Started PR is an international agency working with fintech companies on communication strategies for investors, regulators, partners and customers.
Its founder and managing director, Kimberley Waldron, is a familiar face in the sector, spotlighting up-and-coming fintechs and speaking at events including Money 20/20, Fintech Week London and Fintech North.
In this week’s In Profile, Waldron reflects on her route into fintech, the communication gaps she sees in the industry, and what’s next for Started PR and the wider Started Group.
Tell us more about your company and its purpose
At Started PR, we work with founder-driven, purpose-led fintechs that are out to make a real difference. They’re fixing what’s broken in finance and building things that make people’s lives easier. Our role is to help them tell their story clearly and confidently. Whether they’re talking to investors, regulators, partners or customers. We help them get things moving by raising funds, building credibility and winning attention. Essentially, making sure their message lands in the right way, on the right problems. No jargon, no waffle. Just straight-talking comms that help them grow, influence, and stand out.
What are some of your recent achievements you’d like to highlight?
Aside from working on successful campaigns for our excellent clients, our biggest recent achievement is bringing together a world-class advisory board. We’ve handpicked 10 experts who are shaping the way fintech is built, talked about, and shared with the world. People like David Brear, who launched the first major fintech media brand, Susanne Chisti from Fintech Circle, which has a community of 100,000 helping startups grow, build, and raise capital, or Katie Ramsey, who leads fintech at the Department for Business and Trade, representing the UK on the global stage. We’ve also got top podcasters, early adopters of newsletter-driven journalism, breaking the mould in how fintech news is shared. In short, we’ve assembled 10 of the sharpest, most forward-thinking communicators in the space, and they’re helping us and our clients even further.
How did you get into the fintech industry?
I started out at a full-service design agency in Manchester, working on brand design for companies like Co-op and Selfridges. One of our clients was n-power, and through that connection, I was invited to join Payzone, the company handling prepaid top-ups for n-power via their payment terminals. Because I already knew the brand, I landed the role of marketing manager, and later moved into product marketing, where I shifted from just consumer campaigns to also supporting the 30,000+ merchants using Payzone terminals.
One of the biggest campaigns I worked on was in the run-up to the London Olympics, when TFL started moving from their own travel cards to contactless payments. Visa was driving that change, and it was the first big push for mass adoption of contactless across London and eventually the UK. I was working with big mobile networks like Vodafone, Three and O2 on top-up cards and prepaid campaigns, helping brands that needed payments to just work. And once I was in the fintech world, that was it – I was hooked!
What’s the best thing about working in the fintech industry?
Money really does make the world go round, and the way it moves can have a massive impact on people’s lives. That’s what draws me to fintech. There’s so much room for improvement when it comes to building wealth, especially for people who haven’t traditionally had the chance. I’m driven by the idea of financial parity: helping individuals and businesses connect to global markets, and making it easier for people to move and manage money instantly and securely. Fintech is fast-moving, global, and full of potential. I love being part of an industry that’s actively reshaping how the world works.
What frustrates you most about the fintech industry?
It always baffles me how much care goes into building a product, designing it, developing it and assembling the right team. Yet, that same level of thought often isn’t given to how it’s communicated to the world. There’s a disconnect: founders pour everything into creating something great, but then undersell it with vague messaging or tired industry buzzwords that don’t resonate outside the echo chamber. One of my biggest frustrations is seeing founding teams overlook the power of clear, creative communication, explaining what they’re doing, why it matters and who it’s for. That lack of focus can cost them. We’ve seen brilliant ideas miss their moment because they didn’t reach the right audience, didn’t secure the funding, or didn’t break through the noise. Apathy towards comms is a real issue, and too often, it’s the difference between success and failure.
How have your previous roles influenced your career?
Every role I’ve had has shaped how I think about communication. What works, what doesn’t and why it matters. Starting in design taught me the value of simplicity and clarity. Then, moving into marketing at Payzone gave me a front-row seat to how payments work in the real world and the immediate impact it can have, across thousands of merchants and billions of customers. I was working on major campaigns, like the first big push for contactless payments ahead of the London Olympics, and collaborating with brands like Visa, Vodafone and O2. That experience taught me how fintech really moves: fast, complex and at scale.
I didn’t realise it then, but those early roles were laying the foundations for everything we’re doing now. Bringing clarity to a sector that can often overcomplicate itself. They gave me the practical understanding of financial systems, but also the belief that how you tell the story is just as important as the product itself.
What’s the best mistake you’ve ever made?
The best mistake I ever made was not realising how big fintech actually was. I started out doing bits of PR for payments and fraud prevention companies on the side, thinking it was just a niche space. I had no idea it would grow into one of the most well-funded, fast-moving and globally important industries out there. In hindsight, that early naivety worked in my favour. It meant I got stuck in without overthinking it. But if I’d understood the scale and potential from the start, I probably would’ve approached building the business with a bit more structure and long-term planning, especially with my co-founder at the time. Sixteen years in, and fintech still has so much left to do, especially when it comes to how we communicate innovation in a way that actually connects with people.
What has the future got in store for your company?
We’re building something bigger with the Started Group. Next up is the launch of our content and digital arm, which we’ve been quietly working on for the past six months. It’s focussed on research, storytelling and the psychology behind how people actually engage with fintech. Alongside that, we’re rolling our fintech growth platform, built to help more businesses connect with and engage investors in a smarter, more strategic way. And then there’s our own media brand, Get Started Media, which we’re really excited about.
So what’s next? It’s all about levelling up our tools, expanding our services, and becoming a real platform for growth, riding the wave of comms in this fast-paced, ever-revolving industry. One of the projects we’re most proud of is what we believe to be the first honest deep dive into how fintech actually communicates. How well we speak to each other, what impact that has, and where we go from here, led by our content team, head of strategy, and advisory board.
What are the next key talking points or challenges for your industry as a whole?
I’d say it is all about balance right now, figuring out who can survive, who’s got a solid customer base, and who can sensibly stretch their runway. The fintechs still attracting investment are the ones getting that mix right: managing their finances while continuing to build, grow, and innovate. A big part of that is working hand in hand with regulators. They’re not going anywhere, and nor should they. Regulation can be a tricky topic, but ultimately, fintech is about moving money. And where there’s money, there are bad actors, whether that’s lone fraudsters or organised criminal networks. Regulation exists to protect the system, and fintechs need to work with it, not against it, to stay safe and compliant.
At the same time, companies need to focus on how they communicate, making sure end users understand the value of what they’re offering. Over the next one to three years, the real challenge will be striking the right balance between resilience, compliance, and perception. That’s what will shape who thrives.
