Client: Monite
Project Type: Long-term PR collaboration (2023)
Focus: Post-seed positioning, thought leadership, product narrative
HQ: Berlin, Germany 🇩🇪
Vertical: Fintech / Embedded Finance APIs
Brief
Monite, a Berlin-based fintech, approached Black Unicorn PR following a seed announcement. Despite a world-class product and visionary leadership, the company had limited market traction at the time and needed a sharper narrative to stand out. The goal was to turn technical credibility into media visibility, showcasing Monite’s potential in reshaping the CFO stack through API-first automation.
Our Approach
With a technically strong yet commercially early-stage product, our strategy was to lead with vision, credibility, and product uniqueness. We positioned Monite as a pioneer of “Embedded Finance 2.0,” targeting in-depth fintech media and developer-savvy audiences. The idea was to frame the storytelling not just around a new company, but around a whole new way to think about embedded financial technology.
Key components of our approach included:
- Messaging Strategy: Framed Monite as the API powering the CFO stack of the future, a critical piece of infrastructure in a space ripe for transformation. We emphasized the advantages of moving from “build” to “buy” in finance automation, and how the type of powerful product Monite was building would be rather difficult and expensive for companies to build in-house.
- Thought Leadership: We turned CEO Ivan Maryasin into a consistent media presence through contributed articles (Forbes, Nasdaq, AltFi) and guest appearances on podcasts and events. We also built visibility for CTO Andrey Korchak, securing expert commentary and Q&As in Verdict and TechRadar.
- News Hijacking and Commentary: Leveraged timely topics like the downturn in VC funding and the maturation of embedded finance to insert Monite into industry conversations.
- Strategic Announcements: Amplified key milestones like the hire of Adyen’s former Head of APIs, Alex Akimov, and Monite’s partnership with Codat, securing coverage in PYMNTS, The Fintech Times, and Finextra.
- Event Positioning: Supported Ivan’s speaking engagements at Pirate Summit and Bits & Pretzels, Money20/20, including on-site support and journalist briefings.
Results
Despite having no confirmed revenue or case studies during the campaign, we built strong momentum around Monite’s potential.
Media Highlights:
- Featured in Wired, Sifted, The Sunday Times (Raconteur), TechRadar, The Fintech Times, Verdict, PYMNTS, Benzinga, and more.
- Ivan featured in Forbes, Nasdaq, AltFi, and Business Age with contributed content and interviews.
- Andrey profiled in Verdict’s “CTO Talk” and quoted in TechRadar.
- Podcasts included: Startuprad.io, Fintech Blueprint, Frontlines, In Check with Fintech, and Talking Success.
Why It Worked
We leaned into Monite’s strengths: a visionary team, a distinctive product, and an urgent industry need. By framing Monite as infrastructure for the next wave of fintech and elevating its technical leaders, we turned a quiet post-seed startup into a visible voice in embedded finance.
Since our collaboration, Monite has gone on to raise from Peter Thiel and other top-tier investors — a testament to both product strength and the foundations of credibility laid by PR.
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