EMURGO Labs

Overview

EMURGO Labs is a software company that builds blockchain apps for businesses, so they can run things like payments, lending, or record-keeping on a shared digital ledger that no single company controls. Clients can order custom software or start from one of its ready-made project templates. Much of its work centers on real-world assets, meaning carbon credits, loans, or dollar-backed digital tokens recorded on a blockchain¹.

EMURGO Africa, the branch of EMURGO that serves Africa and the Middle East, launched EMURGO Labs as its dedicated development arm². The launch announcement names startups, banks, large companies, and governments among the groups it aims to serve². EMURGO is one of the companies that co-founded Cardano, and EMURGO Labs is an Enterprise Member of Intersect, the member organization that coordinates Cardano's development³. The team builds on Cardano and on EVM-compatible chains, the family of networks that run Ethereum-style apps¹.

Key Features

• A head start on common blockchain apps. EMURGO Labs offers ready-made templates, which it calls scaffolds, for lending platforms, token marketplaces, NFT event tickets, credit scoring, and carbon credit trading, so a client adapts a working base instead of starting from nothing¹.
• Software built to order. For projects the templates don't cover, EMURGO Labs builds bespoke software around a client's needs¹. For Tharawat Green Exchange, a Saudi carbon credit marketplace, that meant smart contracts, the self-running programs that enforce an app's rules on a blockchain⁴.
• Funding and mentoring for startups. Alongside development work, EMURGO Labs invests directly in young Web3 companies, meaning businesses built around blockchains, and runs a venture studio that offers mentorship, resources, and introductions to its network¹.
• An accelerator with the UN Development Programme. EMURGO Labs co-led an accelerator with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), helping UNDP project teams test and build Cardano-based solutions through training and mentoring. Project Catalyst, Cardano's community grant program, funded it⁵.
• Public code to inspect. EMURGO Labs publishes code on GitHub, including Cardano smart contracts for lending, credit scoring, and NFT ticketing written in Plutus, plus separate projects in Aiken; both are Cardano programming languages⁶.

What to Expect

The EMURGO Labs website is a company site, not an app. Visitors find a list of services, a catalog of the scaffold templates, and a news section with partnership announcements. Businesses that want to work with the team reach it through a contact page¹.

For organizations, the partnership posts show the kind of work EMURGO Labs takes on. With Anzens and Encryptus, it set out to bring USDA, a Cardano stablecoin backed by US dollars, into more payment and finance services⁷. With W3i Software, it signed a memorandum of understanding to explore remittance tools, the apps people use to send money home across borders, for transfers between the United Arab Emirates and Egypt⁸.

Developers can browse the GitHub repositories. They include a starter template for building Cardano web apps and beginner examples written in Aiken, such as a simple crowdfunding contract⁶. Some repositories carry the MIT license and others list none⁶.

Everyday crypto users won't find a consumer product to download here. The products listed on its homepage lead to a Contact Us button, not to an app you can open¹.