Client: Finfra
Project Type: Long-term (2023) + One-off Campaign (2024)
Sector: Embedded Finance / Fintech
HQ: Jakarta, Indonesia 🇮🇩
Brief
Finfra is a Jakarta-based embedded finance company providing tech infrastructure that enables online businesses to offer financial services. Though their market focus was Indonesia, Finfra had international leadership; an Estonian CEO and a Latvian CTO.
Finfra approached Black Unicorn PR to kickstart their international PR journey in early 2023. Their goal: to go from under the radar to an internationally recognised fintech force, building credibility with regulators, investors, customers, and the media.
Our Approach
We kicked off our collaboration as Finfra was preparing to announce a $1M fundraise with backing from European and global investors. We secured a TechCrunch exclusive to launch them onto the media stage.
From there, our retainer work spanned strategic media relations, thought leadership, founder profiling, and partnership announcements. Our approach included:
- Founders as Thought Leaders: Placed Finfra’s CEO and CTO in interviews with Authority Magazine, Payment Expert, and The Fintech Times. Secured commentary and guest articles in fintech outlets.
- Media Training & Podcast Appearances: Reinis appeared on Code Story, while Markus was featured on Startup Spotlight and more.
- Strategic News Flow: Announced multiple partnerships (e.g., Xendit, CareNow) and responded quickly to inbound media opportunities.
- Regional Expansion Narrative: Leveraged their Baltic-European roots and Southeast Asian footprint to attract both regional and global coverage.
The work culminated in a successful one-off campaign in 2024 tied to a major $2.5M fundraising announcement and a landmark partnership with Tyme Bank (South Africa), which was expanding into Southeast Asia with Finfra as their anchor partner in Indonesia.
Results
From May to December 2023 alone, we secured 85+ media placements across verticals and regions, with coverage continuing into 2024.
Media highlights included TechCrunch, CNBC Indonesia, as well as various fintech titles, and regional startup titles from Europe and Southeast Asia. In addition, BUPR secured various podcasts and other opportunities for Finfra.
Media Highlights:
- TechCrunch (funding exclusive, 2023)
- CNBC Indonesia
- Fortune Indonesia
- DealStreetAsia
- E27
- Tech in Asia
- The Fintech Times
- Crowdfund Insider
- AIN.Capital
- Payment Expert
- IBS Intelligence
- Financial IT
- CIO Influence
Hero Coverage
- TechCrunch: Exclusive coverage of Finfra’s $1M seed round
- Regional & National Media: E27, DealStreetAsia, CNBC Indonesia article and broadcast interview on both funding and Tyme Bank partnership
- Thought Leadership: Commentaries in The Fintech Times, Payment Expert, and more
Client’s testimonial
“We had a great experience with BUPR. The team really takes the time to understand the business and works closely with founders to shape the right narrative, and tell it in the most impactful way. They’re creative, resourceful, and know how to get a lot done with limited time. They don’t sugar-coat things and are refreshingly direct with feedback. They keep their word, deliver on their promises, but never shy away from chasing the big prize. Would highly recommend!“
Markus Prommik, Co-founder and CEO of Finfra
Why It Worked
Finfra’s story combined local relevance with international intrigue, given the heritage of the Baltic founders building a fintech infrastructure company in one of Southeast Asia’s most promising markets. The main component was Finfra’s narrative and story, around which we leveraged all the various newsworthiness items. By treating the narrative with nuance and momentum, we ensured consistent media presence, thought leader visibility, and global credibility.
The collaboration showcased how sustained PR can build a company’s reputation from the ground up, and how cross-team alignment, smart messaging, and journalistic insight turn a startup into a story worth telling.
Want to see more case studies from Black Unicorn PR? Check these out!
