The latest news from another fintech startup close the doorsproves how difficult the current market is. THE fintech landscape was crowded and startups have to work even harder to stand out from the crowd.
According to Crunchbase dataglobal venture capital funding in the third quarter of 2024 decreased 16% from the previous quarter and 15% year-on-year. If this trend continues, in 2025, Fintech founders will likely face even greater challenges when competing for investment.. Success won’t just depend on launching good products or having reasonable roadmaps in place; Companies will need to work harder to adopt communications strategies that resonate with investors and consumers and position them in a favorable light.
How to achieve this, you ask? Well, let’s take a look at some practical examples.
1. Personalization and Founder-Focused Branding
Today’s investors look beyond your product offering; they want to understand the people behind the project. Given the current economic crisis, they must choose carefully where to invest their money, and fascinating story of the founder can make all the difference when it comes to securing financing. If you appear trustworthy (with a digital footprint that can back up that image), your chances of success increase significantly.
Take for example Revolut CEO Nikolay Storonsky. Over the years, the man has repeatedly leveraged his education in economics and previous experience as a trader to validate the credibility of his company and make Revolut one of the biggest names in fintech. Personal branding, when done correctly as part of broader communications strategies, inspires confidence and highlights a founder’s ability to succeed.
Thus, in 2025, Fintech startups will need to focus more on “humanizing” their communicationhighlighting the experiences and values of their teams and leaders. Showcasing your expertise and vision, as well as sharing stories of past challenges, accomplishments and lessons learned, will go a long way in building relationships with your target audience.
2. Democratization of financial services
When we talk about fintech companies, their ability to improve the situation through global financial inclusion is often one of the most talked about points, especially in underserved markets. Products that simplify access to financial tools for a wide range of demographics are gaining more traction. This trend also aligns with the growing demand for social responsibility in business practices.
Take Paystack, a Nigerian platform that has streamlined online payments for small businesses in Africa. Throughout 2024, he regularly shared updates about new developments and partnerships, and you can always see a clear line of communication in the messages. Specifically, the company’s mission is to empower local merchants and drive the growth of mobile commerce in Africa.
Having a clear goal and sticking to it in all your messaging is a good way to make your business understandable to regular customers, partners and investors. They are more likely to choose you when they understand what you stand for – the logic is quite simple, isn’t it?
In terms of practical advice, I suggest regularly share successes. Highlight how your solutions can simplify and make financial services more affordable and what concrete benefits your users gain.
3. Transparency and building trust
Fraud has always been a widespread problem in financial markets, and it will likely continue to be so. By 2024, more than 50% of banks, fintechs and credit unions reported seeing a increase in commercial and consumer fraud cases. Consumers themselves, meanwhile, reported more than $10 billion in cumulative spending. fraud losses.
For obvious reasons, such circumstances are not very favorable for companies that provide financial services, as user trust continues to erode. Once burned, twice shy, as the saying goes. As a result, transparency becomes non-negotiable for fintech startups. By openly communicating their security measures and operational processesStartups can position themselves as reputable companies that people can trust.
Establishing robust security frameworks and proactively responding to concerns raised by your community can go a long way in spreading adoption of your services. There is a lot you can do to strengthen your positions in this area. Here are some examples:
- create content that explains your security practices in simple terms;
- provide regular updates any change in your compliance;
- establish trust through user testimonials that highlight your reliability and customer-oriented approach.
People really appreciate it when a company is easy to contact and helps alleviate their concerns.
4. Social responsibility and sustainability
The ESG (environmental, social and governance) agenda has rapidly gained popularity among the investment community in 2023-2024, and Today, many businesses cannot afford to ignore it if they want financing.. Almost 90% of investors take ESG into account when making your investments. As a result, startups willing to integrate sustainability measures into their strategies (and communications, of course) are better positioned to capture the attention of today’s investing audience.
Of course there is also growth skepticism about “greenwashing” to consider – when companies talk about sustainability but fail to take concrete steps to support it. About 30% of investors say they have difficulty finding attractive investment opportunities, and part of the difficulty is likely due to this reality.
So, if you’re going to make an effort to get your startup on this agenda and ride the ESG wave, make sure you’re really serious about it. Because you will need to dedicate resources to it and report regularly on positive impact of your operations on societal or environmental well-being. Failure to do so can backfire, damage brand reputation and erode trust.
5. Investor Engagement Through Strategic Public Relations
As we’ve already discussed, competition for venture capital funding is fiercer than ever these days. So, if fintech startups want to attract investors, they need to be strategic in positioning themselves as an industry. opinion leaders. Public relations activities that showcase expertise, innovation and market relevance are key to standing out.
It is therefore important that your spokespersons contribute regularly to relevant media publications, sharing information on recent trends and innovations. By benefiting from constant positive exposure in the media, your project can strengthen its credibility. Later, this exposure can be leveraged when negotiating with potential investors and networking at various industry events and conferences.
Social media is also a good communication channel to consider. As you gain exposure and become recognizable, more and more people will actively seek you out. By implementing thoughtful communication strategies and sharing both our personal reflections and professional accomplishments, founders can retain their subscriberswhich will add bonus points to their brand visibility.