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Press Release: Renew Capital Launches Renew Venture Lab: The EmFi Series, a Program for African Tech Founders Building the Future of Finance in Africa
By Renew Capital Marketing and Communications Team | Thu Apr 09 2026
Program launches at GITEX Africa 2026 in Marrakech; applications open April 9
MARRAKECH, Morocco, April 9, 2026 — Renew Capital today announced the launch of Renew Venture Lab: The EmFi Series, a program designed to identify the best African tech founders who will shape the future of finance on the continent. The program was announced at GITEX during an exclusive investor breakfast hosted by the Renew Capital and AfricaNext BPI teams.
Founders can apply online starting today at venturelab.renewcapital.com. Apply by April 30 for early consideration.
Why Renew Capital is Focusing On Embedded Finance
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 underutilized. Africa represents a $330B untapped credit opportunity: SMEs make up 90% 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 they 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. The EmFi Series is built to help startups begin building or improving the systems to offer their customers credit.
"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."
About the Program
The Renew Venture Lab: EmFi Series is a virtual, competitive program combining self-paced learning modules with live expert sessions featuring global practitioners who have built embedded finance products, credit models and lending books at scale.
The program maintains Renew Capital’s focus on discipline and habits, a core element the firm has consistently argued is the key differentiator that separates successful founders from mediocre ones.
Renew Capital's investment team is engaged throughout the program, and the firm’s founders and executives will be active in selecting the top companies for potential investment from Renew Capital.
The program is supported by innovative government partners that believe Africa’s future will be defined by technology, including: Tamwilcom of Morocco, Global Affairs Canada and Norway’s NORAD. Where others have pulled back, these governments are investing in the future.
How to Apply
About Renew Capital
Renew Capital is a pan-Africa investment firm. We back the bold founders using technology to pursue Africa’s greatest opportunities.
With more than a decade of investing on the continent, Renew Capital is among the most active venture capital investors building Africa’s thriving private sector.
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