David Vélez
Nubank
Digital bank challenging Brazil’s concentrated banking sector · São Paulo, Brazil
Portrait: Web Summit Rio from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0
The founder
David Vélez, a Colombian entrepreneur, studied at Stanford and worked at Goldman Sachs and Sequoia Capital before founding Nubank in 2013 with Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible, aiming to challenge a Brazilian banking sector where five banks controlled roughly 80% of the market. He built Nubank into the world’s largest digital bank by customers.
How it was taken public
Nubank listed on the NYSE on December 9, 2021, pricing at $9 a share — the top of its range — and raising $2.6 billion at a valuation of roughly $41.5 billion, the largest fintech IPO in Latin American history. Shares closed up nearly 15% on debut.
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In the news
Coverage of the Nubank deal from independent outlets — read the original reporting, not just our summary.
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