TORONTO and ALEXANDRIA, VA, Dec. 6, 2018 /CNW/ - Scotiabank and QED Investors announced today an extension of their partnership supporting Latin America's FinTech sector with capital and industry expertise. Two years after their initial partnership, Scotiabank and QED Investors have established a second fund, QED LatAm Fund II, LP, to invest in and promote the growth of innovative FinTech start-ups in the region.

Through its partnership with QED Investors, Scotiabank has already invested in multiple FinTech companies across Latin America. Scotiabank is further leveraging the portfolio companies by exploring partnership and pilot opportunities such as Konfio, a small business lending platform, and Coru, a financial product comparison platform. Engagements like these help Scotiabank find new ways to improve the customer experience, enhance efficiencies and foster digital learnings.

"We are excited to extend our partnership with QED Investors as their experience and deep understanding of customer trends, FinTech business models and digital disruption creates value for our customers and shareholders," said Ignacio (Nacho) Deschamps, Group Head, International Banking and Digital Transformation at Scotiabank. "With QED's proven track record in identifying and growing FinTechs, we remain uniquely positioned to partner with the best emerging FinTechs in Latin America."

"QED is thrilled to deepen our close relationship with Scotiabank," said Nigel Morris, Managing Partner of QED Investors. "They are a terrific partner and we've made great progress the last two years with our investments in LatAm. Scotiabank brings much to the table.  Together with QED's expertise in curating and evaluating the best entrepreneurs in the region, we've been able to generate uncommonly positive outcomes in partnership with Scotiabank. We continue to see massive opportunity for FinTech in the region anchored by the ability to improve the customer experience and to make financial services more accessible in the market."

Scotiabank is driving its digital transformation through increased commitments to technology and customer experience. Venture-capital firms such as QED have been vital contributors to Scotiabank's goal of becoming a digital leader in financial services and the partner of choice for FinTechs in its five key markets: Canada and the Pacific Alliance nations of Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia.

QED Investors was co-founded by Nigel Morris, who also co-founded Capital One. QED brings decades of experience as investors, operators and business builders. They have a track record of identifying the most promising FinTech companies, and then leveraging their knowledge, connections, and experience to help companies achieve rapid growth. QED has developed a strong portfolio in Latin America, including Nubank, Guiabolso, Coru, Konfio, Creditas, Tienda Pago, Credijusto, Xerpa, and Zinobe.

About Scotiabank

Scotiabank is Canada's international bank and a leading financial services provider in the Americas. We are dedicated to helping our more than 25 million customers become better off through a broad range of advice, products and services, including personal and commercial banking, wealth management and private banking, corporate and investment banking, and capital markets. With a team of more than 97,000 employees and assets of $998 billion (as at October 31, 2018), Scotiabank trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: BNS) and New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BNS). For more information, please visit www.scotiabank.com and follow us on Twitter @ScotiabankViews.

About QED Investors

QED Investors is a leading boutique venture capital firm based in Alexandria, VA. They are focused on investing in early stage, disruptive financial services companies in the U.S., U.K. and Latin America. QED is dedicated to building great businesses and uses a unique, hands-on approach that leverages their partners' and principals' decades of entrepreneurial and operational experience, helping their companies achieve breakthrough growth. Notable investments include Credit Karma, ClearScore, SoFi, Avant, Remitly, GreenSky, Red Ventures, and AvidXchange. For more information, please visit www.qedinvestors.com.

SOURCE Scotiabank