Barely a month after acquiring Karny.ma, a Moroccan mobile credit book application, Moroccan logistics startup, Chari.ma, has raised $5m seed round co-led by Rocket Internet, Global Founders Capital, and P1 ventures, with participation participation from new and existing investors including Plug and Play, Y combinator, Village Capital / MetLife Foundation, Orange Ventures, Air Angels — Airbnb investors, SPE Capital, Pincus Private Equity, Reflect Ventures, The Chandaria family, Michael Lahyani, CEO and founder of Propertyfinder, and the management company of an American Ivy League University.
Many of these investors, including GFC, PnP, Orange, and Village Capital, are making their debut investments in a Moroccan firm.
“‘We have carefully selected the VCs of this seed round based on their ability to help us build a great business. We are now focusing on achieving our short-term targets to raise a sigificant Serie A in six to nine months” Ismael Belkhayat, Cofounder and CEO of Chari highlighted.
Chari was valued at $70 million in the post-YC fundraising round, which took four weeks to close. The investor’s enthusiasm for Chari stems from the startup’s ability to solve the procurement needs of Morocco’s 300,000 grocery retailers.
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Chari and Karny will be expanded to French-speaking Africa with the funds raised. Chari also intends to incorporate financial services such as digital payment, money transfer, and BNPL into its product roadmap.
“We’re excited to pave the way for Morocco’s budding startup sector. This seed round, we hope, will be the first in a long line of notable seed funding for Moroccan startups,” Sophia Alj, Chari’s Cofounder and COO, said.
A Look At What Chari.ma Does
Chari is a B2B startup that collaborates with FMCG multinationals and local producers to provide goods to mom and pop shops in under 24 hours. It was launched in January 2020 by husband and wife Ismael Belkhayat and Sophia Alj. Before joining the ranks of STATION F in Paris, Chari was incubated within the family-owned H&S Invest Holding. More than 10,000 grocery businesses in Morocco already use it.
Chari.ma logistics seed funding Chari.ma logistics seed funding
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer