Land Investors, Partners, and Customers Years Before Your Product Is Live
Five years ago, PR was the last thing on NanoGraf CEO Francis Wang’s list of priorities. Maybe not even on the list. But a member of his board recommended he invest in media outreach. Francis went along with the recommendation – today, he considers it one of the best strategic decisions he’s ever made.
Here’s how a steady drumbeat of media placements over our years-long engagement with NanoGraf has transformed the growing battery tech startup.
“Working with Propllr has changed the course of the company. Getting your value prop, product, and tech out there is really important.”
— Francis Wang, NanoGraf CEO
Challenge: Build Excitement About Battery Technology Still in Development
Call it the innovator’s dilemma: to do big things, you need money; to get money, you need to show evidence of being able to do big things; to show evidence, you need to do big things.
NanoGraf’s technology solves one of the core problems with silicon-anode batteries (namely how quickly they degrade), meaning it will play an important role in the electrification – and greening – of our infrastructure. But solving a problem in the lab is very different from mass producing usable batteries that incorporate the innovative solution.
The latter requires time – to build a dedicated facility, to secure customer interest, to demonstrate that their innovation delivers – and money. As Francis’s board member understood, PR can help secure both.
Strategy: Lean into Thought Leadership and Expertise
When there’s no product to demo and no news to share, thought leadership is an excellent way to get a founder’s ideas – and a brand’s name – in front of the right people. Here’s how we did that for NanoGraf.
1. Build relationships
As we do with many clients, we launched NanoGraf’s program with broad “hi not buy” reporter outreach, introducing NanoGraf and Francis to anyone we thought might write about battery tech.
The strategy paid dividends almost at once: a WIRED reporter we contacted happened to be working on a battery story and ended up featuring NanoGraf.
2. Don’t wait for news
We continued nurturing our relationships with media folks interested in the battery tech space, making sure they knew that Francis and his team were available as helpful resources to comment on (or explain) the latest battery tech developments.
We also prioritized outreach to Chicago reporters to ensure that NanoGraf got the local recognition it deserved for doing important R&D work in the Windy City.
3. Stay flexible
During the course of our engagement, NanoGraf’s technology has changed, as has its product roadmap – perfectly normal for a startup and especially one developing physical technology. Throughout, we’ve maintained a close partnership to ensure we’re able to pivot with the company and make sure the people who can benefit from NanoGraf’s technology are hearing about it.
Results: A Steady Stream of Placements That Connect with Target Audiences
In the years since that early WIRED article, we’ve secured a steady stream of placements in local, national, and industry publications featuring everything from Francis’s commentary on current trends to interviews on battery technology to writeups of company news (including the Series B they closed in 2023).
Those results have had a direct impact on NanoGraf’s business: after one early placement, Francis got a phone call from someone who said they’d seen the story and wanted to discuss an upcoming project with the US military. That outreach, Francis says, was pivotal to NanoGraf’s growth. It led to a military contract and a design win with a cell producer and paved the way for the company’s $65 million Series B.
And, per Francis, that’s just one example of how NanoGraf’s media placements have directly impacted its trajectory.
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