FinTech Female Fridays: Meet Katrin Kaurov, Co-Founder & CEO of Frich

Katrin Kaurov didn’t start her career in finance. She started working at just 14 years old, not in an office, but on international runways. Scouted as a model, she worked across more than 20 countries before turning 18, managing payments in different currencies, often being paid late, and learning to navigate the professional world far earlier than most. “I didn’t realize it then,” she says , “but I was getting a crash course in personal finance, branding, and making key business connections.”

That early exposure to money and independence planted a seed. Later, after moving to New York, she realized that despite all her global experience, she still lacked the financial literacy to feel truly confident with her money. One day, on a walk with her future co-founder Aleksandra Medina, the idea for Frich came to life: What if young people could see what their peers were spending, not to compare, but to feel normal? What if conversations about money weren’t laced with shame or confusion, but were as casual and open as your group chat?

What started as a simple insight that transparency builds confidence and has become one of the most exciting Gen Z-focused fintech platforms today. Frich is like social media, but for money: helping users compare spending habits, set savings goals, and make financial decisions based on what’s actually happening in the world around them, not outdated advice from a finance blog written 10 years ago.

“We don’t have traditional finance backgrounds,” Katrin says. “That’s actually our strength. We understand what our users really want, not what we think they should want.” It’s this user-first mindset that sets Frich apart. Unlike traditional finance tools that flood users with pie charts and generic budgets, Frich is building an ecosystem of relatable, real-world insights, such as how much people spend on rent in Brooklyn versus Manhattan, what a normal date costs, or how others are saving for a summer trip to Europe.

But make no mistake,  building something this impactful didn’t come without resistance. Katrin remembers pitching Frich in the early days and being asked, “Who’s going to be the real CEO?” That moment could have crushed her confidence. Instead, she and her co-founder let it fuel them. “We never took no for an answer,” she says. “We taught ourselves everything we needed to know about building and running a company.”

As a woman in fintech, and as a founder, Katrin knows how easy it is to second-guess yourself, especially in spaces that have historically been closed off to people who look or think differently. “So many women wait for someone else to tell them they’re qualified,” she says. “But the truth is, being different isn’t a weakness, it’s your superpower.” Her advice is simple, but powerful: act like you already are. Qualified. Ready. Enough.

That mindset helped her take on things she once felt unprepared for, like selling to major companies. “I used to be intimidated by B2B sales,” she admits. “But in the end, I realized it’s all about building real, human relationships. And that’s something I know how to do.”

Today, what excites her most is the shift she’s seeing in the fintech space, away from top-down advice and toward peer-driven, community-centered learning. “People are moving away from traditional institutions,” she says. “They want transparency, relatability, and to learn from each other, the same way they do on TikTok.” In her eyes, the future of fintech is social, seamless, and deeply human, embedded in everyday platforms, personalized by AI, and focused not just on growing wealth, but on building confidence.

Frich is leading that charge, not by mimicking the past, but by designing for the future and for the generation who will define it.

If there’s one thing Katrin wants women in fintech to remember, it’s that there is no one path to success. You don’t need another degree. You don’t need anyone’s permission. What you do need is belief in your own perspective, and the courage to build something that only you can.

More about Katrin

Where you currently live: Brooklyn, New York

Hometown: Tartu, Estonia

Favorite hobby: Muay Thai boxing

Favorite fintech media: Fintech is Femme - I love her data-driven approach.

Day in the Life

7:00 AM: Wake up and do my morning routine

8:00 AM: Boxing - to clear my mind and get me energized for the day

9:30 AM: Arrive at our co-working space in Soho and start working

9:30–10:00 AM: Catch up on admin tasks and emails

10:00–11:00 AM: Strategy session with my co-founder Aleksandra

11:00 AM–1:00 PM: Team calls

1:00 PM: Lunch at Le Botaniste, my favorite lunch spot!

1:30–6:00 PM: Focused work time - new partnership calls, investor updates, or interviews with potential new team members

7:00 PM: Head home and wind down

What is the most important lesson you have learned from a mistake you’ve made in the past? 

Focus is everything in a startup. As a founder, especially in the early days, you’re wearing so many hats and are constantly busy - running everything from social media and growth to revenue and accounting. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is the value of setting aside time for deep work and concentrating on what truly moves the needle. Without that focus, it’s easy to get lost in the chaos.

Do you have any productivity hacks?  What keeps you motivated? How do you maintain a work/life balance? 

I love working out first thing in the morning - especially boxing. It really clears my mind and sets the tone for a productive day. What keeps me motivated every single day is genuinely loving what we’re building with Frich. I truly believe the world needs it, and that belief keeps me going, even when things get tough. It’s a real blessing to wake up every day excited about what you do.