The founders of Quona Capital Management LLC
Quona co-founders Jonathan Whittle, Monica Brand Engel, and Ganesh Rengaswamy
- Quona’s Africa portfolio companies recorded $4.5 billion in payment transactions processed / transaction volume in 2022
- $278 million in loans financed across 1.1 million loans across Africa
- Portfolio has served 408K retail customers and 353K MSMEs
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, June 01, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Quona Capital, a venture capital firm investing in innovative fintech startups in emerging markets, has released its 2022 Impact Report, showcasing the measurable impact its investments have made on financial inclusion. The report highlights the progress its portfolio companies have made in helping underserved individuals and small businesses access affordable and reliable financial services, and features case studies on several companies. The complete report is available at https://tinyurl.com/bddxmnyc
Some highlights from Quona’s Africa portfolio:
- Cowrywise, an SEC-regulated personal finance management platform providing affordable core savings and investment products for Nigeria’s financially underserved, reported:
- 775,000 registered customers on its platform
- 93% of its customers are underserved, earning less than $10,000 per year
- Lula, a South Africa SME banking and working capital provider, reported:
- 25,000+ loans provided since inception
- 10,000 SMEs financed to date
- A repeat application rate of 84%
- 75%+ of its customers accessed business term credit for the first time
- 30%+ of its customers are female-owned businesses
- Wasoko, a leading B2B e-commerce and fintech platform across 6 countries in Africa, reported:
- 2.3 million orders delivered during 2022 across 6 countries in Africa
- Over 50,000 registered merchants on the platform
- 180 suppliers active on the Wasoko platform
Quona’s investments in Africa span a wide range of fintech solutions, including digital payments platforms, lending, insurance, embedded finance and other financial services that leverage technology to eliminate barriers to access. The firm’s approach to investing—which gives Quona insights across geographies from companies with common themes, such as embedded finance, logistics, and more—enable it to bring important perspectives to founders that they can’t easily obtain elsewhere.
“Our mission is to create a world in which everyone benefits from financial inclusion,” said Monica Brand Engel, co-founder and managing partner at Quona Capital, who leads the firm’s investments in Africa and the Middle East. “We are committed to investing in innovative fintech startups that tackle the world’s toughest problems and have the potential to deliver transformational impact by reaching underserved and unserved segments of society.”
Quona’s 2022 Impact Report reveals that since the firm’s inception in 2015:
- Quona has made investments in 72 companies across India and Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East.
- Together, these portfolio companies have touched more than 144.5 million customers’ lives, 79% of which were underserved.
- These investments generated over $1.5 billion in revenue in 2022 alone, bringing significant social and economic benefits, including increased access to financial services, job creation, and improved financial health for individuals and communities.
The report underlines Quona’s ongoing commitment to investing in the fintech sector with a focus on driving greater financial inclusion and impacting positive change in developing economies. By working hand in hand with founders and entrepreneurs to scale transformative fintech businesses, Quona demonstrates its ability to help create impact at scale as well as financial returns.
“There’s never been a more important time for financial innovation in the region and the world,” added Johan Bosini, a Cape Town-based partner at Quona Capital. “We are proud to back so many entrepreneurs who are truly making a difference across the globe.”
ABOUT QUONA
Quona Capital is a venture firm focused on fintech that can expand access for underserved customers and small businesses in emerging markets including Africa and the Middle East, India and Southeast Asia, and Latin America. Quona’s global partners are experienced investors and operators in both emerging and developed markets, and back entrepreneurs whose companies have the potential to generate financial returns while promoting breakthrough innovation in financial inclusion for both consumers and SMEs. More: quona.com
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