From Medellín to building one of the world’s largest digital banking platforms, David Vélez has transformed frustration with traditional banking into a financial revolution reaching more than 135 million customers across Latin America.
When David Vélez encountered the complexity, bureaucracy and high costs of traditional banking in Brazil, he did not simply see an inconvenience. He saw an opportunity to rethink an entire industry.
That vision eventually became Nubank, the digital financial services company he co-founded in 2013 and transformed into one of Latin America’s most influential technology companies.
Born in Medellín, Colombia, Vélez spent part of his childhood in Costa Rica after his family left Colombia amid the violence and instability of the era. He later moved to the United States to attend Stanford University, earning a degree in Management Science and Engineering before completing an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Before becoming an entrepreneur, Vélez built a career inside some of the world’s most prominent financial and investment institutions. He worked at Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and General Atlantic, and later became a partner at Sequoia Capital, where he focused on opportunities in Latin America.
But it was his own experience with the Brazilian banking system that helped crystallize his entrepreneurial vision. After moving to Brazil, Vélez encountered a highly concentrated financial sector characterized by cumbersome processes, high fees and limited competition. Opening a bank account reportedly took him months.
Challenging Latin America’s Banking Establishment
In 2013, Vélez co-founded Nubank alongside Cristina Junqueira and Edward Wible.
The initial proposition was relatively simple: use technology to create financial products that were easier to understand, less expensive and more customer-friendly than those offered by traditional banks.
What began with a no-fee credit card grew into a broad digital financial ecosystem.
By May 2026, Nubank reported more than 135 million customers across Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, including approximately 115 million in Brazil, 15 million in Mexico and nearly 5 million in Colombia. The company also said it had reached roughly $20 billion in annualized revenue, placing it among a relatively small group of companies worldwide operating at that scale.
The company’s rise represents more than the success of a fintech startup. It demonstrates how technology can challenge entrenched industries in markets where consumers have historically had limited alternatives.
A Colombian Founder With a Global Vision
Vélez’s journey is particularly significant within the broader story of Latino entrepreneurship.
Rather than building a company primarily around Silicon Valley or the U.S. market, he focused on one of Latin America’s most persistent challenges: access to better financial services.
His strategy combined Silicon Valley technology culture with a deep understanding of Latin American markets.
Nubank’s growth eventually led the company to the New York Stock Exchange in 2021, turning the once-small Brazilian startup into a publicly traded global financial institution.
That global ambition is continuing. In September 2026, Nubank announced its entry into the United States, initially offering products including savings accounts, credit cards and international transfers through a partnership with an FDIC-insured bank. The company has also identified U.S. Hispanic consumers as an important potential market.
The expansion marks a striking evolution: a company created to challenge Latin America’s traditional banks is now bringing its model into the world’s largest financial market.
Leadership Beyond Business
Vélez has also increasingly focused on philanthropy.
Together with his wife, Mariel Reyes Milk, he created VélezReyes+, a philanthropic platform focused on expanding opportunities and addressing social challenges in Latin America.
The couple has also joined The Giving Pledge, committing to donate the majority of their wealth during their lifetimes or through their estate.
For Vélez, the next chapter appears to extend beyond building a successful corporation. It is increasingly about using the resources, networks and influence created through entrepreneurship to generate broader social impact.
Redefining What a Latin American Company Can Become
David Vélez represents a generation of Latino entrepreneurs whose ambitions are not constrained by borders.
He did not simply digitize an existing banking model. He challenged assumptions about how banks should operate, how customers should be treated and whether companies born in Latin America could compete at global scale.
Today, Nubank’s hundreds of millions of customer relationships demonstrate the scale of that idea.
And perhaps Vélez’s most important contribution is larger than banking itself.
His story illustrates that some of the world’s most transformative companies can emerge from solving problems uniquely visible to people who understand Latin America from the inside.
For LatinoSystem, David Vélez is not only a fintech founder. He is part of a broader generation proving that Latino leadership can create companies capable of reshaping entire industries — first across Latin America, and increasingly, around the world.
