Is going to the bank getting more and more frustrating? Well, not anymore, since Nubank’s shaking things up!

Fortunately, the complicated procedures combined with hidden charges are becoming less necessary as technology penetrates the finance sector. The long queues and high bank fees are slowly becoming history - and we have fintech inventors to thank for.

In Brazil, the modern conjunction of financial services and technology has three leading names - David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira, and Edward Wible. Their brainchild, Nubank, is a result of their visionary and people-centric thirst for changes in the Brazilian banking industry.

Nubank is a digital banking company that prides itself in giving clients a notion of control over their money. Credit cards, life insurance, personal loans, investments, you name it - now you have all aspects of your financial life on your smartphone thanks to this transparent and customer-friendly platform.

Keep reading to learn how the dedicated trio changed the Brazilian finance sector, one click at a time!

The Promising Young Entrepreneurs: Early Life

First of all, let us go back to the early years of the people that would grow up to be the leading masterminds of the South American fintech revolution.

Born in Medellin, Colombia, the young David Vélez could hardly dream of the influential status he has got in Brazil over the last decade. In his day-to-day life, the unstable and violent environment dominated by the infamous Colombian drug cartels largely affected his family. This is why David’s family moved to Costa Rica when he was nine.

David may have had a tough childhood, but that didn’t impede his natural knack for business and trade. At the age of 12, he spent his birthday money and summer job earnings on buying a cow. By the time he was supposed to enroll at university, David had owned six cows, which he sold and earned enough money to afford to get into Stanford.

After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University, David also earned himself an MBA at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Unlike David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira was born and raised in Brazil. Born in the so-called capital of coffee, Ribeirão Preto, and living in Rio de Janeiro with her family since infancy, Cristina showed impressive ambition and talent in her formative years.

After completing traditional education, she obtained a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering at the prestigious University of São Paulo. Her impressive educational journey ends at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Illinois, where she acquired a Master’s in Business Administration.

Both David and Cristina started working at their first jobs while navigating their college student’s life. Freshly graduated, David landed a job as an analyst in Goldman Sachs in 2004, while Cristina entered Unibanco as a corporate analyst intern in 2003.

The Merge of Passions and Expertise

Apart from their education, the founders of Nu Holdings had an outstanding professional portfolio before embarking on this groundbreaking fintech journey.

After his initial years as an analyst at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, David Vélez spent 3 years as a senior associate in the American growth equity firm, General Atlantic. His major experience before starting Nubank was with Sequoia Capital, a leading Californian venture capital company.

Following the completion of her graduate studies at the University of São Paulo and gaining some experience as an intern in Unibanco and Booz Allen Hamilton, Cristina Junqueira joined The Boston Consulting Group as an associate consultant. Young Cristina boasts a few other items in her extensive professional biography, but her time in Unibanco was indeed the most life-altering.

Unibanco was the most influential private banking group in 2007 when they hired Cristina as a superintendent of their SME credit sector. The 24-year-old businesswoman had just returned from the US, where she had completed the one-year accelerated program at the Kellogg School of Management and was the youngest one in the class.

Soon, the company joined forces with their second-largest competitor in the banking industry, Itaú. Cristina’s career growth continued to the point when she was appointed portfolio manager. However, she left Itaú Unibanco in 2013, realizing that her vision for commission-free, transparent, and client-friendly crediting was discredited.

Disillusionment was the main factor that brought David Vélez and Cristina Junqueira together and lead them to the devising of Nubank.

When she met David, Cristina felt as if all of her prior work only contributed to the wealthy banking magnates amassing more wealth. David, on the other hand, was frustrated by the Brazilian bureaucratic banking system largely controlled by five companies.

With Cristina’s experience in financing services and David’s venture capital expertise, the missing part of the digital banking puzzle was technical proficiency - and they found it in the American computer science graduate Edward Wible.

Apart from Edward’s experience in private equity, he stood out with his enthusiasm and commitment, traits that were much needed for the successful beginning of Nubank.

From Disenchantment to a Dream Come True

David, Cristina, and Edward started Nubank in May 2013 in São Paulo. The “Nu” in Nubank sounds like the English word “new”, but it also means “nude” in Portuguese, which symbolizes an open and transparent approach to financial services as the founders’ top priority.

Since its first steps as a small startup, the company strived to shake up the traditional financial system and help the unbanked or underserviced, who made up 30% of the Brazilian population.

What makes Nubank so special is the combination of modern technology and human values; customers get to control their finances through a mobile app that is quite user-friendly and intuitive. Additionally, Nu Holdings develops its own software and takes maximum care of its safety and stability.

For any question or need for assistance - the patient, respectful, and efficient customer support team at Nubank is available 24/7.

Although Nubank had already earned the status as the largest digital bank worldwide, it wasn’t until 2018 that people outside of Brazil got the privilege to use it as well. Launching the fintech platform in different countries was a pretty challenging ordeal for a lot of reasons, such as translating the software into the targeted country’s language, building local teams, and regulating the anti-corruption policy.

Building its client base and credibility wasn’t an easy task for Nubank; shedding off competition coming from companies like MercadoLibre, Monese, and Atom Bank, among others was a must for Nubank.

Nevertheless, it’s safe to say that the dedication of Nubank’s dream team has paid off.

Fueling the Finances

Nu Holdings have obtained 12 rounds of funding, including 23 investors, thanks to which the company raised $2.3 billion in total.

2021 has been quite a fruitful year for the fintech company with two important funding rounds. In January, CEO David Vélez announced that Nubank acquired $400 million in a Series G round. It was led by multiple public and private investors including GIC, Invesco, and Whale Rock. Other participants include Dragoneer, Tencent, Ribbit Capital, and Sequoia.

In June, Nubank acquired a $750 million extension led by Berkshire Hathaway who cashed in $500 million and other investors. This extension left Nu Holdings with $1.15 billion in total and a business valuation of $30 billion.

Nubank, Today

With over 48 million clients across Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico as of the end of September this year, Nubank remains not only among the leading fintech platforms but has also secured a place for itself among the largest technology companies worldwide.

As of today, Nubank has 5000 employees and a customers base that covers around 28 % of Brazilians over the age of 15. According to David, the company plans to use the fundings to expand the business and employ even more people. Today, Nubank is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil but also holds offices in offices in Germany, Argentina, and Mexico.

While Nubank’s team keeps removing financial stress from customers’ lives, we hope their helpful and revolutionary approach inspires many other entrepreneurs to change the banking sector for the better.