Quona Capital closes $332m FinTech venture fund

By Gloria Methri

Emerging markets venture capital firm Quona Capital has closed its third FinTech fund at $332 million, significantly exceeding its $250 million target. This fund brings the company’s aggregate committed capital to over $745 million.

Quona focuses its investments on innovative technology companies that are expanding access to financial services for underserved consumers and businesses in Latin America, India, Southeast Asia, Africa, and MENA.

Quona Capital was established as an independent venture capital firm in 2015 by co-founding managing partners Monica Brand Engel, Jonathan Whittle, and Ganesh Rengaswamy.

“Since our earliest days, Quona has been investing with conviction in markets and technology-enabled models improving access and quality of financial services for the masses,” said Monica Brand Engel, leads Quona’s investments in Africa and MENA. “Our prior fund performance, robust pipeline of inclusive FinTechs, and growing LP interest in our offerings are ringing endorsements of our view on the prospects of impact-oriented venture investing in emerging markets.”

Jonathan Whittle, who leads Quona’s investments in Latin America said, “Financial services in emerging markets are being transformed by the power of technology, and Quona’s portfolio companies have been at the front lines of that transformation. The pace of innovation in Latin America is accelerating due to a combination of regulatory reform, a maturing venture capital ecosystem, and a wave of founders who cut their teeth with the first generation of successful technology companies in the region.”

Ganesh Rengaswamy leads the firm’s investments in India and Southeast Asia. “With 35% of the global population and over 150 million small businesses, the Asia region hosts a very large proportion of the world’s marginalised consumers and small businesses,” he said. “The rapid digitisation of these markets—combined with the innovative solutions developed by the companies Quona is investing in—are bringing these consumers and small businesses into mainstream economic and financial systems.”