Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund oversubscribed to closes at $141m

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Accion and Quona Capital announced today the final close of the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund, the world’s first global fintech fund for the underserved. The oversubscribed Fund represents $141M in commitments from an array of leading institutional investors including global insurance companies, investment banks and asset managers, a university endowment, prominent foundations and family offices, as well as development finance institutions. The Fund will focus on emerging markets in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America, and Asia (with a particular emphasis on India and Southeast Asia) that have demonstrated the greatest potential for inclusive fintech.

“Three billion people are left out of, or poorly served by, the global financial system. The Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund – the world’s first global fintech fund for the underserved – will help address this,” said Michael Schlein, CEO and President of Accion. “The Fund will support innovators using new technologies to help create a financial system that works for everyone. By focusing on both social impact and financial returns, we believe the Fund shows the importance of harnessing the capital markets to solve society’s most challenging problems.”

“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,” said Monica Brand Engel, a founding partner at Quona Capital, the Fund manager. “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.”

The Fund’s anchor investor, general partner, and sponsor is Accion, a global nonprofit committed to creating a financially inclusive world that benefits the three billion financially underserved people failed by the world’s formal economy. Over the last nine years, Accion has made more than thirty impact investments in startups that are finding new ways to meet the financial needs of the underserved. The Fund is managed by Quona Capital, a venture firm focused on inclusive financial technology in emerging markets. The Quona founding team has decades of experience as investors and entrepreneurs in financial services and technology in both emerging and developed markets and is passionate about making a lasting impact through its investments.

The pipeline is dynamic and growing. The Fund plans announcements of additional investments in exciting innovators expanding the quality and availability of financial services in emerging markets.