Quona, Accion close $141m global fintech fund

The Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund (AFIF) is considered the first global fintech fund targeting unbanked and underserved markets. Accion, which incubated Quona in 2014, is the fund’s anchor investor.

Backers also include Mastercard and J.P. Morgan as well as insurance companies, asset managers, investment banks, family offices and a university endowment. The International Finance Corporation, the investment arm of the World Bank, contributed $15 million to the vehicle.

"The diversity and caliber of investors the fund has attracted and the capital they have put behind it is an unambiguous validation of our investment thesis and a milestone for both financial inclusion and the impact investing industry," Monica Brand Engel, a founding partner at Quona, said in a statement. "By identifying and supporting the most promising business models, the fund can produce a demonstration effect that inspires others to pursue inclusive new technologies and compete in traditionally underserved communities."

AFIF was launched in late 2014 with a target of $60 million and reached a first close of about $90 million in October 2015. The fund has made a number of investments in Asia so far, including business-to-business classified listing marketplace IndiaMart and Coins, a US-based payments start-up operating in the Philippines. It has also backed NeoGrowth, a company that offers flexible loans to small retailers in India.   

The fund will continue to focus on early growth-stage investment in payments, alternative credit, insurance technology and small and medium enterprise finance. Targeted geographies will also include Latin America and sub-Sharan Africa.

Some three billion people are estimated to be excluded or poorly served by global financial institutions. More than 60% of Southeast Asia's population of 600 million remains unbanked, and less than 5% have a credit card. At the same time, mobile internet penetration is rapidly increasing and bringing millions of people online every month.

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