Monica Brand Engel

Partner & CoFounder at Quona Capital

Speaker

Monica Brand Engel is co-founder and Managing Partner at Quona Capital, where she leads Quona's Africa, MENA and Cross-Border investment strategy. Monica is an entrepreneur and investor, having launched various funds and products aimed at broadening financial inclusion. She is the co-founding Managing Partner of Quona Capital – a venture firm focused on fintech for inclusion in emerging markets. Quona is the investment manager for the Quona Accion Inclusion Fund and its predecessors – pioneering venture funds focused on financial technology for impact. Monica started in Silicon Valley, where she helped launch a $50 million multi-bank lending intermediary to finance small businesses. Monica also worked at Calvert Ventures and Anthuri Ventures – early stage equity vehicles based in Bethesda and Cape Town, respectively. While living in S Africa, Monica founded Anthuri Catalysts to prepare early stage companies for investment. Monica then was recruited by Accion to set up a product innovation group and worked in Mexico with Gentera (née Compartamos) Bank, the largest microfinance institution in Latin America – which went public in 2007 (NSDQ: GENTERA:MM). Using the IPO proceeds, Monica founded Accion’s Frontier Investments Group, the predecessor to Quona Capital, where Monica served as Managing Director. Monica holds an MBA and MA Ed from Stanford University and a BA in economics from Williams College. She serves on the boards of Khazna, Wasoko, Verto, and Twinco and is a founding member of the EMPEA Impact Council. Previously, she served on the boards of Yoco (pre IPO), Gentera (née Compartamos) Bank (IPO), Shubham Housing (sold to Premji Invest), Pay Rent Builds Credit (accquired by MicroBilt), Tiaxa (acquired by BeMobi), Azimo (acquired by Papaya), Zoona (acquired by Chipper Cash) and chaired the Investor Representative Committee of LeapFrog I, the world’s first dedicated microinsurance fund. She’s half Peruvian and blessed with a fantastic husband and twins.