The Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Financial Inclusion | Emerging Markets | FinTech

The Trillion Dollar Opportunity: Financial Inclusion | Emerging Markets | FinTech

Discover the Trillion Dollar Opportunity in Emerging Markets. These markets aren't just about growth — they represent vast untapped populations of underbanked and unbanked individuals. Providing them with financial access is the key to unlocking massive investment potential. In each episode, Quona brings insights from global entrepreneurs, general partners, and FinTech leaders as we explore and demystify the extraordinary opportunities that emerging markets have to offer.

Episodes

Building to Last: Lessons from Two Treasury Management CEOs

September 29, 2025 • 8 mins
In our season finale, two treasury management CEOs share what keeps them going when building gets hard. John Santillan of Octa discusses building in public and why authenticity beats pretending to have all the answers. David Hanna of Finmo explains why surrounding yourself with people who challenge your thinking is essential for making better decisions.
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From Spreadsheets to No Sheets: How Two Founders are Using AI to Solve Finance’s Trillion-Dollar Problems

September 22, 2025 • 23 mins
Two founders are using AI to solve finance problems that keep CFOs up at night. David Hanna, co-founder and CEO of Finmo, discusses replacing the daily ritual of downloading 20+ bank statements with real-time global cash visibility. John Santillan, co-founder and CEO of Octa, talks about using AI to cut payment delays from 120 days to 30 days, unlocking billions in working capital. Discover how these startups are dragging business ...
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Linda Yu: How Embedded Finance is Reshaping Emerging Markets

September 1, 2025 • 12 mins
Linda Yu, Growth Partner at Quona Capital and formerly at SoftBank and Warburg Pincus, shares her journey to becoming an investor deploying billions in global investments. She believes that embedded finance has evolved from a FinTech niche to become the backbone of global commerce. Linda also shares her advice for startup founders pitching venture capitalists.
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Thank a Trucker – And Embedded Finance – for Supporting Global Supply Chains

July 21, 2025 • 25 mins
How did the coffee you drink get to your local cafe? Or the flour that went into your breakfast pastry? Or the latest electronic gadget delivered to your doorstep? Well, you can thank a trucker. Truckers are the unsung heroes of the global economy, and this is especially true in Mexico where 75 percent of freight moves by road. Maria Jose Aguilar Belmont, Investment Analyst for Quona based in Mexico City, joins Shannon as a special...
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BONUS: Advice for Founders Building in Tough Times

June 22, 2025 • 5 mins
How can entrepreneurs in Africa navigate today's challenging fundraising environment? Hosts Shannon and Johan, joined by Adrienne Henderson from Quona Capital, share essential insights for founders building FinTech companies in emerging markets. We’ll touch on why asset-light business models matter more than ever and the critical importance of choosing long-term investor partners.  The content here does not constitute tax, legal, ...
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How Can Africa Build Its Own 'Fintech Stack'?

June 9, 2025 • 19 mins
In 2023, India accounted for nearly 25% of all global IPOs with 340 public offerings, while the entire Middle East and Africa combined had just 50 IPOs. What created this massive gap, and how can Africa bridge it? Join hosts Shannon and Johan as they explore India's remarkable transformation from a nascent market to home of the world's most sophisticated digital financial infrastructure. With guest Adrienne Henderson, Senior Assoc...
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BONUS: Insurtech Innovators Share Advice For Founders

June 2, 2025 • 3 mins
What does it really take to disrupt traditional insurance markets in emerging economies? In this special minisode of The Trillion Dollar Opportunity, hosts Johan and Shannon share valuable entrepreneurial insights from two founders who are creating entirely new categories in Asia’s InsurTech industry. This is essential wisdom for founders creating new categories in emerging markets. Kulin Shah, co-founder and COO of Onsurity, whic...
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More than paperwork and policies: Innovating Insurtech in India & Southeast Asia

May 20, 2025 • 21 mins
Forget everything you thought you knew about insurance—it's not just paperwork and policies, it's a financial lifeline keeping millions from falling into poverty. In this episode of The Trillion Dollar Opportunity, co-hosts Johan Bosini and Shannon Austin explore how insurance has become the critical second phase of financial inclusion in emerging markets. When 330 million people in India lack health insurance and coverage rates re...
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BONUS: From Toxic Debt to Building Financial Resilience with Fabio Zveibil of Creditas

April 28, 2025 • 8 mins
In Brazil, high interest rates and revolving credit lines can trap borrowers. So how can borrowers break free of these toxic cycles? This week, hosts Shannon Austin and Johan Bosini explore how high-interest rate loans can trap borrowers, and cultural reluctance toward long-term loans. Fabio Zveibil, VP of Auto and Home Secured Lending at Creditas, joins the show again to talk about how better lending products and financial educati...
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Backing Everyday Brazilians: How Creditas Uses Asset-Based Loans to Empower Consumers

April 14, 2025 • 30 mins
Brazil is one of the most expensive countries to access credit. Credit cards can have 400 percent interest rates. Even business owners face loans with 20 percent interest rates. This week on the Trillion Dollar Opportunity, hosts Shannon Austin and Johan Bosini explore what happens when good credit is hard to come by, and one FinTech that has changed the credit access landscape for the better. We talk to Creditas CEO Sergio Furio, ...
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PART 2: How Brazil’s Real Time Payments Create Real World Financial Inclusion

December 2, 2024 • 9 mins
Five billion transactions are made each month with Pix, Brazil’s real time payment system, which was launched by the Central Bank of Brazil in 2020. Today Pix reaches more than 90 percent of the adult population and settles more transactions than any other financial instrument including debit, credit, and prepaid cards.  This week on the podcast, we pick up with Part 2 of Quona co-founder Jonathan Whittle’s fireside chat with Carlo...
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PART 1: The Power of Pix: How Brazil Built a Revolutionary Real-Time Payment System

November 25, 2024 • 12 mins
Brazil has one of the most successful real-time payment systems in the world. This week on the podcast, we share a fireside chat with the man who leads the design and implementation of the real-time payment system Pix. Carlos Eduardo Brandt is the Senior Advisor at the Central Bank of Brazil. Quona Co-founder Jonathan Whittle took the stage with Carlos at Quona’s recent annual meeting to discuss how the Central Bank of Brazil imple...
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This is Not An AI-Generated Podcast About Emerging Markets

November 11, 2024 • 12 mins
Where are the opportunities for artificial intelligence to transform FinTech startups in emerging markets? And how are startups already taking advantage of what AI has to offer? This week, Quona co-founder Monica Brand Engel and Senior Investment Associate Michel Zaidler join the podcast to share insights on how generative AI is transforming the FinTech startup ecosystem in emerging markets, including some great use cases from comp...
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The Thing About Assumptions

November 4, 2024 • 12 mins
Information is crucial to any investor. But what happens when assumptions hide the truth about market opportunities? This week on The Trillion Dollar Opportunity, Quona investors based in India, Africa, and Latin America join us to share some assumptions about their markets and the blind spots such assumptions may lead to for investors. Is banking in Africa really disorganized? Is innovation really only happening in developed marke...
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Global and Local: Quona’s Approach to Emerging Markets

October 28, 2024 • 12 mins
Where are the opportunities in emerging markets? This week, Quona’s three founders, Monica Brand Engel, Jonathan Whittle, and Ganesh Rengaswamy, share the specific regions where Quona focuses —India and Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and MENA. But why these regions? And how do the opportunities in these markets differ or overlap? These markets are closely connected, often borrowing innovations and lessons that accelerate pro...
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From Biryani to Big Impact: Quona's Origin Story

October 21, 2024 • 10 mins
How did Quona Capital come to identify and pursue the trillion-dollar opportunity in emerging markets? This week, hosts Shannon Austin and Johan Bosini delve into Quona's journey from its roots in Accion's pioneering microfinance investments—including a significant windfall from a standout company—to becoming independent venture investors with a bold vision. Quona’s three founders, Monica Brand Engel, Jonathan Whittle, and Ganesh R...
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Introducing: The Trillion Dollar Opportunity

October 11, 2024 • 1 min
The world as we know it is changing. As the global economy continues to grow and expand, investors will be missing out on opportunities if they hold a blind spot to emerging markets. That’s what we call the Trillion Dollar Opportunity. This podcast from Quona, hosted by Shannon Austin and Johan Bosini, will share insights from investors and founders who are localized experts in emerging markets. Listen every Monday so you can under...
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