As we close the books on 2025, emerging market fintech marked a return to tangible outcomes following a period of adjustment. Exit markets reopened, liquidity returned and financial discipline proved decisive. Across VEF’s portfolio, this translated into renewed growth, realised liquidity and a clearer separation between high-quality compounders and the rest. Our CIO Alexis Koumoudos looks back at what defined the year and what it means for 2026.
What defined investing in emerging markets in 2025?
The return of liquidity was the standout theme. For VEF, exits of over USD 30 million from Gringo and a partial secondary in Juspay showed that best-in-class assets can deliver liquidity. Quality also clearly won in 2025 – the best companies didn’t just cut costs, they rebuilt growth engines with cleaner unit economics. We entered the year with +90% of our portfolio at breakeven, and that financial discipline allowed our largest companies like Creditas and Konfío to shift back onto the offensive, re-accelerating loan originations and capturing market share while peers continued fighting fires..
Which of VEF’s markets was the most dynamic during the year?
India stood out as the most dynamic market – not only as a growth opportunity, but increasingly as a liquidity engine – against a backdrop of ~8% GDP growth. Strong IPO activity, large private funding rounds, and deep secondary liquidity created momentum across the ecosystem. For VEF, India delivered high-growth compounding, a solid IPO in VEF portfolio company BlackBuck, and meaningful liquidity options. The energy in the Indian fintech ecosystem remains exceptional, driven by world leading digital public infrastructure and cutting-edge fintech innovation.
What trends dominated your other large markets?
In Brazil, 2025 marked a turn in the credit cycle. Platforms such as Creditas returned to strong growth after a defensive 2023-24, supported by better execution and improving funding conditions. Political uncertainty ahead of the 2026 elections remains, but it continues to mask more constructive fundamentals, including peaking real rates and better access to capital. Meanwile, Mexico saw a decisive shift toward digital payments and lending, backed by a historic wave of funding into fintechs such as Plata, Klar and Nubank. With core financial infrastructure now well capitalized, the market is positioned to translate adoption into measurable impact in 2026.
Looking to 2026, what should fintech companies and investors in emerging markets focus on?
As funding conditions improve selectively, the focus will shift from narrative to execution. The winning strategy for 2026 is not just raising this new wave of capital, but deploying it to build “self-driving” financial infrastructure. For fintech companies, the next phase of value creation lies in industrial-scale automation, using AI to reduce costs, automate decision-making and decouple growth from headcount. For investors, exit markets are reopening, governance standards are improving and global portfolios are increasingly aware of concentration risk in the US. In this environment, emerging markets, with faster growth and more mature fintech platforms, are well positioned to move from recovery into sustained value creation.