Romain Dillet hit “publish” on LinkedIn this week and the tech-media grapevine lit up.
The long-serving Paris-based senior reporter announced he was leaving TechCrunch not by choice but because new owner Regent LP had “laid off most of the international team. They thought international startup coverage wasn’t essential.”
That single update confirmed what many staff had been whispering since March: the private-equity firm that bought TechCrunch from Yahoo had moved from promises of “minimal disruption” to a rapid cost-cutting drive.
A short, sharp timeline
- 21 March 2025 – Deal announced
Yahoo sells TechCrunch to Los-Angeles-based Regent LP, barely 48 hours after Regent grabs Foundry (PCWorld, Macworld). Purchase price undisclosed. - Late March – Public reassurance
Editor-in-chief Connie Loizos tells readers the structure “ensures minimal disruption”. Staff are asked to “carry on”. - Early May – Quiet trimming
Fewer than ten roles go in what management bills as a “routine re-org”. - 23 May – Europe desk shuttered
Ukrainian outlet AIN reports TechCrunch is closing its entire European bureau, including veteran editor Mike Butcher. - 25 May – Confirmation via Dillet
Romain Dillet’s LinkedIn farewell reveals the broader cut: almost every reporter outside the United States is out.
Why the cuts sting outside Silicon Valley
TechCrunch’s overseas reporters weren’t just echoing press releases; they were cultivating early-stage founders, investors and regulators years before they reached US radars.
Take Tage Kene-Okafor, the Lagos-based journalist who reposted Romain Dillet’s news on LinkedIn. Tage has been a crucial voice, with his scoops on African tech helping local start-ups secure global capital. Reporters like him play an essential role in ensuring regional stories reach international investors. We hope he is protected and supported in continuing this vital work.
A warning from the PR front-line
Mid-afternoon the day after Dillet’s post, Jessica Hope, founder of Africa-focused comms agency Wimbart, published her own LinkedIn reflection.
If European start-ups now struggle to get PE-owned media interested, imagine how much harder it becomes for African founders,” she wrote, before urging comms teams to sharpen their news angles and allow far longer lead times.
Hope’s advice underscores a wider reality: with fewer journalists, inboxes overflow and mediocre pitches sink without trace.
Regent’s playbook
Regent specialises in buying heritage titles, slashing overheads and cross-syndicating content across its portfolio. Sources inside TechCrunch say the plan is to rely on a skeletal US core team, freelancers paid per piece, and copy swaps with sister sites such as PCWorld. Cost-effective? Certainly. But it risks turning a globe-spanning brand into yet another valley-centric blog.
What it means for African tech
1. Visibility gap – Fewer global platforms chronicling African deals means founders must invest in regional titles, podcasts and newsletters to reach the same investors.
2. Data blind-spot – International VCs use TechCrunch as an early signal feed; missing stories may translate to missed capital.
3. Opportunity for rivals – Outlets like Rest of World and Sifted can capture the readership – and advertisers – TechCrunch is relinquishing.
What’s Next?
Regent owns the masthead, but credibility flows from boots on the ground. If the PE firm decides later that global reach still matters, it may find the reporters-turned-substackers it let go are now the competition.
For African founders and comms leads, the takeaway is clear: diversify your media strategy, nurture local journalists, and treat every global hit as a bonus, not a given. The green logo still carries weight – just not as far beyond San Francisco as it did last week.
This article was rewritten with the aid of AI
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