CRISTINA JUNQUEIRA
Co-founded Nubank, the world's largest digital bank with 100+ million customers, and became one of Latin America's most prominent female entrepreneurs.
Cristina Junqueira helped build the largest digital bank on the planet from a São Paulo apartment. Nubank has over 100 million customers across Latin America — more than most countries have citizens. She did this in a market where five banks controlled 80% of the system and charged some of the highest fees in the world. Junqueira did not just disrupt Brazilian banking. She embarrassed it.
Net Worth
$1 billion
Nationality
Brazilian
Time Horizon
Long-Term
Risk Appetite
8 / 10
CAREER & BACKGROUND
Born in 1982 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Studied industrial engineering at the University of São Paulo, then earned an MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management.
Worked at Itaú Unibanco, one of Brazil's Big Five banks, where she saw firsthand how the oligopolistic banking system exploited customers with exorbitant fees and terrible service.
In 2013, she co-founded Nubank with Colombian entrepreneur David Vélez and American engineer Edward Wible. The company started with a no-fee credit card — revolutionary in a country where credit card annual fees averaged $100+.
Operating from a small apartment in São Paulo, they built a bank from scratch.
Nubank grew explosively. By the time it went public on the NYSE in December 2021, it had 48 million customers and a $41 billion valuation — making it the most valuable bank in Latin America.
By 2024, Nubank had surpassed 100 million customers across Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia.
COMPANIES & ROLES
Co-founder of Nubank (2013). Nubank is the world's largest digital bank with 100+ million customers.
IPO'd on NYSE in 2021 at $41 billion valuation. Previously at Itaú Unibanco.
Kellogg MBA. One of the most prominent female entrepreneurs in Latin America.
INVESTING STYLE & PHILOSOPHY
Mission-driven fintech building. Junqueira is not a public markets investor — she is a builder who co-created one of the largest financial institutions in the Western Hemisphere.
Her approach is to identify massive, broken markets and build technology-first solutions that eliminate the incumbents' advantages.
THE PLAYBOOK
Risk Approach
Very high at the company level. Junqueira co-founded a bank in a market dominated by five entrenched players who had every incentive to crush her.
Brazilian banking regulation is complex, capital requirements are high, and the incumbents had decades of relationships with regulators. She bet her career on the belief that technology could break the cartel.
Money Habits
Lives in São Paulo. Known for being deeply involved in Nubank's culture and product decisions.
Has been vocal about the challenges of being a female founder in Latin America — a region where fewer than 5% of startups are founded by women.
BIGGEST WIN
Nubank's IPO. Going public at $41 billion on the NYSE made Nubank the most valuable bank in Latin America — worth more than Itaú, the incumbent she left to start the company.
It was the ultimate validation that technology-first banking works in emerging markets.
BIGGEST MISTAKE
The post-IPO stock decline. Nubank's share price fell significantly from its IPO high as investors questioned the path to profitability in a rising interest rate environment.
The company has since demonstrated profitability, but the early public market period was bumpy.
FINANCIAL PHILOSOPHY
The best businesses fix broken markets. Junqueira has said that Nubank exists because Brazilian banks treated customers terribly and charged outrageous fees because they could.
When you build a product that is genuinely better and cheaper, customers come to you.
FAMILY & PERSONAL LIFE
Married with two children. Born in Belo Horizonte, one of Brazil's major cities.
Has been open about the difficulty of balancing founding a fast-growing startup with raising a family, and about the lack of female role models in Brazilian business when she started.
EDUCATION
University of São Paulo (Industrial Engineering). Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management (MBA).
Her engineering background gave her the analytical framework to understand banking systems, and Kellogg connected her to international networks.
BOOKS & RESOURCES
Junqueira has cited it as influential in her journey as a female founder
The iterative approach that shaped Nubank's early product development
The founder's memoir about building against impossible odds
As an Amazon Associate, Netfigo earns from qualifying purchases. Book links above may be affiliate links.
QUOTES (5)
I left Itaú to start Nubank because I saw from the inside how broken the system was. The best disruption comes from people who understand the incumbents.
Brazilian banks charged outrageous fees because they could. We proved they didn't have to.
We built the largest digital bank in the world from an apartment in São Paulo. Nobody gave us permission. We just did it.
Being a female founder in Latin America means being told no by people who have never heard the word applied to themselves.
NETFIGO SCORE
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