Quona Capital, a venture capital firm investing in innovative fintech startups in emerging markets, has released its 2022 Impact Report, which showcases 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. 

Quona’s 2022 Impact Report reveals that since the firm’s inception in 2015:

• Quona has made investments in 72 leading fintech 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 $1.5bn 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 also underlines Quona's continued commitment to investing in the financial technology 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.

“Since our first check, we have remained deeply committed to investing in startups that are tackling some of the world’s most challenging problems,” said Monica Brand Engel, co-founder and managing partner at Quona.

“Today our investments span a wide range of fintech solutions—including digital payments, lending, insurance, embedded finance and other financial services—that leverage technology to eliminate barriers to access.” 

The firm’s approach to investing, which generates insights across geographies from companies with common themes, such as embedded finance, logistics, and more—enables it to bring important perspectives to founders.

The impact report features individual case studies that illustrate the impact of Quona's investments.

For example, Khazna, a digital super app offering formal credit to Egypt’s 20 million underbanked consumers, found that 82% of customers were accessing such a product for the first time through its app, and that 60% associated financial access with quality of life improvement. “Khazna helped me to feel calmer regarding my financial situation despite goods and services getting higher everyday,” noted one customer. 

“We are proud of the impact our portfolio companies have made in reaching underserved populations in a post-pandemic world,” added Jonathan Whittle, co-founder and managing partner. “We remain committed to supporting entrepreneurs who are leveraging technology to advance financial inclusion, and we look forward to continuing to attract capital to this important work.”  

Ganesh Rengaswamy, co-founder and managing partner, said: “When you realize the impact that getting access to financial services can have on so many consumers and MSMEs across the globe, it’s astonishing. It’s a great privilege to work with so many founders who are determined to make a difference in the world.”