Honeyjar Raises $2M to Launch an AI Workspace for Communications and PR
Honeyjar has secured a $2M pre-seed round and opened its Early Access waitlist for agencies, in-house teams, and independent pros. The round was led by Heather Hartnett at Human Ventures and Kevin Mahaffey at SNR Ventures.
The product: a secure, collaborative workspace with an AI co-pilot that executes like a comms teammate. It pulls from news, social, and events data, and uses brand context, goals, and campaign history to guide day-to-day execution.
What Honeyjar Actually Does
- Unifies core workflows: messaging, media research, list building, pitching, events, and coverage tracking in one place.
- Uses proprietary agents that learn your brand context to support end-to-end campaign work.
- Acts like a capable teammate that handles repetitive tasks while you focus on strategy and relationships.
- Built for secure, collaborative use across agencies and in-house teams.
Why PR Teams Should Care
Most comms pros spend hours on list building, briefing docs, and chasing event details. Honeyjar aims to cut that work so more time goes to story, stakeholders, and outcomes. The pitch is simple: automate the motions, keep the human parts human.
"The most interesting applications of AI right now are those that amplify the superpowers of professionals who are already excellent at their craft," said Heather Hartnett, CEO and General Partner at Human Ventures. "Technology shouldn't replace how you build relationships or do your job but it should give you better tools to excel at both. Honeyjar does this for communications professionals. It handles the tedious tasks so they can focus on what humans do best - strategic thinking, storytelling, and relationship building."
"Strategy, relationships, and judgment will always be the human part of communications and PR - that's the art," said Michelle Masek, CEO and Founder of Honeyjar. "But communicators spend too many hours on building media lists, creating briefing docs, chasing event details, and stitching AI tools together. We're building Honeyjar to be a secure, collaborative workspace with AI agents that work alongside you and your team, helping you shape stories, find opportunities, run campaigns, and measure impact effectively and efficiently."
"I've seen firsthand how, when done right, communications can be the most effective form of marketing that exists. But most teams get bogged down in the tasks and motions, leaving less time to be strategic about the story and the results. Honeyjar automates the essential tasks and workflows so more focus can go to the story, strategy, and stakeholders - with the mechanics happening automatically," said Kevin Mahaffey, Founder of SNR Ventures.
Who's Backing Honeyjar
Alongside the leads, Honeyjar is supported by seasoned media, communications, and marketing operators who see both the $15B PR market opportunity and the need for purpose-built AI for comms.
- Margit Wennmachers, communications leader and former CMO at a16z
- Jesse Angelo, Founder and CEO of Checker Media, former President of Global News and Entertainment at VICE, and Publisher of the New York Post
- Josh Constine, former Editor at Large at TechCrunch
- Desiree Gruber, creator of Project Runway and Founder of Full Picture
- Joanne Bradford, former executive at Microsoft, SoFi, and Pinterest
- Becky Porter, former CEO of Outcast Agency
- Ajay Arora, Senior VP of Product Management and Engineering at The Walt Disney Company, Disney+, Hulu and ESPN
How to Evaluate It for Your Team
- Workflow coverage: Test media list building, pitch drafting, briefing docs, event coordination, and coverage tracking end-to-end.
- Context handling: Check how well agents learn brand voice, goals, and campaign history - and how quickly they improve with feedback.
- Data sources: Verify quality and freshness of news, social, and events data for your verticals.
- Collaboration: Map roles and permissions to your client or internal team structure.
- Metrics: Track time saved, pitch quality, hit rate, meeting-to-coverage conversion, and reporting speed.
- Security: Confirm how your data is handled, stored, and separated across clients.
Access
Honeyjar has opened an Early Access waitlist for agencies, in-house teams, and independent pros. If your team lives in media lists, pitches, and constant reporting cycles, it's worth a pilot to measure time savings and outcomes.
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