Quona Capital

David Mathewson blends 30 years in emerging markets—multilateral development, PE and impact—with Partner/COO and Chief Compliance Officer responsibilities, applying operational, firm-building and investment judgment to fintech in frontier markets.

Ganesh, ex-founder of Travelguru, co-founded an early global VC platform focused on fintech and financial inclusion in emerging markets, and—shaped by fundraising pain—built a more entrepreneur-friendly fund.

Johan Bosini joined Quona Capital in 2016 as a Venture Partner focused on Africa and became a Partner in January 2018, where he supports regional portfolio companies on growth and scaling and assesses new investment opportunities. Before Quona, he spent over a decade building consumer finance, insurance, and fintech businesses in Africa, including launching an automated mobile-only unsecured loan product and closing pan-African partnerships with major mobile network operators. Earlier in his career he worked at Goldman Sachs and a Swiss Re subsidiary.

Jonathan Whittle brings a regionally deep, globally coordinated Latin America focus on fintech for underserved markets, championing innovation beyond banks and pragmatic, operations-first data strategies that prioritize cleaning and transformation.

Linda Yu joined Quona Capital as a Growth Partner in 2025, working on the firm's global growth investment strategy. She previously was an Investment Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers, where she helped establish the Asia office and made investments across the U.S. and Asia, and earlier was a Private Equity Associate and Vice President at Warburg Pincus and an analyst in technology investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. She holds B.S. and B.A. degrees from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Peruvian-American Monica Brand Engel began as an operator launching products for low-income customers and now takes a hands-on approach to cross-pollinate fintech models across Africa, Latin America and Asia.

Rafa de la Guia joined Quona Capital in 2019 as a Principal and became a Partner in 2022, where he sources, executes, and manages investments in Latin America. Before Quona, he spent six years at Omidyar Network investing in education, emerging technologies, and financial inclusion in Latin America and the US, and previously worked at Acumen Fund, Adobe Ventures, MezzVest, and UBS Investment Bank in London. He holds an MBA from UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business and law and business administration degrees from ICADE in Madrid.

Varun Malhotra is a Partner at Quona Capital with more than ten years of venture investing experience spanning technology, financial services, and impact. He works on Quona's investment activities and portfolio in South and Southeast Asia. Before Quona, he held investment roles at Oak Investment Partners, Lok Capital, and the D.E. Shaw Group; he is a Kauffman Fellow and was named to the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Finance & Venture Capital in Asia.

Alejandro Safdie joined Quona Capital in 2023 as an Investment Associate focused on Latin America and became Vice President in 2025, where he works on deal sourcing, evaluating and diligencing opportunities, and supporting portfolio companies. Before Quona, he spent his career in fintech, including being the first employee at an asset-backed digital lender in Argentina, implementing digital lending-as-a-service solutions at banks in Argentina and Mexico, and leading product strategy at a regional Latin American crypto exchange. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School and an M.A. from The Lauder Institute, both at the University of Pennsylvania, and a B.S. in Economics from the University of Buenos Aires.

Michel Zaidler joined Quona Capital in 2022 as an Investment Associate focused on Latin America and was promoted to Vice President in 2025, where he works on regional sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio company support. Before Quona, he spent six years in venture capital, growth investing, private equity, and public equities in Latin America, including equity research at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, roles at Fhinck and Bradesco BBI, and four years on Península's PE & VC team. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of São Paulo.

Takafumi Yamada joined Quona Capital in 2024 as Vice President and became Principal in 2025, where he focuses on Southeast Asia investments and portfolio support. Earlier he was part of the founding team of Grab's Financial Services Unit, leading strategy, M&A, and fundraising in the region, and held leadership roles in Grab's lending and payment businesses in Indonesia. He previously worked as an Engagement Manager at McKinsey and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in International Relations from the University of Tokyo.

Adrienne Henderson joined Quona Capital in 2025 as a Senior Investment Associate on the Africa Cross-Border team, where she works on the firm's global strategy and cross-border investments and supports fintech development across Africa. Before Quona, she worked in venture capital, private equity, and strategy consulting across the U.S., U.K., and Africa, including four years at Boston Consulting Group, two years at Searchlight Capital Partners, and early-stage investing in Kenya with Equator Venture Capital. She holds an MBA from INSEAD and a bachelor's degree from Wake Forest University.

Anuraag Dalal joined Quona Capital in 2019 as a strategic operations associate, where he works with the Head of Operations on data management systems to support portfolio information management and operational insights. He previously spent three years in social impact consulting at Dasra, worked at KPMG Mumbai, and interned on Pact's impact investing team in Washington, D.C. He holds an MBA from Georgetown University and a bachelor's degree from the University of Mumbai.

Deidra Buissereth is a Certified Executive Assistant and Executive Office Associate at Quona Capital, where she supports firm leadership with organization, project coordination, and decision support. She previously worked with senior leaders at Stand Together Ventures Lab and the Investment Company Institute, focusing on operations and team coordination.

Devin Dockery joined Quona Capital in 2022 as Compliance Officer, working with the COO/Chief Compliance Officer on the firm's regulatory compliance program. He previously served as a Wealth Management Compliance Manager at Morgan Stanley and earlier as a Senior Client Analyst supporting high net worth clients. He earned a Bachelor's in Accounting from Morgan State University.

Elis Kwek joined Quona Capital as an Investment Associate in 2025. She previously worked with the Asia team at Burda Principal Investments on growth-stage opportunities across Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and earlier held roles at Singtel (Finance and Group Strategy) and at Nanofilm Technologies International, where she worked on M&A, joint ventures, and strategic venture investments. She holds a Bachelor of Accountancy from Nanyang Technological University and is a Certified Chartered Accountant (Singapore).

Fernanda Rezende joined Quona Capital in 2024 as an Investment Analyst focused on Latin America, where she supports deal sourcing in Brazil, conducts due diligence, and works with portfolio companies scaling across the region. Before Quona, she spent two years as a growth equity investor at an impact-oriented fund covering healthcare and climate in emerging markets. She holds a B.A. in Economics from the University of São Paulo.

Izzy Schmidt joined Quona Capital's Investor Relations team in early 2025 and was promoted to Senior Associate, Investor Relations & ESG. She previously held investor relations and impact investing roles at Beyond Capital Ventures, the Sorenson Impact Center, and Wellington Management, working with funds focused on India, East Africa, and Latin America. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration and Political Science from Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business.

Katie Shen is a Manager of Strategic Relations at Quona Capital, joining the firm in 2025. Before Quona, she worked at RockCreek, where she helped institutional clients align financial and mission-related goals with investment strategies, provided portfolio insights, and led business development efforts. Her work also involved coordinating internal teams and external stakeholders to translate client priorities into deliverables.

Kristin Sadler is Director of Platform & Impact at Quona Capital, a role she has held since 2018, overseeing the firm's impact measurement and management strategy as well as platform programming for portfolio companies. She previously supported Techstars' first impact-focused accelerator and spent three years managing membership services at InterAction, an association of international development nonprofits. She holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business and a BA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Satvik Bhanot joined Quona Capital as an Investment Analyst in 2021 and was promoted to Senior Associate in 2025, where he works on regional sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio support. He previously worked at Huddle, an Indian accelerator, and spent time with the India Angel Network and Fundwave. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Business and Economics from the University of Delhi.

Saurav Banerjee joined Quona Capital in 2019 as Administrative Manager/Executive Assistant for the Bangalore office, where he handles office administration, general workflows, employee welfare initiatives, and travel coordination across Quona's global offices. He is the main point of contact for Managing Partner Ganesh Rengaswamy's travel, meetings, and communications. Before Quona, he spent about ten years in hospitality as Chief Concierge with hotel chains including Sheraton, Hilton, ITC, and Marriott, and previously served as a Vice President with Les Clefs d'Or India.

Shaleen Baweja joined Quona Capital in 2019 as a Portfolio Analyst and became Portfolio Manager in 2023, where he tracks the performance of the firm's portfolio companies for internal and external reporting, supports investment teams with research and analysis, and contributes to Quona's impact measurement efforts around financial inclusion and social impact. Before Quona, he spent three years in Goldman Sachs's Investment Banking Division covering TMT and consumer sectors across Asia. He previously worked at RocSearch on a UK real estate-focused PE fund and advised global banking clients in the Middle East with i3 Consulting.

Tamanna Sharma joined Quona Capital in 2024 as Fund Controller in the Bangalore office, where she manages fund operations and reporting in coordination with auditors, the fund administrator, investor relations, and legal advisors. She previously served as Assistant Vice President at Apex Group Ltd. in its Canada and India offices, and has worked in reporting roles at State Street, ANZ Bank, and Credit Suisse. She is a Chartered Accountant in India and holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance and Accounting from Calcutta University.

Teresa Whitstine joined Quona Capital in July 2024 as Corporate Accounting Manager. She previously spent two years at Aquila Family Ventures and over 11 years at Regional Water Service/Lindale Pipeline as Controller/Accounting Manager, and earlier held roles at Kaiser Permanente in quality assurance, internal audit, and project management. She holds a BBA in Finance from the University of Texas at Arlington.