Monica Brand Engel

Monica Brand Engel is a co-founder and Managing Partner at Quona Capital, a venture firm focused on fintech for inclusion in emerging markets. As an entrepreneur and investor, Monica has launched various funds and products aimed at broadening financial inclusion.

At Quona, she leads investment strategies across Africa, MENA, and Cross-Border. Backed by leading institutional investors, Quona manages over $790 million of assets across a portfolio of funds backing pioneering founders who are leveraging financial technology to drive authentic impact. Monica’s career began in Silicon Valley, where she helped launch a $50 million multi-bank lending intermediary to finance small businesses. She has also worked at Calvert Ventures and Anthuri Ventures, early-stage equity vehicles in Bethesda and Cape Town, respectively.

While in South Africa, Monica founded Anthuri Catalysts to prepare early-stage companies for investment. Recruited by Accion to spearhead product innovation, Monica worked with retail financial institutions globally including a secondment to Mexico with Gentera Bank (née Compartamos). At the time, Latin America’s largest microfinance institution, Compartamos went public in 2007 (NSDQ: GENTERA). Using the IPO proceeds, she founded Accion’s Frontier Investments Group, the predecessor to Quona Capital.

Monica holds an MBA and MA in Education from Stanford University and a BA in economics from Williams College. She serves on the boards of Khazna, Maxsoko, Verto, and Twinco and is a founding member of the GPCA Impact Council. Her previous board positions include Yoco, Gentera Bank (IPO), Shubham Housing (sold to Premji Invest), Pay Rent Builds Credit (acquired by MicroBilt), Tiaxa (acquired by BeMobi), Azimo (acquired by Papaya), Zoona (acquired by Chipper Cash). She also chaired the Investor Representative Committee of LeapFrog I, the world’s first dedicated microinsurance fund.

Monica has co-authored various works on product development (Technical Note and Field Guide Synthesis), financial inclusion (Maximizing Efficiency and Transforming Microfinance Institutions), impact investing (and most recently, women in leadership (Rebalance: How Women Lead, Parent, Partner … and Thrive). Monica is half Peruvian and blessed with a fantastic husband and twins.