Quona closes third financial inclusion fund on $332m
Quona Capital, which invests under a financial inclusion strategy across emerging markets, has closed its third fund on USD 332m, beating a target of USD 250m.
The firm is an active investor in India and Southeast Asia. Its portfolio in the region features the likes of grain commerce platform Arya, digital bookkeeping specialist BukuWarung, B2B e-commerce marketplace Ula, insurance technology start-up Sunday, blockchain-enabled payment services provider Coins, affordable housing financial Shubham, and consumer lending player ZestMoney.
Quona closed Fund II on USD 203m in early 2020. Most of the Fund III investors are re-ups, although the firm added 20 new relationships. LPs include global asset managers, insurance companies, investment and commercial banks, university endowments, foundations, family offices, and development finance institutions, according to a statement.
The International Finance Corporation signed off on a USD 25m commitment to Quona Accion Inclusion Fund III in March.
Originally part of Accion, a global non-profit organisation that promotes financial inclusion, it spun out in 2015 under the leadership of Jonathan Whittle, Monica Brand Engel, and Ganesh Rengaswamy (pictured, left to right), who remain the founding managing partners. Rengaswamy leads investments in India and Southeast Asia.
“With 35% of the global population and over 150m 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.”
The firm now has aggregate committed capital of more than USD 745m. It has made over 65 investments to date across India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa.
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