About Us
Bridging Global Capital with Impactful Innovation
At GFIRS, we are committed to aligning global finance with impactful projects that drive meaningful change. As the only marketplace connecting funders with high-impact ventures worldwide, we bridge the gap between innovative founders and the capital they need to scale.
Our platform combines data, verification, and strategic support to ensure trust and transparency in emerging markets. From providing credible GFI Ratings for startups to delivering investment-ready advisory and market intelligence, we empower both founders and investors to make informed decisions.
With a dual structure—GFIRS C.I.C., our non-profit mission arm, and GFIRS Intelligence Ventures Limited, our technology and venture arm—we are uniquely positioned to democratise access to finance while building sustainable, high-impact ecosystems across frontier markets.
OUR MISSION
The only marketplace for connecting funders with the most impactful ventures anywhere in the world.
OUR VISION
Aligning global finance to impactful projects.
How We Serve You
FOR FOUNDERS
Get Rated. Get Funded..
Stop guessing what investors want. Use the
GFIRS Rating to prove your credibility, identify your blind spots, and
fast-track your fundraising journey.
Trust, but Verify
Deploy capital with precision and confidence.
GFIRS intelligently matches investors with investees based on asset class, geography, idiosyncratic risk exposures, and underlying business fundamentals, thereby enabling disciplined portfolio construction aligned with your mandate.
OUR STRUCTURE
(CIC vs. Limited)
GFIRS operates through a purpose-built hybrid structure designed to balance social impact with commercial innovation.
We have separated our mission-driven activities from our technology and investment operations to ensure transparency, accountability, and long-term sustainability.
GFIRS C.I.C.: Our Mission Platform
Entity Type: Community Interest Company (C.I.C.)
‘GFIRS C.I.C. serves as the public benefit arm of the organisation, advancing our mission to strengthen non-profit and innovation ecosystems and expand equitable access to capital for voluntary-sector entities.
Strategic Focus:
• Assignment of a GFI score
• Ecosystem development and capacity building
• Founder education and investment readiness
• Democratising access to finance for underrepresented entrepreneurs
Core Role:
• Impact verification to program funders and beneficiaries
• Building cross-sector partnerships
• Driving measurable, outcomes-based social impact
• Safeguarding and institutionalising the organisation’s mission
As a regulated Community Interest Company, GFIRS C.I.C. operates under a statutory asset lock and public benefit obligation.’
GFIRS Intelligence Ventures Limited – Technology & Venture Arm
Entity Type: Private Limited Company (Ltd)
GFIRS Intelligence Ventures Limited drives our commercial and technological innovation.
Focus:
Technology development and venture capital strategy.
Role:
Develops proprietary scoring algorithms
Manages and scales the software platform
Handles commercial data licensing
Leads future venture capital activities
This structure enables us to innovate at speed, attract private investment, and build scalable technology while remaining aligned with our broader mission.
MEET THE TEAM
Our Team
GFIRS was founded in the United Kingdom by a team with over three decades of combined experience across capital markets, development finance, Big 4 advisory, venture capital, and impact investment.
Ebuka Emebinah
Co-Founder & CEO.
Ebuka is a senior finance and risk professional with over 20 years of experience across capital markets, development finance, impact investment, Basel regulatory capital, and IFRS reporting in the UK, Nigeria, and internationally. He holds the CFA Charter and has an MPA in Economic Policy Management from Columbia University. His career spans Big 4 advisory at Deloitte, risk management at Santander UK, impact investment facilitation at Impact Investors Foundation Nigeria, and ESG advisory. He serves as Treasurer of the World Hepatitis Alliance in London, Independent Director at Milton Keynes City Council, and is a Newton Fundamentals Venture Capital Programme participant. Ebuka built GFIRS because he witnessed firsthand the information asymmetry preventing capital from reaching underserved organisations and set out to build the infrastructure the market was missing.
Samuel Prince Nwafor
Co-Founder & COO.
Samuel is a finance and strategy leader with 13+ years of experience across EMEA, LATAM, and North America. He is a Fellow of the ACCA, CFA Level III Candidate, MBA holder, and joint Doctoral Candidate at Durham University Business School and Emlyon Business School. He completed the Strategic Alignment Programme at Oxford's Saïd Business School and holds AI certifications from the University of Pennsylvania direclty relevant to the GFIRS plarform development. His career spans landmark roles at Andela ($200M fundraise, $1.5B valuation), Moove ($145M+ fundings ecured across multiple markets), and 54 Collective VC, as Head of FP&A across a 90+ company venture portfolio. At GFIRS, Samuel brings the FP&A architecture, institutional investor reporting experience, and multi-market scaling expertise that will translate the GFI Rating from a validated methodology into a self-sustaining global platform.