Quona Capital, a venture capital firm aiming to boost financial inclusion in emerging markets, has closed its sophomore fund on $203m.
The Accion Quona Inclusion Fund, which surpassed its initial target of $150m, will invest into FinTech platforms around the world.
Its second fund is supported by a strategic partnership with non-profit financial inclusion firm Accion, which is serving as the vehicle’s sponsor, general partner and anchor investor.
Quona targets scale-up stage FinTech companies which are improving access to financial services to underserved consumers and small businesses in Latin America, Africa, India and Southeast Asia.
This vehicle has already been tapped to make nine investments. One of the companies to receive funding from Quona’s new vehicle is Julo, a digital learning platform in Indonesia which uses new credit scoring methods to boost access to loans.
Another FinTech in its portfolio is Klar, a Mexican challenger bank which is helping the underserved consumers get access to financial products.
Fund two’s portfolio includes digital tax processing software Contabilizei, zero-cost payment and financing platform Finja, digital consumer lending company ZestMoney, SME working capital supplier Lulalend, vehicle financing service Kovi, end-to-end insurance startup Sunday and data analytics solution Sokowatch.
Quona Capital co-founder and partner Monica Brand Engel said, “Our fund performance, robust pipeline of inclusive FinTechs, and growing LP interest are a ringing endorsement of our thesis about the power of emerging market venture capital.”
Engel continued, “Our portfolio of promising business models promoting financial inclusion in emerging markets demonstrates the connection between profit and purpose. Fintech for inclusion brings marginalized consumers and small businesses to the mainstream and can inspire even more entrepreneurial problem-solving in traditionally underserved communities.”
The investors to the fund included global asset managers, insurance companies, investment and commercial banks, university endowments, foundations, family offices and development finance institutions.
Quona Capital’s previous fund closed on $141m in 2017. The vehicle has had two successful exits to date. The first is payments company Coins.ph and the second is B2B e-commerce service Go-Jek.
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