Nu Holdings Ltd.
Digital Banking & Financial ServicesFounded 2013- Updated July 2025
Reviewed by Swet Parvadiya
Last reviewed: July 2025
CorpDigest
Nu Holdings Ltd.
Company History
Founded 2013 in São Paulo, Brazil
Last reviewed: 2025-07-15 · By Swet Parvadiya
Nubank's FY2024 results — $11.5 billion in revenue, $1.97 billion in net income, and 114.2 million customers — represent the company's transformation from a loss-making startup to one of the most profitable financial institutions globally, with a 28% return on equity and 29.9% efficiency ratio. The company serves 60% of Brazilian adults and is expanding rapidly in Mexico and Colombia. CEO David Vélez and co-founders Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible have built a digital banking platform with unit economics — $0.80 cost to serve, $5 customer acquisition cost — that legacy banks cannot replicate. The strategic priority is proving that a digital-only model can capture a meaningful share of Latin America's $1 trillion financial services market while sustaining profitability as growth naturally decelerates.
David Vélez Osorno (born 1981) is a Colombian banker and entrepreneur who is the founder, chairman, and CEO of Nubank. He holds a BS in Management Science & Engineering and an MBA from Stanford University. Before founding Nubank, Vélez worked in investment banking at Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, then in growth equity at General Atlantic, and finally as a partner at Sequoia Capital where he was tasked with establishing the firm's Latin American investments group. When Sequoia abandoned its Brazil expansion in 2012, Vélez chose to start his own company rather than return to California. In 2021, he and his wife Mariel Reyes signed the Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of their wealth to charity. As of 2025, Forbes estimated his net worth at $10.7 billion.
Cristina Helena Zingaretti Junqueira is a Brazilian engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Nubank in 2013. She previously worked at BCG and Itaú Unibanco, where she led the bank's largest credit card division. Junqueira's deep understanding of Brazilian banking operations, regulatory relationships, and customer pain points was instrumental in designing Nubank's product strategy and go-to-market approach. She became one of only two self-made female billionaires in Brazil following Nubank's December 2021 IPO, with her 2.9% stake valued at $1.3 billion. She currently serves as Chief Growth Officer and is expected to lead Nubank's future US banking operations.
Edward Wible is an American software engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Nubank in 2013 as Chief Technology Officer. Previously an associate at tech private equity firm Francisco Partners, Wible had limited direct operating experience but demonstrated exceptional technical capability and learning velocity. He built Nubank's cloud-native, microservices-based technology platform from scratch, enabling the company to scale to 114+ million customers without legacy infrastructure constraints. Wible's decision to use Clojure (a functional programming language) and build on AWS was unconventional but created a technology stack that incumbent banks could not replicate.
David Vélez, Cristina Junqueira, and Edward Wible founded Nubank in a suburban house in São Paulo, Brazil, with the mission to fight complexity and democratize financial services in Latin America. The company raised its seed round from Sequoia Capital and Kaszek Ventures.
Nubank launched its first product — a no-annual-fee credit card managed entirely through a smartphone app — on April 1, 2014. Initial adoption was slow until a viral online review triggered explosive growth and a waitlist strategy that made the purple card an aspirational product.
Nubank launched its digital account product, allowing customers to receive salaries, make transfers, and pay bills without fees. This product transformed Nubank from a credit card company into a full-service digital bank and significantly increased customer engagement.
Nubank launched operations in Mexico, beginning with credit cards and later expanding to digital accounts. Mexico would become the company's second-largest market, reaching 10 million customers by 2024.
Nubank launched NuInvest, a zero-fee brokerage platform for stocks and ETFs, and expanded operations to Colombia with the Cuenta Nu digital account. The company also reached 30 million customers globally.
Nubank completed its IPO on December 9, 2021, raising $2.6 billion at $9 per share and achieving a valuation of approximately $41-45 billion. The IPO made co-founder Cristina Junqueira one of only two self-made female billionaires in Brazil. The company had 48 million customers at the time of IPO.
Nubank acquired Olivia AI, an American startup providing AI-powered financial management services, to strengthen its data and personalization capabilities. The company also reduced losses significantly as it moved toward profitability.
Nubank reported its first annual net profit of $1.03 billion in FY2023, with revenue of $8.03 billion. The company reached 85 million customers and demonstrated that its digital-only model could generate sustainable profitability.
Nubank generated $11.5 billion in revenue and $1.97 billion in net income in FY2024, serving 114.2 million customers. The company launched NuTravel, NuCel telecom service, and expanded secured lending by 615% YoY. Mexico reached 10 million customers and $4.5 billion in deposits.
In Q2 2025, Nubank's monthly ARPAC crossed $12 for the first time at $12.2, with revenue of $3.7 billion and net income of $637 million. The company led a $250 million Series D round in Tyme Group, signaling ambitions to expand beyond Latin America into Africa and Southeast Asia.
Nubank acquired Olivia AI, an American startup providing AI-powered financial management services, to strengthen its data analytics and personalization capabilities. The acquisition supported the development of the NuX Credit Engine and customer-facing AI features.
Nubank acquired Hyperplane, an AI infrastructure company, to accelerate its 'Act Three' strategy of AI-driven banking. The acquisition provided advanced machine learning infrastructure and talent for scaling the NuX Credit Engine and developing new AI-powered products.
Nubank acquired Spin Pay, a Brazilian instant payments platform, to facilitate integration with Pix — Brazil's government instant payment system — and strengthen its payments infrastructure.
Nubank acquired Easynvest, a Brazilian online stock trading app, to create NuInvest — the company's zero-fee brokerage platform for stocks, ETFs, and fixed income products.