How to get your startup into Towards Data Science
TL;DR
Towards Data Science (TDS) is an independent online publication for data science, machine learning and AI engineering. Founders get in by writing an educational article as practitioners: submitting is free, editors reply within a week, and approved authors earn $100 or more for each article that passes 500 engaged views. Marketing content, ads, sponsored posts and press releases are refused.
What is Towards Data Science?
TDS started as a publication on Medium. Insight Media Group, LLC acquired it in September 2024, and on 3 February 2025 it left Medium for its own self-hosted site and contributor platform. It publishes practitioner-written articles on machine learning, AI engineering (LLMs, RAG, agents), data engineering, data science, programming, and industry and career topics.
Its "Write for TDS" page lists 675K+ monthly search clicks, 100K+ monthly homepage views, 150K+ newsletter subscribers and 950K+ social followers.
Who should submit to Towards Data Science?
- Technical founders of data and AI startups who can explain how they solved a hard problem.
- Engineers at early-stage startups with a build story: a pipeline, an evaluation method, a failure and its fix.
- Founders of open source data tools who can write a hands-on tutorial.
- Skip it if you want a product announcement or a ghostwritten company post. TDS says it "almost exclusively" publishes articles submitted directly by the author.
How much does Towards Data Science cost?
Submitting is free. Authors can apply to the Author Payment Program (participation needs approval). Since 1 March 2026 it pays per article on engaged views:
- 500 to 2,499 engaged views: $100
- 2,500 to 7,499: $0.05 per engaged view
- 7,500 and more: $0.10 per engaged view, capped at $7,500 per article
Up to 10 articles a month qualify, paid out through Stripe.
The domain authority of 85 belongs to towardsdatascience.com. The guidelines allow one extra link to your author profile or a social account and ban call-to-action buttons, so the return is readers and credibility with practitioners.
How do you share your startup on Towards Data Science?
- Read the submission guidelines and the writers' FAQ.
- Write an original article with a clear title, a subtitle and at least one strong visual. Cite sources and confirm you have the rights to every image and dataset.
- If the piece covers your product, its main purpose must be to educate. Disclose your affiliation, say whether the product is open source, keep logos out of the featured image and drop marketing terms and superlatives.
- Register as an author in the contributor portal and submit with a short note on what the piece covers and why it is timely.
- Wait for editorial review of technical accuracy, clarity and relevance; TDS replies within a week. Accepted articles appear on the homepage, in the newsletter and in up to four rounds of social posts.
Tips to get more out of Towards Data Science
- Pick a narrow topic. TDS's own example: "How I built a RAG pipeline for legal documents" beats "An Introduction to RAG".
- Publish on TDS first. Reposts from your blog are accepted, but first or exclusive articles have a better chance of being featured.
- Use AI tools with care: TDS expects every article to reflect its author's ideas and experience.
- Share the article with your network and add a sentence of context, beyond the bare link.
Our verdict
TDS gives technical founders a credible byline in front of a large practitioner audience, and a paid one if the article performs. It rewards real know-how and rejects anything that reads like an ad. Send questions to publication@towardsdatascience.com before you submit.
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