–usually without a dedicated marketing or communications contact. We moved away from “spray and pray” tactics, instead executing a rigorous strategy of top-tier exclusives to targeted media contacts to optimize news impact.

We focused strictly on maximizing funding news, crafting clear narratives that avoided jargon while maintaining technical credibility. Beyond pitching, we educated their founders on PR strategy with high-touch guidance and support, to ensure that every announcement made a lasting market impact. Crucially, we also looked beyond traditional press, securing wins in new media channels like Substack and podcasts to reach niche audiences. 

The impact

Method led 53 announcements from March 2024 through 2025, resulting in 503 total earned hits. We secured 148 top-tier placements in outlets like The Wall Street Journal, Reuters and Fortune, generating over 3.3 billion in audience reach. 

More importantly, our concierge approach succeeded in making founders feel loved. We turned transactional announcements into relationship-building wins, driving inbound interest and validation for growing startups. As Alexandre Calvez, Chief Brand Officer at The Mobile-First Company, noted: 

“Thank you all for the outstanding work on our funding announcement. We reached 1M impressions and strengthened our credibility, which is exactly what we wanted!”