Casablanca, Morocco — Moroccan B2B e-commerce and fintech startup Chari has secured a $12 million Series A round, co-led by SPE Capital and Orange Ventures, with participation from Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), Plug and Play, Endeavor Catalyst, and Pincus Capital.
Founded in 2020 by Ismael Belkhayat (CEO) and Sophia Alj (COO), the Y Combinator (S21) alumnus helps digitize procurement for Morocco’s small retailers, enabling them to order and receive fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) efficiently through its app.
With this new investment, Chari plans to scale its operations in Morocco and launch the country’s first Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform, which will provide a comprehensive suite of financial solutions—including POS terminals, payment gateways, a credit bookkeeping app (Karny), and services for bill payments, insurance, and mobile top-ups.
“This $12M Series A is a vote of confidence in Chari’s mission to empower Morocco’s small merchants,” said Ismael Belkhayat, Co-Founder and CEO. “We’re building a super app that delivers everything a mom-and-pop shop needs—from operations to payments to financial services—all in one platform.”
“We are building a BaaS platform to power the next generation of digital finance,” added Sophia Alj, Co-Founder and COO. “This investment will strengthen our infrastructure and enable partners to embed FinTech into their products.”
The investment underscores growing investor confidence in Chari’s dual strategy: developing a super app for small retailers and offering fintech infrastructure via BaaS. Backed by major regional and international investors, Chari is positioning itself as a key bridge between commerce and digital finance in Francophone Africa.
