WafR, a Moroccan fintech firm, has raised $120,000 in its fourth round of fundraising in 2022 from Casablanca-based fintech-focused venture capital First Circle Capital.
This year, WafR raised $1.2 million, contributing to a huge boost in the company’s worth to $10 million. Within six months, the firm intends to invest the funds raised to develop its customer base and reach 50,000 active partner merchants.
Bargach intends to use the latest round of funding to further the startup’s goal of delivering “the greatest possible support to retailers and FMCG companies.”
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First Circle Capital re-invested in WafR this week, reiterating its support for the Moroccan startup’s ambition. The Casablanca-based venture capital firm, together with WeLoveBuzz and other business angels, contributed to WafR’s $1 million seed round in June.
“After seeing exponential growth in all of the startup’s KPIs [Key Performance Indexes] and the founding team’s know-how, our conviction was reinforced and we decided to multiply the amount of money we had previously invested by more than 10,” First Circle Capital’s Co-Founder and Managing Partner Selma Ribica explained.
Given that WafR enjoys “unique” market positioning at the crossroads of retail and fintech in Morocco, Ribica says that First Circle Capital is “confident about the future of WafR and look[s] forward to the next few months to see how it evolves in Morocco today and in many other countries tomorrow.”
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A Look At What The Startup Does
Ismail Bargach and Reda Sallak started the firm in 2021 with the goal of digitising cashback and in-store rewards, allowing merchants and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands to increase customer loyalty.
According to its co-founder Bargach, the company capitalises on the rising regional FMCG sector, which is estimated at $30 billion in Morocco and $600 billion across Africa.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh