Client: Ayoconnect
Project Type: Retainer
Timeline: December 2021 to November 2022
Vertical: fintech
HQ: Jakarta, Indonesia
Brief
Ayoconnect, Indonesia’s first licensed open finance platform, brought Black Unicorn PR on board for international PR in late 2021. With backing from Tiger Global and PayU, Ayoconnect wanted to expand its reputation beyond Indonesia, build trust with global audiences, and support goals including investor visibility, hiring, and new partnerships.
The PR work covered profile-building for CEO Jakob Rost, media outreach for funding news and partnerships, continuous press office support, and sustained thought leadership on open and embedded finance.
Our Approach
Ayoconnect had strong fundamentals but lacked visibility outside Southeast Asia. Our strategy centered on strategic media positioning through focused outreach to leading international and Asian business, tech, and fintech publications. We established Jakob Rost as a credible open finance expert through selective media briefings and editorial features, while managing both Series B and Series B+ funding announcements with precise messaging for maximum coverage impact.
We created content opportunities for Jakob via Forbes Council, opinion pieces, and expert commentary. Our team capitalized on open finance trends and embedded finance developments for news hijacking opportunities, and arranged Singapore media briefings during Apidays while identifying speaking opportunities. We maintained quality visibility across target audiences despite obstacles like delayed fundraise announcements and slow approval processes for opinion pieces.
Results
Notable Coverage came via TechCrunch: “Jakarta-based Ayoconnect lands $13M Series B+ to bring embedded finance to Indonesia“
Key Wins: Coverage secured in The Asian Banker, DealStreetAsia, Tech in Asia, Forbes Council, Finextra, Digital Banker, and Fintech Futures.
We arranged profile briefings with co-founder Jakob Rost across Singapore, Southeast Asia and Europe, plus event features and interviews linked to Apidays Singapore.
Why It Worked
We emphasised Ayoconnect’s core advantages: legitimate licensing, proven Indonesian market traction, and unique technology infrastructure. We positioned the company within global fintech conversations even though their services were Indonesia-only at the time. International outlets showed interest because we framed Ayoconnect as essential infrastructure in one of the world’s largest underbanked markets.
Jakob Rost’s industry credibility, plus focused media strategies and consistent messaging, established Ayoconnect as Southeast Asia’s open finance leader rather than just another local success story.
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