Editorial Policy & Standards

Our mission

Karostartup exists to cover the business of Indian startups — funding, founders, deals, products, and the economy around them — with clarity and independence. We write for founders, operators, investors, and the curious. This page sets out the standards we hold ourselves to, and how you can hold us to them.

1. Editorial independence

Our newsroom is editorially independent. Decisions about what we cover and how we cover it are made by our editorial team alone. Advertisers, sponsors, investors in the companies we write about, and commercial partners have no influence over our reporting, and no advance access to unpublished stories. When a commercial relationship is relevant to a story, we disclose it in that story.

2. Ownership and funding

Karostartup is an independent digital publication published by Karostartup Media. The platform is built and maintained by Hebrew Technologies. We fund our journalism through advertising, sponsored placements that are clearly labelled, brand partnerships, and reader membership. Our funding model never dictates our editorial judgement — see section 1.

3. How we source and report

We aim to base every factual claim on evidence we can point to: company filings and official disclosures, regulatory and government releases, verified financial data, on-record statements from named people, and first-hand reporting. Where we rely on a single source, we say so. Where numbers are estimates or projections, we label them as such rather than presenting them as fact.

We reach out to the companies and people we write about for comment on material claims wherever it is practical to do so, and we reflect their response — or their declining to respond — in the story.

4. Accuracy and fact-checking

Before publication, our editors check that names, figures, dates, quotes, and claims in a story are supported by a source. Direct quotes are used verbatim and in context; we do not invent or embellish quotes. If we cannot verify a claim to our own satisfaction, we either leave it out or attribute it clearly to the party making it.

5. Corrections and updates

We correct errors promptly and transparently. If we get a material fact wrong, we fix it and add a dated note explaining what changed. Minor typo fixes are made silently; substantive corrections are labelled. Developing stories are updated as facts change, with the update noted. We never quietly delete a published story to hide a mistake.

Spotted an error? Tell us through our contact form and we will review it quickly.

6. Ethics and conflicts of interest

Our writers do not accept payment, gifts, equity, or favours in exchange for coverage or for a particular slant. Where a writer or the publication has a financial interest, a personal relationship, or any other stake in a company being covered, that interest is disclosed within the article. We keep a clear line between our newsroom and our commercial operations.

7. Sponsored content, press releases and disclosures

Content that is paid for, sponsored, or supplied by a third party is always labelled as such — for example as "Sponsored", "Partnered", "Promoted", or "Press Release" — so you can tell it apart from our independent reporting. Some announcements originate from company or government press releases; where a story is based substantially on a press release, we present it as an announcement rather than as independently verified reporting. Sponsored placements do not earn a company favourable independent coverage elsewhere on the site.

8. Use of artificial intelligence

Journalism on Karostartup is produced and edited by people. We may use AI tools to assist with limited, supervised tasks — such as generating a first-draft summary, suggesting headlines, transcribing audio, or checking spelling and grammar — but a human editor is responsible for, and reviews, everything we publish. We do not publish AI-generated articles as original reporting without human verification, and we label AI-assisted summaries where they appear.

9. Anonymous sources

We prefer named, on-record sources. We grant anonymity only when a source risks real harm — professional, legal, or personal — by speaking on the record, and when the information is in the public interest and cannot reasonably be obtained another way. An editor knows the identity of any anonymous source we rely on. We do not grant anonymity for the sole purpose of allowing someone to attack a competitor.

10. Fairness and right of reply

When our reporting is critical of a person or company, we give them a fair opportunity to respond before we publish, and we represent their position accurately. If you are the subject of a story and believe it is unfair or inaccurate, you can request a right of reply through our contact form.

11. Images and third-party material

We use images we are licensed to use, that are in the public domain, or that are supplied by the companies we cover, and we credit sources where required. We respect copyright and intellectual property, and we remove or correct material promptly if we are shown that we have used it in error.

12. Diversity and fairness of coverage

India's startup ecosystem is large and varied. We try to reflect that — across sectors, geographies, company sizes, and founders — rather than covering only the largest or best-funded names. We report on both successes and failures, because both are part of an honest picture of the ecosystem.

13. Feedback, complaints and contact

We welcome corrections, complaints, tips, and right-of-reply requests. The fastest way to reach the newsroom is our contact form — choose the relevant subject (tip, correction, PR, or general enquiry) and we will route it to the right person. We aim to acknowledge editorial complaints within a few working days.