Pan-African VC firm Renew Capital has launched the Renew Venture Lab: The EmFi Series, a programme designed to identify the best African tech founders who will shape the future of finance on the continent.
Founded by Matt and Laura Davis in 2012, Renew Capital is a pan-African investment firm that manages investments for a global network of HNIs, foundations and family offices seeking financial returns and sustainable social impact. The firm invests in tech-enabled companies and claims to have a “founder first” approach, prioritising the character and vision of founders.
The firm launched its latest fund in 2024, and it has now announced the Renew Venture Lab, with the EmFi Series is built to help startups begin building or improving the systems to offer their customers credit.Across Africa, small and medium-sized businesses are systematically excluded from formal financial services, not because they are too risky, but because the data to assess them is underutilised.
Africa represents a US$330 billion untapped credit opportunity. SMEs make up 90 per cent of all private sector businesses on the continent, yet the vast majority remain locked out of formal banking. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, fewer than one in five can access a loan from a traditional financial institution.
Renew Capital believes tech companies are not only helping small businesses with innovative solutions to run their business, but are giving their customers a data footprint that can be used to help them access credit. AI is allowing companies to use data in new ways to understand their customers; and one of the best applications of this data in Africa is to understand if they are worthy of a loan.
“Africa’s most important financial story is not being written by banks,” said Matthew Davis, co-CEO of Renew Capital. “It’s being written by tech founders who know their small business customers better than traditional lenders. The EmFi Series exists to help those founders build new financial products for their customers, and to back the best of them with real capital.”
Applications are open here until April 30.