Renew Capital: Driving Towards a Gender-Smart Economy in Ethiopia
Renew Capital, a pan-African venture firm, invests in high-potential, tech-enabled startups. For more than a decade, the firm has refined an investment model to build ecosystems and invest in startups across Africa. With a 50+ strong team across 14 African countries, Renew Capital is a leader in startup investments.
Recognizing that gender-balanced teams outperform teams without gender diversity, Renew Capital's strategy starts with incentivizing founders to embed gender-smart practices in their companies. The firm’s investment terms reward founders that build gender- and climate-smart teams, offering discounted interest rates on convertible notes for those embracing best practices.
Breaking Barriers: Renew Capital’s Work in Ethiopia
Renew Capital and its partners are championing groundbreaking work to build a gender-inclusive economy that recognizes the power of women in business. Renew Capital aims to close this gap in Ethiopia, where fewer than 20% of businesses are female-owned (MIWE 2020). Their work aligns with Ethiopia’s goals of advancing gender-related SDGs and becoming a middle-income country by 2025. Support comes from international bodies like Global Affairs Canada, the World Bank, JICA and USAID.
Building a Gender-Smart Future
Key Results
Over the past decade, Renew Capital has built a foundation to accelerate Ethiopia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through partnerships like the Accelerating Business Program (2016-2021), the firm has focused on job creation for women, leadership representation and ecosystem strengthening. Highlights include:
SG2X Playbook Launch: Developed with USAID and the 2X Challenge, this toolkit helps fund managers and SMEs build gender-balanced leadership for financial and social impact.
Isua Network: Since March 2023, this women’s business network has attracted 185 members, offering legal clinics, financial advisory services and business development training.
Gender-Smart Executives Program: Upskilled 50+ executives from gender- and environment-smart companies, fostering workplace policies that support gender equality and sustainability.
Resource Providers Program: Trained resource providers like law firms and universities on building gender- and climate-smart organizations, impacting the future ecosystem.
Strategic Investments: Invested in women-owned businesses like Jamii.one, which helps community savings groups digitize and access affordable micro-insurance.
Lessons from the Frontline: What Women Entrepreneurs Need
Lesson 1: Women entrepreneurs face more than just gender issues—they also confront fundamental business challenges.
Action: Provide hands-on support, such as consulting and shared services, networking opportunities and other resources to enhance business capabilities.
Lesson 2: Many women-led businesses offer strong economic value but lack scalability.
Action: Explore right-sized capital options, including debt facilities, to boost success for smaller growth businesses.
Lesson 3: Finding and building investment-ready, scalable businesses takes significant effort.
Action: Push development funders to support buy-side deal origination, helping to channel private capital into early-stage African ventures.
For more information contact Mariah Grubb, Head of Sprints: mgrubb@renewcapital.com
September, 2024
This publication is made possible by CAFIID’s Gender Lens Investing Community of Practice
