TOP 10
CRISTINA JUNQUEIRA
Co-founder
Nubank
Financial innovator and fintech founder Cristina Junqueira has smashed the glass ceiling in the fiercely male-orientated environment of the Brazilian financial industry , with her contributions having helped launch a new wave of digital banking and finance in the region .
Prior to the launch of Nubank – a collaborative effort between Junqueira and her two co-founders , David Vélez and Edward Wible – bank customers in Brazil had little choice but to fall in with the demands of the incumbent banks , all of which charged high fees for every service . Such exorbitant expenses drained precious resources from hardworking families , thus maintaining , rather than aiding , the financial inclusion gap .
A mother of two and qualified engineer , Junqueira helped launch Nubank in 2013 . Her passion to drive change in the Brazilian banking world has , in turn , been realised , serving an estimated 75mn customers .
According to its IPO prospectus , Nubank ' s total market potential was valued at US $ 99bn in 2020 , and it has been predicted to grow to US $ 126bn by 2025 .