- More than 5 million total loans were financed across India
- Over 12 million retail and MSME direct customers were served in 2022
BENGALURU, India, 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 India portfolio:
- Onsurity, a subscription-based MSME focussed employee healthcare benefits platform, reported that:
- 93% of its clients that have less than 100-member workforce would not have access to affordable insurance for their employees otherwise
- Onsurity manages over 500,000 lives on its platform across 3,700+ clients
- Over 100,000 of Onsurity users are gig employees/part-time workers who are usually not eligible for corporate health insurance but are now adequately covered under the company’s healthcare plans
- Arya, India’s largest and only profitable grain commerce platform focused on farm gate level storage, finance and commerce of grains for farmers and their organisations:
- Serves over 650,000 farmers and 600 Farmer Producer Organizations through its platform
- Arya has over 11,000 warehouses in over 800 locations across 450 districts spanning 21 states in India
- Enables storage, finance and commerce for 7 million tonnes of grains worth ~$2.5 billion annually on its platform, bringing farmers better prices to build stronger communities
- Rupifi, a lending-as-a-service company embedding financial products into MSME platforms:
- Has provided credit to over 100,000 SMEs to date
- Has an average transaction size of less than INR 10,000 (~US$ 120)
- Works with over 70 B2B marketplaces to serve their merchant partners with credit/working capital, many of whom are “mom and pop” shop operators with high frequency, low-ticket sales
Quona’s investments in India 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—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.
“Investing in financial inclusion lifts all parts of the economy and is simply good business,” said Ganesh Rengaswamy, co-founder and managing partner at Quona Capital, who manages the firm’s investments in India and Southeast Asia. “We are determined to invest in innovative fintech startups that are tackling the world’s toughest problems and that have the potential to transform underserved 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 Varun Malhotra, partner at Quona. “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 India and Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East (MENA). 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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