About Pathfounders

Pathfounders is an independent European technology publication with a global outlook.We cover technology entrepreneurship, investment and the wider forces reshaping innovation in the age of AI. Our journalism applies a sharp, sceptical lens to the founders, companies, investors and policymakers influencing the future of technology. Through original reporting, analysis, podcasts, curated events and a high-trust membership network, Pathfounders brings together the people building, financing and governing the next generation of technology. Our coverage is rooted in the UK and Europe, while examining the global markets, geopolitical developments and technological shifts affecting the European ecosystem. Pathfounders was founded and is edited by Mike Butcher, who previously spent 18 years as an editor at TechCrunch.

Original reporting and analysis
Covering startups, investment, AI, emerging technology and geopolitics.

Sharp, sceptical editorial approach
We avoid hype and conventional industry fluff.

Over 7,000 active newsletter subscribers
Largest audiences are in the United Kingdom and the United States, followed by Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland and Italy, among others.

Events: Mixers, Panels, Dinners and live Podcasts
London, Paris, Berlin and more

43.09% newsletter open rate
Nearly nine percentage points above Mailchimp's cross-industry benchmark of 34.23%.

More than 185,000 social followers
Across Pathfounders and Mike Butcher's social channels.

Growth
Social and newsletter audience up 30% in the 2nd quarter 2026

Partnerships
Partnered with World Summit AI in
Amsterdam"Pathfounders Stage" in October

Partner with Pathfounders Network
Pathfounders Network is a curated community for the people building Europe’s technology future.

A growing international audience

Pathfounders reaches more than 7,000 active newsletter subscribers and an extended social audience of more than 185,000 followers. Over the past three months to August:

Newsletter subscriptions grew by 31.1%
The social audience increased by more than 39,000 followers
Pathfounders content generated approximately 83,800 engagements
Social engagement grew by 161.7%

Our largest audiences are in the United Kingdom and the United States, followed by Germany, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy and India.

Pathfounders Network

Pathfounders Network is a curated membership community for European technology founders and other selected leaders. It provides trusted connections, informed discussion and useful intelligence without the noise, self-promotion and algorithmic clutter of conventional professional networks. Europe’s technology ecosystem remains fragmented across countries, cities, markets and sectors. Pathfounders Network helps members build meaningful relationships across borders, exchange knowledge and discover relevant people and opportunities. The Network will turn Pathfounders’ growing international reach into a high-trust community built around:

Relevant peer connections
Cross-border introductions
Practical knowledge and intelligence
Informed private discussion
Events, briefings and opportunities
Quality participation rather than volume

Membership, partnerships and commercial relationships remain separate from Pathfounders’ editorial decision-making. Membership will never guarantee or influence editorial coverage.

The Pathfounders Podcast

The Pathfounders Podcast is a high-signal conversation series about startups, venture capital, artificial intelligence and geopolitics. Through focused interviews and discussions, it examines the companies, technologies, investment trends and policy decisions reshaping the global innovation economy. The podcast is European in perspective and international in scope. It is founder-first, candid and intellectually serious, avoiding influencer-style hype in favour of informed questioning, hard-nosed journalism and substantive conversations. It is produced for founders, investors, operators and policymakers who want to understand what is happening beneath the headlines—and what it means for the future of technology and entrepreneurship.

Pathfounders Regular
Editorial Contributors:

Mike Butcher MBE, Founder and Editor, Pathfounders
Mike Butcher MBE is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Pathfounders, and was formerly Editor-at-large of TechCrunch for 18 years. He has been named one of the most influential people in tech by Wired UK, The Daily Telegraph, The Evening Standard, British GQ, and The Independent. Mike has written for national newspapers including The Guardian, Financial Times, The Times, and The Irish Times. He has spoken at Slush, Web Summit, DLD, and the World Economic Forum, and is a regular broadcaster, appearing on BBC News, Sky News, CNBC, Channel 4, CNBC, and Bloomberg. He has also advised previous UK Prime Ministers and Mayors of London on tech startup policy. He is the former co-founder of Startup Coalition, TechHub, The Europas, Techfugees, and TechVets. He was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list 2016 for services to the UK technology industry and journalism.

Amelia Isaacs, Senior Contributing Reporter, Pathfounders
Amelia Isaacs is an award-winning freelance journalist. She previously wrote about technology and business at Digital Frontier, where she launched Anatomy of a Founder, a newsletter profiling entrepreneurs that now continues on Substack. Prior to that, she was a senior reporter at leading fintech publication AltFi and has spoken at events across Europe including SXSW London, Web Summit and The Next Web.

Chris Stokel-Walker, Columnist, Pathfounders (Platforms)
Chris Stokel-Walker has been a journalist for more than a decade, reporting for the world’s biggest publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Economist, New York Times, WIRED, Guardian, Telegraph, and The Times. A skilled communicator, he frequently appears on the BBC, CNN, ABC, Times Radio, and others to explain the latest developments in the world of technology, and chairs panel discussions and hosts events around the world. He is the author of How AI Ate the World, published in 2024, described by UK Tech News as one of its best technology books of the year and “the ideal primer” to AI, as well as TikTok Boom, YouTubers, and The History of the Internet in Byte-Sized Chunks. Alongside his reporting, he teaches journalism at Newcastle University.Kit Eaton, Columnist, Pathfounders (DeepTech)

Kit Eaton, Columnist, Pathfounders (DeepTech)
Kit Eaton has been a writer for 18 years, from tech blogs like Gizmodo, to a column for the New York Times, and covering business and innovation news for Fast Company, Inc. magazine and host of other publications. A regular on stage at WebSummit, interviewing some of the key entrepreneurs shaking up the tech world, he's also the author of three books: WTF is 5G? WTF is the Cloud and WTF is the Dark Web. His beat? AI, New Space, Robotics, Defence and everything in between. He’s an expert at explaining highly complex topics to the layman. Tech is threaded throughout the fabric of our modern world, and Kit will unravel the trends set to shape tomorrow.

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About Pathfounders

A growing international audience

Pathfounders Network

The Pathfounders Podcast

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