Cristina Junqueira didn’t just quit her job, she left the comfort of Brazil’s second-largest private bank, Itaú, to rewrite the rules of finance. Now celebrated as Latin America’s foremost female fintech leader, she’s the co-founder of Nubank, a digital banking powerhouse that has exploded to more than 90 million users across Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico.
But back in 2013, none of this seemed certain. Leaving Itaú, Junqueira could hardly have predicted that within a decade, her name would be etched into fintech history, leading a neobank that rivals the very institution she walked away from.
Born to Lead: From Brazil’s Coffee Belt to Global Fintech Stage
Cristina Junqueira was born in Riberão Preto, once Brazil’s coffee capital, before her family moved to Rio de Janeiro. Even early on, she stood out—a high achiever in school and an ambitious student in São Paulo, where she studied industrial engineering at Universidade de São Paulo.
By the time she took on her first consulting role at Boston Consulting Group, she was already juggling a Master’s in economic and financial modeling. And then came a pivotal leap: enrolling at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in 2007, where she earned her MBA.
Returning to Brazil, she climbed quickly, first at Unibanco, then at Itaú following its landmark merger. But even at the top, Junqueira saw cracks in the system.
Crashing Through the Glass Bank Vault
At Itaú, Junqueira pushed for more consumer-first ideas: commission-free credit cards, better communication channels, and broader financial inclusion. But her ideas, she says, were routinely ignored.
Frustrated, she took a massive personal and professional risk: she resigned.
Then came a serendipitous meeting with David Vélez, then at Sequoia Capital. They shared one central frustration—the inertia and elitism that plagued Latin America’s banking scene. Add American software engineer Edward Wible to the mix, and a revolution was born.
A Bold Name, A Transparent Mission
They called it Nubank, a nod to transparency (in Portuguese, “nu” means “nude”). From day one, their goal was clear: break-through bureaucracy, eliminate hidden fees, and build a bank people could actually trust.
By the close of 2023, Nubank had skyrocketed to a valuation of $23 billion, serving tens of millions across Latam and taking on incumbents like Itaú directly. Its pace? Relentless. Its reputation? Unshakable. And at the heart of it all, Junqueira—a leader, a builder, a symbol.
Deals in the Delivery Room: Balancing Business and Babies
If building a fintech empire wasn’t enough, Cristina Junqueira did it while pregnant and kept the deals flowing even from the maternity ward.
At the time of Nubank’s launch, she was heavily pregnant with her first child. Hours after giving birth, she was back to work signing investor contracts from her hospital bed.
Now a mother of two, she continues to lead Nubank Brazil with the same intensity and drive.
“I want my daughters to grow up in a world where they can dream of being whoever they want to be—and you can’t dream of what you can’t see,” Junqueira told McKinsey & Co.
Her journey from a small town in Brazil to the boardrooms of a $23 billion fintech juggernaut, makes that dream visible for millions.
