Renew Capital EmFi Series Backs 15 Embedded Finance Startups

In Short

Renew Capital has selected 15 companies for investment through its inaugural EmFi Series venture lab.

The cohort spans 10 countries, with Ghana and Nigeria making up the largest share.

The programme targets embedded finance, which means offering financial services inside business software that SMEs already use.

What Happened

Renew Capital has picked 15 startups for investment via the EmFi Series. Renew describes EmFi as a venture lab, which is a structured programme that combines capital with hands-on support to help companies build and test a business.

Renew said it received around 500 applications and shortlisted 47 finalists. Each finalist received a $250,000 venture-building package. The firm did not disclose how much capital it invested in the final 15 companies.

The selected companies come from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Togo, Zambia, Uganda, Senegal, Morocco, and South Africa. Ghana had four startups and Nigeria had three.

The cohort includes Shiprazor from South Africa, Oze from Ghana, and Regxta from Nigeria, plus AgroCenta, Boost Technology, Dots for Africa, Fanaka, Kutana, MajibuAfrica, Marakisoft, Rigo, Solimi, Tradevu, Z Systems, and Zendawa.

Renew’s focus is embedded finance for SMEs. In simple terms, this is when a logistics, retail, or accounting tool adds payments, savings, or credit inside the app, so business owners do not need to visit a bank or open a separate finance product.

Why It Matters

Small businesses generate a large share of jobs across Africa, but many still cannot access working capital. Renew points to an estimated $330 billion annual credit gap.

Embedded finance could help lenders underwrite (decide who qualifies for credit) using real transaction and inventory data from the software SMEs already rely on. That can reduce paperwork and improve risk checks.

For founders, the EmFi Series signals investor appetite for “SME operating systems” that can later add lending, insurance, and payments as new revenue lines. For operators and investors, the cohort is also a snapshot of where early-stage fintech is going, away from standalone apps and toward finance built into everyday workflows.