How to Make a Media Kit for an Indian Startup

A media kit (also called a press kit) is one page or folder that gives a journalist everything they need to write about your startup without chasing you: a short company description, founder bios, key facts and numbers, recent announcements, high-resolution logos and photos, and a named media contact. For an Indian startup, the most useful format is a simple “Press” or “Media” page on your website with a downloadable folder of assets. This guide lists exactly what to include, a fill-in template outline, design tips, where to host it, and the mistakes that make reporters give up.

What a media kit is, and when you need one

Journalists in India cover dozens of startups a week. When your pitch or press release lands, they often need a logo for the story, a founder photo, the correct spelling of a co-founder’s name, or a one-line description of what you do. If they have to email you and wait, your story may run without those details, or not at all.

A media kit solves that. It is useful when you are:

• Announcing a funding round, launch, partnership or milestone
• Pitching founder interviews, op-eds or podcast appearances
• Applying for awards, accelerators or events, which ask for logos and bios
• Working with partners or investors who need brand assets for their own announcements
• Getting covered by regional and language media, who often build stories from your materials

It is not the same as a press release. A press release announces one piece of news. The media kit is the permanent background file that sits behind every release you send. If you need help with the announcement itself, see our guide on how to write a press release in India.

What to include: the complete checklist

1. Company description in two lengths

• Short (about 50 words): what you do, for whom, where you are based, and one proof point.
• Long (about 150 words): adds the problem you solve, your founding year, key products, and one or two milestones.

Write these in plain English that a reporter can paste directly. Avoid adjectives like “leading”, “disruptive” or “revolutionary”. Specifics are more believable.

2. Fact sheet

A scannable list of facts, each dated. This is the page reporters use most.

Field	Example entry (illustrative)
Legal name and brand name	Example Foods Private Limited (brand: GoodGrain)
Founded	2022, Bengaluru
Founders	Full names and titles, exactly as they should appear in print
What you do	One sentence
Customers or users	“Over 40,000 customers in 12 cities, as of September 2026”
Team size	“85 employees, as of September 2026”
Funding	Rounds, amounts and lead investors that have already been announced publicly
Recognition	For example, DPIIT recognition under Startup India, or awards with year
Website and social handles	Official links only
Media contact	Name, email, phone or WhatsApp, and hours

3. Founder and leadership bios

Give each founder a bio in three lengths: one line (for captions), about 60 words (for articles) and about 150 words (for event programmes and awards). Include current role, relevant past experience, education if it adds credibility, and the topics they can speak on. Add the correct pronunciation of names if they are often mispronounced on podcasts or TV.

4. Visual assets

• Logos: full-colour, white (for dark backgrounds) and black versions, in PNG with transparent background and SVG or high-resolution vector. Include a horizontal and a square version.
• Founder photos: recent, professionally shot headshots in horizontal and vertical formats, at least 2000 pixels on the long side. Include one informal “at work” photo.
• Product photos or screenshots: clean, high-resolution, with no confidential data showing.
• Office, factory, team or field photos: these help regional and feature stories.
• Short brand video or B-roll if you have one, as a download link, not just a YouTube embed.

Name every file descriptively, such as goodgrain-logo-white.png or priya-sharma-cofounder-headshot.jpg, rather than IMG_0042.jpg. Google’s own image best practices recommend short, descriptive filenames and useful alt text, which also helps your press page show up in image search.

5. Recent news and coverage

• Links to your last five to ten press releases, newest first, each with a date
• A short list of notable media coverage (publication, headline, date, link)
• Upcoming events or launches you are happy to make public

6. Brand guidelines (short version)

One page is enough: how to write the brand name (for example “GoodGrain”, not “Good Grain”), primary colours with hex codes, minimum logo size, and what not to do with the logo.

7. Media contact

A named person, not just press@ or info@. Give an email that is checked daily and a mobile or WhatsApp number for urgent deadline queries. If your PR agency handles media, list both the agency contact and an in-house contact.

Template outline you can copy

Use this structure for your press page. Each heading becomes a section on the page or a file in your download folder.

1. Heading: “[Brand] Media Kit” with a one-line description and the media contact right at the top
2. Download all assets button (zip or cloud folder link)
3. About [Brand]: 50-word and 150-word descriptions, each with a “copy” note
4. Fact sheet: table of dated facts
5. Leadership: photo, name, title, three-length bios, speaking topics
6. Logos and brand assets: thumbnails with download links, plus the one-page brand guidelines
7. Photos and video: thumbnails with captions and photo credits
8. Press releases: dated list with links
9. In the news: selected coverage
10. Media contact: repeated at the bottom

Sample short description (illustrative)

GoodGrain is a Bengaluru-based packaged foods startup that makes millet breakfast cereals for children. Founded in 2022 by Priya Sharma and Arjun Rao, it sells through its own website, quick commerce apps and over 1,200 retail stores in South India, as of September 2026.

Notice what it does: it states what the company makes, for whom, where, who founded it, and one verifiable proof point with a date. No adjectives are needed.

Design tips that make a media kit easy to use

• Text first, design second. Reporters copy text. Put descriptions and bios as live text on the web page, not inside images or a designed PDF only.
• Use thumbnails with direct downloads. One click should give the full-resolution file.
• Offer web-friendly sizes too. Provide both full-resolution files for print and lighter versions for websites. A free tool like our image compressor helps you create smaller copies without visible quality loss.
• Write captions and credits. Every photo should say who is in it, where, when, and who took it.
• Make it mobile-friendly. Many reporters check links on their phones between meetings.
• Keep the PDF version short. If you also make a PDF media kit for emails, keep it to 2 to 4 pages and link to the full asset folder rather than embedding every image.
• Consider Hindi or regional language descriptions if you want coverage in language media in your key markets.

Where to host your media kit

Option	Pros	Cons	Best for
Press page on your own website	Looks credible, searchable, you control it, helps SEO	Needs someone to update the website	Every startup, as the main home
Cloud folder (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive)	Easy to update, handles large files	Breaks if sharing settings are wrong or files are moved	Holding high-resolution assets linked from the press page
Downloadable zip file	One click, works offline	Gets outdated unless re-uploaded	Event organisers and partners
PDF attachment	Easy to email	Large files get blocked, text is hard to copy	Award applications and investor packs

If you use a cloud folder, check the sharing setting. Google Drive’s sharing help page explains that with “Anyone with the link”, people can open the file without signing in to a Google account. A folder set to “Restricted” will show reporters an access-request screen, and most will not wait for you to approve it. Keep only material you are happy to make public in that folder.

How to use the media kit with your PR

• Link it in every pitch and release. Add one line under your press release’s media contact: “Logos, founder photos and fact sheet: yourdomain.com/press”.
• Put it in your email signature for founders and the PR contact during announcement weeks.
• Send it to your media list before news breaks only if you have agreed an embargo; otherwise send it with the announcement. Our guide to pitching Indian journalists covers timing and follow-ups.
• Update it the same day you announce funding, leadership changes or new products, so reporters searching later see the right facts.
• Match the release. Numbers in the media kit, the press release and the website should be identical. Reporters notice when they are not. You can see how facts are presented in our Indian press release samples.

Mistakes that make journalists give up

1. Login walls or access requests on the asset folder.
2. Low-resolution logos copied from your website header, which look blurry in print.
3. Outdated facts: last year’s team size, an ex-co-founder still listed, or a funding figure that has changed.
4. No real contact person, or a phone number nobody answers.
5. Undated numbers like “10 lakh users” with no “as of” date.
6. Marketing language instead of facts. “India’s most loved brand” will be edited out; “sold in 1,200 stores” may be used.
7. Unlicensed photos. Use only photos you own or have rights to share with media, and credit the photographer.
8. Confidential information such as unannounced revenue, investor names or customer data left in screenshots.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a media kit and a press kit?

In practice, they mean the same thing for startups: a collection of background information and assets for journalists. Some creators use “media kit” for a sponsorship deck showing audience numbers and ad rates, which is a different document.

Should an early-stage startup with no coverage have a media kit?

Yes, a simple one. A press page with descriptions, founder bios, a logo pack and a contact can be built in an afternoon. It makes your first pitch easier to cover and looks professional when reporters check your website.

Should I include revenue figures?

Only if you are comfortable seeing them in print and they are accurate and dated. Many startups share customer numbers, store counts or growth percentages instead. Do not share anything that is confidential or that you have not disclosed publicly before.

PDF or web page: which is better?

A web page is better as the main home because it is easy to update, easy to copy from and searchable. A short PDF is a useful extra for award entries and event organisers, but it should link back to the web page and asset folder.

How often should I update the media kit?

Review it at least once a quarter and immediately after any announcement, leadership change or rebrand. Put a “last updated” date on the page so reporters know the facts are current.

Who should own the media kit inside a startup?

Give it one clear owner, usually the founder’s office, the marketing lead or whoever handles PR. That person updates facts after every announcement, checks that links and the asset folder still open, and answers the media contact inbox. If you work with a PR agency, the agency can maintain it, but someone in-house should approve every number before it goes live.

Build yours this week

Start with the essentials: two company descriptions, a dated fact sheet, founder bios, a logo pack and a named media contact on a simple press page. Add photos and coverage as you go. When you are ready to announce your next milestone, link the kit in your release and use our guide to press release distribution in India to plan how the news goes out.