Moroccan B2B e-commerce and fintech startup Chari has raised a $12M Series A round to scale its services for local retailers and launch a new Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform.
The round was co-led by Tunis-based private equity firm SPE Capital and Orange Ventures, the venture arm of the global telecoms operator. It also saw participation from a wide syndicate of investors, including Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (VKAV), Plug and Play, Endeavor Catalyst, and Pincus Capital.
Founded in 2020 by CEO Ismael Belkhayat and COO Sophia Alj, the Y Combinator (S21) alumnus started by helping digitise the procurement process for Morocco’s ubiquitous mom-and-pop shops. The startup’s app allows these small retailers to order fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and have them delivered, streamlining a fragmented and inefficient supply chain.
Now, Chari is expanding its ambition by embedding a suite of financial services directly into its platform, creating what it calls a “super app” for merchants. Simultaneously, it plans to white-label its proprietary fintech infrastructure, becoming the first BaaS provider in Morocco.
A dual strategy: Super app and BaaS
Chari’s strategy targets two distinct but connected opportunities.
First is the super app for its core base of independent retailers. Beyond FMCG procurement, the platform now offers:
- Payment solutions: Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals and an online payment gateway.
- Financial management: A credit bookkeeping app called Karny to manage informal customer credit, and a business management app.
- Value-added services: The ability to process bill payments, mobile top-ups, and sell insurance, providing new revenue streams for shop owners.
“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 are now accelerating toward building the go-to super app that delivers everything a mom-and-pop shop needs — from operations to payments to financial services — all in one platform.”
The second part of the strategy is to offer its financial technology as a standalone service. The company has developed its core banking system, Know Your Customer (KYC) and compliance modules, and card-issuing capabilities entirely in-house. With the new funding, Chari will package this technology into an API-based BaaS platform, allowing other companies — from fintechs to large enterprises — to embed financial products without building the infrastructure themselves.
“We are building a BaaS platform to power the next generation of digital finance,” explained Sophia Alj, Co-Founder and COO. “This investment will help us strengthen our infrastructure and support partners seeking to embed FinTech into their products.”
Investor confidence
Investors are backing Chari’s vision to become a foundational layer for both commerce and finance in the region. The combination of a direct-to-merchant application and a broader infrastructure play is what attracted the round’s co-leads.
“Chari’s vision — combining merchant services with embedded finance — is exactly the kind of category-defining opportunity that creates huge value,” said Nabil Triki, Managing Partner & CEO at SPE Capital.
For Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures, which participated in a previous $1.5M seed round, the focus on the traditional retail sector remains a key appeal. “Chari’s focus on empowering local merchants via a tech-first, scalable platform resonates deeply with our thesis,” commented Ryosuke Yamawaki, a Partner at the firm who also serves as a strategic advisor to Chari. “This round strengthens the bridge between finance and commerce in Morocco.”
The Series A marks a significant step up for the Casablanca-based startup, which has methodically built its operational and technological capabilities since its founding. With fresh capital, Chari is positioned to tackle the complex challenge of digitising a vast, informal retail economy while simultaneously building the financial rails for other businesses to innovate upon.