SPE Capital and Orange Ventures lead Chari's Series A funding round
Chari, a Morocco-based fintech and e-commerce platform, has closed a $12 million Series A round.
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Chari, a Morocco-based fintech and e-commerce platform, has closed a $12 million Series A round. The round was led by SPE Capital and Orange Ventures, with further participation from Verod-Kepple, Global Founders Capital, Plug and Play, Endeavor Catalyst, Pincus Capital, Al Khwarizmi Ventures, UM6P Ventures, Axian Group, Uncovered fund, AfriMobility, P1 Ventures, Reflect Ventures, Dragon Capital, MyAsia VC, Harambean Prosperity Fund, and H&S Invest Holding.
Chari has also become the first VC-backed startup in Morocco to be granted a payment institution licence by Bank Al-Maghrib, the country’s central bank.
This licence enables Chari to offer a full suite of financial services to its existing user base of grocery stores, independent shop owners, retailers, and SMEs, including:
Acquiring services via POS terminals and payment gateways
Issuing payment accounts, Moroccan IBANs, and debit cards
Domestic money transfers, international remittances, bill payments, and e-government services
Distribution of micro-insurance products
With this license, Chari is now positioned to transform its e-commerce platform into a merchant super app. Through a single app, Moroccan merchants are able to order FMCG products, accept digital payments, check balances, pay suppliers, transfer money, and pay bills on behalf of their customers.
“This is a unique opportunity to turn traditional grocery stores into local points of sale for financial services,” said Sophia Alj, co-founder of Chari. “It will help shopkeepers digitise their flows, increase their revenues, and compete more effectively with modern retail chains.”
“Over the past three years, Chari has built in-house the full technology stack required to operate under its financial institution licence,” added Ismael Belkhayat, co-founder and CEO of Chari. “Now that our rails are fully operational and supporting Chari’s needs, we are opening them to third parties. This marks the beginning of Chari’s banking-as-a-service (BaaS) offering.”
Read more from How we made it in Africa: How a Moroccan groceries supplier became something that looks more like a bank
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