# TechCrunch News Scraper (`iridescent_koala_tjn/techcrunch-news-scraper`) Actor
Extract TechCrunch articles for competitive intelligence. Monitor competitors, track funding news, and analyze industry trends automatically.
- **URL**: https://apify.com/iridescent\_koala\_tjn/techcrunch-news-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Luke G](https://apify.com/iridescent_koala_tjn) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, News, SEO tools
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet
## Pricing
Pay per usage
This Actor is paid per platform usage. The Actor is free to use, and you only pay for the Apify platform usage, which gets cheaper the higher subscription plan you have.
Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-usage
## What's an Apify Actor?
Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".
## How to integrate an Actor?
If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.
In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):
```bash
npm install apify-client
```
In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):
```bash
pip install apify-client
```
In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):
````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash
In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).
If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).
For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.
For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).
# README
## 🚀 TechCrunch News Scraper
**Turn tech news into business intelligence.**
Automatically monitor TechCrunch for competitor mentions, funding announcements, and industry trends.
  
---
### 💰 **Why This Actor Makes Money**
TechCrunch is the **#1 startup media outlet**. Companies pay for:
- ❌ **Competitor tracking** (How to customize for your needs...) (") ( '
---
### 🎯 **Who Pays**
| Client | Use Case | Monthly Value |
|--------|-----------|---------------|
| **VCs** | Monitor portfolio companies in news | $500-2000 |
| **Startups** | Track competitors & industry trends | $200-500 |
| **PR Agencies** | Client mention alerts | $300-1000/client |
| **Sales Teams** | Trigger events (funding = outreach opportunity) | $200-800 |
---
### 📦 **What You Get**
For each article:
- **Title** & **Content** (first 500 chars)
- **Author** & **Date**
- **Tags** (topics/categories)
- **URL** (for sharing)
Plus:
- **Keyword filtering** (only extract relevant articles)
- **Automated link discovery** (starts from homepage, finds articles)
- **Clean JSON/CSV output**
---
### 🛠 **Input Example**
{
"startUrls": [
"https://techcrunch.com",
"https://techcrunch.com/category/venture/"
],
"maxArticles": 50,
"keywords": ["SaaS", "funding", "AI"]
}
---
### 📊 **Output Example**
{
"url": "https://techcrunch.com/2024/07/04/example-article/",
"title": "How This SaaS Startup Hit $10M ARR",
"author": "Jane Doe",
"date": "2024-07-04T14:30:00Z",
"content": "In an exclusive interview...",
"tags": ["SaaS", "Funding", "Growth"],
"scrapedAt": "2024-07-04T15:00:00Z"
}
---
### ⚡ **Quick Start**
1. **Add to Apify** (free tier works!)
2. **Set keywords** (e.g., your competitor's name)
3. **Run & download** JSON/CSV
4. **Schedule weekly runs** (paid plan)
---
### 🔥 **How to Monetize**
#### 1. **Competitor Alert Service** ($200-500/mo)
- Run daily with competitor name as keyword
- Email summary of mentions
- Add sentiment analysis (positive/negative)
#### 2. **Industry Trend Reports** ($500-2000/report)
- Extract 500+ articles on a topic
- Analyze trends (word frequency, sentiment)
- Deliver PDF with charts
#### 3. **Funding Alert Service** ($300-1000/mo)
- Keyword: "funding" or "raises"
- Daily email with new funding news
- Sales teams use this for warm outreach
#### 4. **Custom News Dashboard** ($1000+ one-time)
- Build a dashboard showing your industry's news
- Auto-updates via Apify scheduler
- Charge setup + monthly maintenance
---
### 🛡️ **Tested & Working**
✅ **Tested on**: TechCrunch.com
✅ **Blocking**: None (clean scrape)
✅ **Data quality**: 95%+ complete fields
✅ **Speed**: ~2 mins for 50 articles
---
### ⚠️ **Legal**
- ✅ Public data (TechCrunch articles are public)
- ✅ Respect rate limits (built-in delays)
- ❌ Don't republish full articles (use excerpts + link)
---
### 🤝 **Support**
- **Bug?** Open issue on GitHub
- **Custom feature?** I build tailored scrapers
- **Enterprise need?** High-scale, API integration
---
**Made with ☕ + 🤖.**
*Start monitoring your industry today.*
# Actor input Schema
## `startUrls` (type: `array`):
TechCrunch URLs to scrape from (homepage, topic page, or specific article).
## `maxArticles` (type: `integer`):
Maximum number of articles to extract (default: 50). Free tier limit: ~50 articles/run.
## `keywords` (type: `array`):
Only extract articles containing these keywords (e.g. ['SaaS', 'funding', 'AI']). Leave empty for all articles.
## Actor input object example
```json
{
"startUrls": [
"https://techcrunch.com"
],
"maxArticles": 50,
"keywords": []
}
````
# API
You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.
## JavaScript example
```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';
// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
token: '',
});
// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
"startUrls": [
"https://techcrunch.com"
],
"keywords": []
};
// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("iridescent_koala_tjn/techcrunch-news-scraper").call(input);
// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
console.dir(item);
});
// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs
```
## Python example
```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient
# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("")
# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
"startUrls": ["https://techcrunch.com"],
"keywords": [],
}
# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("iridescent_koala_tjn/techcrunch-news-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)
# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
print(item)
# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start
```
## CLI example
```bash
echo '{
"startUrls": [
"https://techcrunch.com"
],
"keywords": []
}' |
apify call iridescent_koala_tjn/techcrunch-news-scraper --silent --output-dataset
```
## MCP server setup
```json
{
"mcpServers": {
"apify": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"mcp-remote",
"https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=iridescent_koala_tjn/techcrunch-news-scraper",
"--header",
"Authorization: Bearer "
]
}
}
}
```
## OpenAPI specification
```json
{
"openapi": "3.0.1",
"info": {
"title": "TechCrunch News Scraper",
"description": "Extract TechCrunch articles for competitive intelligence. Monitor competitors, track funding news, and analyze industry trends automatically.",
"version": "1.0",
"x-build-id": "NWjJcRys0RBnjPqiX"
},
"servers": [
{
"url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
}
],
"paths": {
"/acts/iridescent_koala_tjn~techcrunch-news-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
"post": {
"operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-iridescent_koala_tjn-techcrunch-news-scraper",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "token",
"in": "query",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Enter your Apify token here"
}
],
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "OK"
}
}
}
},
"/acts/iridescent_koala_tjn~techcrunch-news-scraper/runs": {
"post": {
"operationId": "runs-sync-iridescent_koala_tjn-techcrunch-news-scraper",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "token",
"in": "query",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Enter your Apify token here"
}
],
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "OK",
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
}
}
}
}
}
}
},
"/acts/iridescent_koala_tjn~techcrunch-news-scraper/run-sync": {
"post": {
"operationId": "run-sync-iridescent_koala_tjn-techcrunch-news-scraper",
"x-openai-isConsequential": false,
"summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
"tags": [
"Run Actor"
],
"requestBody": {
"required": true,
"content": {
"application/json": {
"schema": {
"$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
}
}
}
},
"parameters": [
{
"name": "token",
"in": "query",
"required": true,
"schema": {
"type": "string"
},
"description": "Enter your Apify token here"
}
],
"responses": {
"200": {
"description": "OK"
}
}
}
}
},
"components": {
"schemas": {
"inputSchema": {
"type": "object",
"required": [
"startUrls"
],
"properties": {
"startUrls": {
"title": "Start URLs",
"type": "array",
"description": "TechCrunch URLs to scrape from (homepage, topic page, or specific article).",
"items": {
"type": "string"
}
},
"maxArticles": {
"title": "Max Articles",
"minimum": 1,
"maximum": 1000,
"type": "integer",
"description": "Maximum number of articles to extract (default: 50). Free tier limit: ~50 articles/run.",
"default": 50
},
"keywords": {
"title": "Keyword Filter",
"type": "array",
"description": "Only extract articles containing these keywords (e.g. ['SaaS', 'funding', 'AI']). Leave empty for all articles.",
"items": {
"type": "string"
}
}
}
},
"runsResponseSchema": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"data": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"id": {
"type": "string"
},
"actId": {
"type": "string"
},
"userId": {
"type": "string"
},
"startedAt": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date-time",
"example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
},
"finishedAt": {
"type": "string",
"format": "date-time",
"example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
},
"status": {
"type": "string",
"example": "READY"
},
"meta": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"origin": {
"type": "string",
"example": "API"
},
"userAgent": {
"type": "string"
}
}
},
"stats": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"inputBodyLen": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 2000
},
"rebootCount": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"restartCount": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"resurrectCount": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"computeUnits": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
}
}
},
"options": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"build": {
"type": "string",
"example": "latest"
},
"timeoutSecs": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 300
},
"memoryMbytes": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 1024
},
"diskMbytes": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 2048
}
}
},
"buildId": {
"type": "string"
},
"defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
"type": "string"
},
"defaultDatasetId": {
"type": "string"
},
"defaultRequestQueueId": {
"type": "string"
},
"buildNumber": {
"type": "string",
"example": "1.0.0"
},
"containerUrl": {
"type": "string"
},
"usage": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 1
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_SERPS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
}
}
},
"usageTotalUsd": {
"type": "number",
"example": 0.00005
},
"usageUsd": {
"type": "object",
"properties": {
"ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATASET_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
"type": "number",
"example": 0.00005
},
"KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
},
"PROXY_SERPS": {
"type": "integer",
"example": 0
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
}
```