ABOUT
Mike is the co-founder and former CEO of Zoona, one of Africa's earliest fintech companies.
During his 10-year stint at the company that started with the first transaction in 2009, Zoona processed $2.5 billion of transactions, generated $26 million in income for 3,000 micro-entrepreneurs and their employees across Zambia and Malawi, and raised over $30 million in investment.
BOOK
In 2009, Canadian entrepreneur Mike Quinn packed his backpack and moved to Africa on a mission to find entrepreneurs building scalable, high-impact businesses. In Lusaka, Zambia, he stumbled across two brothers who were starting a business to help unbanked small-scale farmers receive mobile payments in a market where cash was king. After convincing his retired parents in Canada to mortgage their house and lend him $100,000, Mike joined as a co-founder of Zoona and became CEO for nine of the next ten years. With his partners, he led the company to build a network of 2,500 entrepreneur agents across Zambia and Malawi that enabled millions of unbanked customers to send and receive $2.5 billion in money transfers and remittances. Zoona raised over $30 million of venture investment and operated on the leading edge of Africa's emerging fintech ecosystem.
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Mike’s remarkable story gives a rare and honest glimpse inside the blackbox of a pioneering start-up from the lens of a purpose-driven entrepreneur who went ‘all in.’ Zoona faced tremendous adversity every step of the way, such as currency crises, investment round collapses, and a continuous internal struggle to discover and execute a growth strategy that matched the company's billion dollar ambition. It was by failing to win that Mike learned what entrepreneurship is all about, and what motivates him to double down and try again.
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FEATURES
Mike writes and speaks to advance purpose-driven entrepreneurship.
Skoll Centre Blog - 2019.12.06
With 10 years of experience, Mike shares his hard-learned tips and experiences on how to get a purpose-driven venture started.
NextBillion - 2019.12.05
An entrepreneur's perspective to an investor's concerns about the "growth at all costs" approach to scaling.
Skoll Centre Blog - 2019.11.06
Fintech is not a silver bullet - it's the application that matters. Fintech solutions can have tremendous positive impact but this is not guaranteed.
Unreasonable Group - 2018.02.28
You are not just the founder of your company by title - you are the heart and soul of the organization; and you are responsible for leading your team to success.
Zoona - 2018.02.22
In 2017, I worked spent five weeks working for, living with, and learning from twelve Zoona agents in Zambia and Malawi to re-connect with our customers.
Unreasonable Group - 2017.07.16
Are you close enough to your most important customers? Here's why taking an immersion trip to actually get to know them will make you a better leader.
Startup Grind - 2017.04.13
A fireside chat to discuss starting and growing a purpose-driven social enterprise and how to raise various types of international and local funding.​
Unreasonable Group - 2016.09.05
These are the most essential lessons I learned raising a $15 million Series B investment.
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Unreasonable Group - 2016.03.04
A message to all entrepreneurs raising money - make sure you pick the right investors who will help see you through a crisis because one day you'll have one.
Unreasonable Group - 2015.11.05
Zoona was identified by the Nike Foundation and the Unreasonable Group as one of the 10 companies most likely to lift women out of poverty, due to its impact as a Girl Effect Accelerator.
