For years, I’ve quietly wished tech media would shine more of a spotlight on the earliest-stage startups; those companies that have moved beyond an idea scribbled on a napkin, are building something exciting and credible, but haven’t yet raised VC money. It’s an important part of the tech startup lifecycle, but we rarely read much about it.

Back when I started out as a tech journalist, these companies had more chances of coverage, but that was a simpler time. The tech industry boom of the past decade has led to a situation where journalists are now kept more than busy covering more mature startups, not to mention the antics of the big tech companies as they have an ever-greater impact on the world.

So that’s why I’m launching PreSeed Now, a new twice-weekly newsletter that profiles the UK’s most interesting pre-seed startups.

Who is it for?

Are you involved with early-stage startups? Try PreSeed Now.

The primary audience of this newsletter is the earliest-stage investors - the people who take a leap of faith to help get startups off the ground. The newsletter will introduce them to investment opportunities emerging from universities, accelerators, and beyond, across the UK.

It’s also a great read for anyone interested in the UK’s early-stage startup scene. If you work with startups or just want to learn about what makes them tick, it’s for you.

What startups will it cover?

The sweet spot for PreSeed Now is B2B and deep tech startups that have built, or are building, something and have founders with credible domain expertise. 

Our profiles will dig into what the startup is building, the founders’ backgrounds, the market they’re addressing, and the competition and challenges they face.

We want to profile as many startups before they raise pre-seed funding as possible, but will also profile some shortly after they raise pre-seed.

How do I subscribe? 

Just click the button below! Sourcing and profiling startups in thoughtful, high-quality articles isn’t a simple job. To support it and reflect the professional benefit we hope to give to subscribers, PreSeed Now costs £10 per month or £100 per year. If you love the idea and want to support it even more, you can for a limited time become a founding member for £200. All support will help the business grow.

Paying members get:

• Subscriber-only profiles of early-stage startups every Tuesday and Thursday

• Access the full archive of past editions, which will grow into a collection that details a wide variety of high-potential startups at their earliest stages

• The ability to post comments and join the community - in its earliest stages, this will be the possibility of your thoughts being shared with other readers in the newsletter. But as we grow, the community side will evolve in the way that best meets the needs of members

If you’re not ready for the full subscription yet, all articles will be free to read for the first two weeks after launch, to give you a flavour of what will be on offer. If you remain a free subscriber after that, you’ll receive a monthly roundup, summarising the recent startups we’ve covered.

Here we go…

I just want to say a big thank you to everyone I spoke to as I was pulling PreSeed Now together, offering their feedback and suggestions about how the newsletter should work. A particular shout out to Rodolfo Rosini, who first convinced me I should build this thing after a brief Twitter exchange late last year.

Okay, let’s get started. The first profile will launch at 9am GMT today.