Business model scheme for European media startups launches

The International Press Institute (IPI) has launched a six-month programme to support ten new and early-stage European media start-ups.

The New Media Incubator offers mentorship, training and coaching from industry experts, as well as grants worth up to €15k. Successful applicants will have a market-ready business model, but need financial support and mentoring to get started.

In reality, that means having a clear challenge to solve; a target audience in mind and a commitment to quality content; evidence of audience research or market testing; a comprehensive vision for growth, and a strong case to continue operating beyond the six months.

Applicants need at least two members and be based in one of 35 European countries, not including the UK. The business must be ready to launch within six months and can be up to three years old.

Startups need a clear revenue, content and product model, including reader revenue, memberships, young readers, social-first video, ad-support digital news, digital audio, newsletters, print or digital subscriptions, non-profit or donations, emerging technology or community engagement.

The need for new startups

Head of network strategy and innovation at IPI, Jacqui Park, underlined the demand for new media startups. Audiences - especially those from rural areas and marginalised groups - need a greater diversity of media outlets that cater to their daily concerns and interests.

Financial independence is also an important component of a free press. Press freedom does obviously hinge on laws, regulations, government practices and protections of journalists. But stronger business models mean being able to withstand the pressures of a repressive government, state capture or wild changes to tech platforms.

"The other side of press freedom is supporting media to launch, grow, adapt, and fund themselves because if we only support our independent media once they are already under threat, we’re moving too slowly," says Park via email.

Two major titans of digital publishing have recently gone bust: VICE has gone bust and BuzzFeed News closed. It raises major questions on how to sustain digital-first and social-first publications in the modern age.

"Their models were very dependent on digital advertising, which left them particularly vulnerable to the shifts in advertising practice and the almost random algorithmic changes by large tech companies like Google and Meta," explains Park.

The Incubator, she continues, aims to foster sustainable growth with diverse revenues. That means ongoing experimentation, tweaks and pivots, rather than betting on a single strategy. 

"Media startups can have a lot of success when they focus closely on a specific community. It feels like BuzzFeed News and Vice just got too big. They were trying too hard to be mass media in a digitally fragmented age.

"They both did some great journalism and helped drive a journalistic shift to the needs of younger audiences but they struggled to carve out clear identities as newsrooms so that closer connection with a specific audience possibly wasn't there."

Advice for applicants

A keen eye for new opportunities or a real alternative is what IPI is looking for. There are only ten places available on the programme, so here is what you want to consider.

"We want to know one key thing: do you have a solid understanding of who your audience is or could be? This might be an existing audience that a startup has already cultivated, or a new group that the founders know is out there and are hoping to target.

"A clear understanding of who the audience is, what needs they have and how the planned product would meet those needs, will make an application stand out.

"That said, the programme includes plenty of coaching and support, so we do encourage media entrepreneurs to apply, even if you have some unanswered questions linked to your idea."

Calls for applications close on 14 June 2023, and the ten applications will be selected in June 2023. The Incubator is expected to start in August 2023 and run until February 2024.

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