Chari, a Moroccan B2B e-commerce and fintech startup, has successfully secured $12 million in Series A funding. This significant investment is earmarked for expanding its services tailored for local retailers and for the launch of a new Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform. The funding round was co-led by SPE Capital, a Tunisia-based private equity firm, and Orange Ventures, the investment arm of the global telecom giant. Other notable participants included Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures, Plug and Play, Endeavor Catalyst, and Pincus Capital, underscoring strong investor confidence in Chari’s innovative model.

Founded in 2020 by Ismael Belkhayat and Sophia Alj, Chari, a Y Combinator-backed venture, initially focused on assisting small Moroccan shop owners with managing online orders and streamlining deliveries. Over time, the company has broadened its offerings to include credit facilities and various digital tools designed to simplify merchants’ day-to-day operations. Chari addresses critical challenges within Morocco’s fragmented and often inefficient supply chains, which historically have burdened local shop owners with numerous middlemen and a reliance on cash transactions.

The fintech’s mobile application currently allows small retailers to efficiently order and receive direct deliveries of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). Chari’s ambitious vision is to evolve this retail app into a comprehensive ‘super app’ for small businesses. This expanded platform will offer merchants a consolidated suite of tools for product procurement, payment processing, access to credit, and overall business operations management. This transformation aims to provide a holistic solution that empowers small businesses across Morocco.

With the new capital, Chari plans a substantial expansion of its financial services portfolio. This includes the introduction of point-of-sale (POS) terminals, an online payment gateway to facilitate digital transactions, and a bookkeeping application named Karny, specifically designed for tracking customer credit. Furthermore, a business management tool will be added to enable merchants to monitor sales and expenses effectively. The platform already offers features such as bill payment, mobile airtime top-ups, and even the ability to sell insurance, thereby creating new revenue streams for small enterprises. Co-founder Ismael Belkhayat emphasized that this investment will accelerate their mission to empower Moroccan merchants by building a unified platform for purchases, payments, and financial services.

A pivotal development for Chari is its expansion beyond direct retail support into the broader fintech ecosystem through the establishment of a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform. This innovative infrastructure will allow other companies, including fintech startups, e-commerce merchants, and large enterprises, to seamlessly offer financial services to their own customers without the need to develop the underlying technology from scratch. These entities can integrate Chari’s financial services into their platforms via application programming interfaces (APIs), gaining access to Chari’s internally developed infrastructure for tasks such as issuing cards, authenticating customer identities (KYC), and processing digital wallets. Sophia Alj, co-founder, highlighted that the BaaS platform is designed to power the next generation of digital finance, with the funding strengthening their infrastructure and support for integration partners.

This strategic move positions Chari not just as a retail enabler but also as a crucial technology provider for the wider financial sector, extending its influence beyond Morocco’s retail landscape. Chari’s growth serves as a prime example of how small businesses are driving digital transformation across Africa. By embedding financial services within an easily accessible platform, the e-commerce firm actively formalizes the participation of previously underserved merchants in the digital economy. Its appeal to investors like SPE Capital and Orange Ventures stems from its dual strategy: strengthening small retailers while concurrently building robust fintech infrastructure, thus capitalizing on the immense growth potential of both digital commerce and financial inclusion in the region. Nabil Triki, Managing Partner at SPE Capital, noted that Chari’s model, which integrates merchant services with embedded finance, presents a significant opportunity for value creation in Africa. Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures also recognized the company's focus on small businesses as aligning with its vision for scalable, tech-driven growth across the continent. Since its inception, Chari has consistently invested in logistics, credit scoring, and software development. The new funding further solidifies its capacity to digitize Morocco’s extensive informal retail network and serve as a catalyst for digital finance solutions for other businesses, ultimately transforming financial interactions for small merchants, fintechs, and businesses throughout North Africa.