UM6P Ventures, the investment arm of Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, has revealed its strategic investment in the e-commerce startup Chari, aiming to enhance financial inclusion and digital accessibility across Africa.
In a joint statement, UM6P Ventures and Chari announced their collaborative partnership with the goal of creating a framework conducive to financial inclusion, fostering sustainable growth, and promoting the harmonious development of entrepreneurial ecosystems.
The investments made by UM6P Ventures will be directed towards strengthening the capacities of both Moroccan and broader African ecosystems to address significant challenges. Yassine Laghzioui, CEO of UM6P Ventures, stated that this investment, in line with their broader digital transformation strategy, specifically targets challenges in Retailtech.
Credits: Chari
Expressing contentment with the partnership, Ismael Belkhayat, CEO of Chari, highlighted the startup’s intention to leverage the funds to establish itself as a leader in B2B e-commerce, offering integrated finance solutions in Francophone Africa. Belkhayat emphasized the startup’s commitment to geographical expansion and the development of Fintech services, enabling local businesses to access and provide various financial services.
Chari, operating in Morocco, Tunisia, and Ivory Coast, aims to digitize the entire distribution value chain through its B2B e-commerce application. The startup gained international recognition in May when it secured the 10th position on the Financial Times’ list of the fastest-growing businesses in Africa. Since its founding in 2018, Chari has experienced remarkable growth, with revenue increasing from $200,000 in its inaugural year to $1.8 million in 2021, achieving an impressive compound annual growth rate of 92%, according to the Financial Times.
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
Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures (“VKAV”) has made a significant investment of US$1.5 million in Chari, a B2B e-commerce company based in Morocco. The investment aims to support Chari’s growth plan and drive the transformation of the informal retail sector, while also fostering economic growth in the region. In addition to the financial investment, Ryosuke (Rio) Yamawaki, a Partner at VKAV, has been appointed as a Strategic Advisor to Chari, solidifying VKAV’s commitment to the company’s success.
Chari operates in Morocco, where a substantial portion of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) trade takes place through informal retail shops. These informal shops currently account for over 80% of the total FMCG trade in the country. However, these establishments face operational challenges due to inefficiencies caused by multiple intermediaries, a lack of digitization, and limited access to trade finance. Chari has emerged as a game-changer in this space by revolutionizing the operations of informal retail shops, providing essential goods and services more affordably and efficiently.
Ismael Belkhayat, Chari’s CEO
Why the Investor Invested
The investment by VKAV in Chari is driven by several key factors. Firstly, the informal retail sector in Morocco, like many other African countries, represents a significant portion of the FMCG trade. By investing in Chari, VKAV recognizes the immense potential for growth and transformation within this sector. The investment aims to address the operational inefficiencies faced by informal retail shops, ultimately driving economic growth and improving livelihoods.
Secondly, Chari’s innovative approach to leveraging technology to transform the informal retail sector aligns with VKAV’s investment strategy. VKAV focuses on investing in category-defining African start-ups that have the potential to disrupt traditional industries and bring about positive change. Chari’s vision to revitalize the Morocco economy by enhancing its network of retail shops and providing advanced financial solutions resonates with VKAV’s mission.
Furthermore, VKAV’s decision to invest in Chari is influenced by the company’s founders’ expertise and the potential for strategic partnerships. Chari’s CEO and Co-founder, Ismael Belkhayat, expressed excitement about partnering with VKAV and emphasized the value that VKAV’s extensive network across Africa and connections with the Japanese corporate society can bring to Chari’s endeavors. This collaboration opens doors for Chari to leverage VKAV’s network and expertise, enhancing its growth prospects.
A Look at Chari
Chari was founded in Morocco and has positioned itself as a leading B2B e-commerce company in the country. The primary focus of Chari is to transform the operations of informal retail shops, which play a vital role in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) trade. The company leverages technological innovations to address operational inefficiencies and offer essential goods and services more affordably and efficiently.
Chari’s founders have a deep understanding of the challenges faced by informal retail shops in Morocco and aim to revitalize the country’s economy by providing additional essential services and implementing advanced financial solutions for consumers. By doing so, Chari seeks to enhance the extensive network of retail shops and create a cutting-edge financial services infrastructure for the mass market.
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
Chari, Morocco’s leader in digital distribution of Fast-Moving Consumer Goods, has introduced a new B2B store chain to fulfil the demands of local grocery stores. The Chari store chain provides a wide choice of quality items at low rates, with the goal of assisting grocery shops in improving their product offerings and increasing their profitability. These stores are unique in that they are completely digitised.
Grocery store owners may go to any Chari Store and order the supplies they need on a computerised terminal, which allows them to pick up their goods in less than ten minutes or have them delivered to their stores right away.
The Chari physical points of sale also provide a ‘click and collect’ service, allowing retailers to order the supplies they require via Chari’s app and pick them up at any Chari Shop at a time that is convenient for them. These businesses are also meant to serve as a training ground for Chari’s digital tools, such as its e-commerce app and Karny.ma, a credit management/bookkeeping software. Ultimately, these locations will act as dark storefronts as well as local warehouses for 2-hour delivery of any things bought through the Chari eCommerce app.
Credits: Chari
The function that grocery shops play in meeting the needs of their consumers for the most basic commodities is crucial to local life. The new B2B store chain from Chari will inform store owners about digitalization, enabling them to enhance customer service and procurement.
This Thursday, March 16, the first two locations of this chain were launched in Casablanca and el Jadida, Morocco. By 2024, Chari wants to have 100 locations. More than 1000 SKUs from over 100 brands, from food items to hygiene items, are available in Chari B2B shops. It enables grocery shop owners to facilitate their supply in order to better satisfy the demands of their consumers by giving them simple access to a large choice of high-quality items at affordable costs.
“We are excited to launch this new chain of B2B stores for grocery stores in Morocco,” said Ismael Belkhayat, co-founder of Chari. “We are confident that these shops will help grocery stores digitize, improve their product offerings and increase their profitability. We are committed to providing quality products at competitive prices and to helping grocery stores go digital to better serve their customers.”
Every day of the week, from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m., the Chari retail chain is open. It may be reached via the Chari mobile application or Whatsapp.
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
Orange Ventures, Orange’s venture capital investment arm, has invested $1 million in Chari’s most recent round of fundraising. On this occasion, Grégoire de Padirac, Partner of Orange Ventures Middle East & Africa, joins Chari’s Supervisory Board.
“We are delighted to have been among the first investors in the Chari adventure, and we look forward to continuing to support the team as it expands into the French-speaking region and the fintech sector. We and Chari believe in the need of digitising local company owners “says Chari’s Grégoire de Padirac.
Ismael Belkhayat, Chari’s CEO
As a reminder, Chari won the Middle East Africa Seed Challenge presented by Orange Ventures in 2021, which included over 500 technical entrepreneurs from Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Senegal, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, and Jordan.
“Being supported by Orange Ventures since the beginning of our quest is a source of pride for us. The Orange group’s distribution know-how and skills are extremely beneficial to us. We intend to grow into the nations in which Orange operates “According to Ismael Belkhayat, co-founder and CEO of Chari.
Chari was created in January 2020 by Ismael Belkhayat and Sophia Alj and was advanced under the family holding business HnS Invest Holding, which supports distribution and logistics start-ups. Chari wants to change the way small businesses receive their supplies. It provides them with a mobile application that allows them to order all of the products they need at their point of sale with a few clicks and a free delivery commitment in less than 24 hours. The application has already attracted over 20,000 food businesses in the kingdom’s major cities.
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
The investment fund that is part of the worldwide Endeavor network, called Endeavor Catalyst, has been operating in Morocco since 2014, and they have decided to invest one million dollars in the Moroccan company called Chari.
According to Ismael Belkhayat, who was present at the event, “It is a positive indication to see that known foreign investment funds are interested in Moroccan businesses. This bodes well for a speedy take-off of the Moroccan startup ecosystem.”
Ismael Belkhayat, founder, Chari
Belkhayat, who helped found the company and currently serves as its chief executive officer, goes on to say that “It is a privilege to welcome Endeavor Catalyst among our investors.” Endeavor Catalyst now counts Y Combinator, Orange, Rocket Internet, and the management fund from Harvard University among its other investors.
To be more specific, Endeavor Catalyst’s investment is a component of Chari’s Serie A type of fundraising. This fundraising will enable the Moroccan startup to consolidate its continental expansion and begin its shift towards fintech by financing the acquisition of the company Axa Credit, provided that the startup receives the approval of the central bank.
In addition, the Endeavor network had already selected Chari at the beginning of the year 2022 in its list of “outliers” companies, which are the 10% of Endeavor companies with the strongest growth and the greatest impact on their communities.
In addition, the Endeavor network had already selected Chari at the beginning of the year 2022 in its list of “outliers” companies, which are the 10% of Endeavor companies with the strongest growth and the greatest impact on their communities. Need we point out that Endeavor Catalyst has already invested in more than fifty unicorns around the world, including Glovo, Flutterwave, Brex, Cabify, and Checkout.com?…
Chari is an e-commerce platform designed for local grocery stores in countries in Africa where French is the primary language. This application enables local grocery businesses to stock up on consumer items and take advantage of advantageous payment options.
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://insightsbyexpert
Chari, a Moroccan FMCG and financial services digital distributor focusing on small retailers in Francophone Africa, has announced the acquisition of a 100 percent stake in Diago, an Ivory Coast-based startup that connects neighborhood shops to FMCG producers and importers.
Amidou Diarra and Ali Ouattara, two former managers at Glovo and PepsiCo, founded diagoapp.net in 2021. The startup operates solely in Abidjan.
With the acquisition, Ali and Amidou will continue to serve as CEO and COO, respectively, and will manage local business growth before expanding into other Sub-Saharan African countries.
Chari purchased Diago mainly through an all-stock transaction.
From left to right, Sophia Alj cofounder of Chari, Amidou Diarra cofounder of Diago App, Ali Ouattara cofounder of Diago App, Cyrille Jacques VP expansion of Chari. Credits: Chari
Why The Acquisition
Diago’s acquisition will be critical to Chari’s expansion plans. After a successful proof of concept in Morocco, Chari intends to become the leader of its business model in Francophone Africa, according to the company.
“The secret of a successful expansion is to build a local team that masters local market dynamics. The real challenge is to convince local entrepreneurs to join forces with Chari to grow faster. We continue to surround ourselves with young and ambitious entrepreneurs from Francophone Africa to build together a pan-African giant of FMCG and financial services distribution,” Ismael Belkhayat, co-founder and CEO of Chari, said.
Also commenting on the acquisition, Cyrille Jacques, Vice-President of Chari in charge of leading international expansion said: “Diago’s entire team will receive Chari’s full support functions. Chari’s Casablanca back office will help Diago team in setting up operations, IT tools and customer service,” said
Chari is a FMCG and financial services digital distributor targeting small retailers in Francophone Africa. The startup launched its operations in Morocco before expanding to Tunisia in early 2022. 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.
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
Following a successful first test on the El Jadida Tangier Axis, Chari has stated that it will gradually expand its operations to cover the entire Moroccan region.
Chari inaugurated its first warehouse in Casablanca in January 2020, followed by a second in Tangier in the fourth quarter of 2021. Chari’s team has been able to cover over 15,000 food stores across the whole North Atlantic axis thanks to these two regional warehouses. Chari has also announced the simultaneous inauguration of seven new warehouses in Marrakech, Agadir, Khouribga, Meknes, Oujda, Errachidia, and Laayoune.
Ismael Belkhayat, Co-Founder and CEO of Chari
To refresh your memory, Chari is an e-Commerce program that allows local retail stores to stock up on all of the products resold at their point of sale and have them delivered free of charge in less than 24 hours. Chari’s services are used by over 5,000 grocery retailers each month, with an average weekly order frequency.
Chari has purchased the Karny.ma virtual credit book, which is used by over fifty thousand points of sale in Morocco, in addition to monthly organic growth of approximately 15%, allowing it to reach an annual revenue of 500 million dirhams in 2022.
Simultaneously with the opening of these new warehouses, Chari inaugurated its new headquarters in Casablanca, which houses a customer care department with approximately a hundred telesales employees.
As a result, Chari has become a national player in B2B e-commerce, providing several services to its clients who produce consumer brands such as:
Increased visibility of their items on the Chari application
Detailed data on conventional channel sales
Marketing capabilities to convey personalized messages to grocers
“Chari has established itself in the Moroccan consumer product distribution landscape in just two years. We are proud of the progress we have accomplished despite the fact that we are still in the early stages,” said Ismael Belkhayat, Co-Founder and CEO of Chari.
Yassine Dallihi has also been named Chari’s Country Manager in Morocco. Before joining the Moroccan firm, the distribution expert worked for Procter & Gamble (4 years) and L’Oreal (5 years). Meanwhile, Khalid Debbarh has been appointed Purchasing Director, in charge of supplier relations.
Debbarh is a former Mars Maroc commercial director and Fater Maroc managing director.
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
Chari, a Moroccan B2B e-commerce and retail startup, has confirmed that it has bought Axa Credit, the credit arm of Axa Assurance Maroc, for $22 million.
The announcement follows Chari’s recently completed seed expansion round, which valued the company at $100 million and saw it begin offering BNPL services to its customers. It is one of the few African startups that has made its valuation public.
Chari digitizes the largely fragmented FMCG sector in parts of French-speaking Africa, particularly Morocco and Tunisia. It operates a mobile app that connects small retailers in these two countries to FMCG multinationals and local manufacturers, allowing them to order and get products in less than 24 hours.
Last October, the YC-backed company acquired Moroccan credit book Karny.ma. The Khatabook-esque platform provides credit and bookkeeping services to about 50,000 merchants. It allows these merchants to handle the credit they give to their customers.
Credits: Chari
Why The Acquisition
Chari is one of the few, if not the only, startups to acquire a local branch of a global bank with the acquisition of Axa Credit, the Moroccan credit branch of the French-based Axa Group. According to Chari, the deal is still awaiting permission from Moroccan banking, insurance, and antitrust authorities.
CEO Ismael Belkhayat noticed that Axa was exiting Morocco’s credit sector, which was a sideline to its primary insurance business, and regarded Chari as a good fit to take over.
“They decided to give the deal to Chari because I think they believe we are the ones able to do financial inclusion,” said the chief executive who founded Chari with his wife and COO, Sophia Alj.
With the acquisition of Axa Credit, Chari will be able to begin extending credit to its FMCG B2B clients (which it already does), who will then be able to lend money to their consumer clients. It’s a B2B2C financing model, if you will.
Shop owners, according to Chari, know their customers’ spending habits, where they reside, and when and how they get paid, and can thus undertake the credit risk assessment that a traditional bank cannot.
This transaction is also notable for a number of reasons. For starters, bragging rights as a startup that is honest with numbers that its competitors might otherwise refuse to provide. Even if this isn’t a pure tech deal (a firm buying another startup), it doesn’t change the fact that Chari made the purchase price (and, in the past, the valuation) of this agreement public, which is unusual in Africa’s startup ecosystem.
Second, this transaction allows Axa Insurance Morocco to refocus on its primary business: insurance, which aligns with Axa Group’s worldwide strategy, which has seen similar restructurings in its growing regions.
“We are thrilled to announce a cross-selling partnership between Axa Insurance Morocco and Chari. This partnership will allow Axa Insurance to keep growing on the Moroccan market and play a central role in financial inclusion,” said Meryem Chami, the general manager of Axa Morocco, in a statement.
But, despite only raising $7 million so far, how has Chari been able to fund this deal? Belkhayat explained that the company’s acquisition funds come from a combination of seed funding, a leveraged buyout (local bank debt), and negative working capital from a transaction with FMCG manufacturers (roughly $5 million). In addition, the company is preparing to raise a significant Series A financing.
In Morocco, 70% of the population is unbanked, underbanked, or unable to demonstrate recurrent income. They may find it difficult to obtain a loan since lenders require them to demonstrate financial stability in order to repay, which is nearly impossible for them to do because they do not have bank accounts.
Chari believes it can assist this group of people, but how does it plan to lend to them and be reimbursed if they have no credit history or database on which to judge their creditworthiness? Belkhayat believes that its recent acquisition of Karny is the solution.
“For instance, we have 40 million people and about 200,000 shops, which means that each shop has in total, an average of like 200 customers. And effect an average family size in Morocco is like five people. So each shop has like 40 families as clients on average,” said the CEO explaining how Chari is turning shop owners to lending agents.
“Each shop knows each family, where they live, an idea of how much they earn, when they get paid; if it’s every week, is every month, what they consume and buy. So the shop owners can do credit assessments, or credit risk to define how much they can be lending to their clients.”
In addition to providing loans, shop owners and merchants can provide FMCG on credit. By offering loans and goods on credit to merchants who act as branches and, in turn, provide the same services to end consumers, Chari says the underbanked now have the opportunity to play on a level field with those who have bank accounts.
Chari provides merchants with a free credit line; the expense of the loans is passed on to FMCG suppliers in the form of a greater distribution margin. Suppliers receive data on the SKUs they sell to each retailer in exchange. Chari provides greater credit lines to shop owners who want to offer loans to their end customers, and Chari shares the data collected from Karny (on end customers’ purchasing behavior) with FMCG firms who pay for the higher loans.
Chari intends to charge merchants a setup fee and low-interest rates in the future, after it has a larger user base.
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.
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
The Moroccan B2B e-commerce and fintech startup Chari has raised a bridge round of funding that shoots up the value of the company to US$100 million giving the company leverage for continental expansion. Chari was established in 2020 by a team of husband and wife Ismael and Sophia Belkhayat.
The startup gives traditional proximity store owners in Morocco to order products and have them delivered. It works with more than 50 per cent of the proximity stores in Casablanca, has expanded into Tunisia, and in August announced the acquisition of mobile credit book application Karny.
Ismael Belkhayat, Chari’s CEO
A participant in the Y Combinator S21 batch, the company raised a US$5 million seed round late last year, and now aims to take serious steps into the fintech space after closing a bridge round led by the Saudi Arabia-based venture capital fund Khwarizmi Ventures, AirAngels (Airbnb Alumni Investors), and Afri Mobility, the venture capital arm of AKWA Group.
The recent acquisition of the credit book app Karny gave Chari valuable data on the loans given by grocery stores to their customers, allowing it to credit-assess unbanked shop-owners and determine the most fitting payment terms given to each.
“Chari will use the money from this bridge round to test the BNPL services with its existing customers. Upon successful results, Chari will acquire a local credit company to enable shop owners to lend money to their end users and further grow their business” said Ismael Belkhayat, Chari’s CEO.
‘Sophia and Ismael are visionary leaders that always make everyone around them think bigger every time they speak with them. We believe that under their leadership Chari will help in improving the lives of millions in Africa through simplified financial solutions. We are proud of their mission and delighted to join their adventure,” said Abdulaziz al-Turki, managing partner at Khwarizmi Ventures.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
Chari has announced the acquisition of Karny.ma, a Moroccan mobile credit book application, following the reports of a recent Pre-Seed financing led by Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play Ventures, the venture capital arm of French telecom operator Orange Digital Ventures, and Y combinator.
“Karny.ma users are the right target for Chari. We believe there can be many synergies between the two apps and we want to grow both in parallel with the end goal of starting to offer financial services to all of our customers” says Ismael Belkhayat, Co-Founder and CEO of Chari.
With this acquisition, Chari is expanding its activities to include FinTech solutions that will not only help B2B companies and provide users with financing choices, but will also help enhance sales bottom lines. With businesses like Pakistan’s Bazaar and Dastgyr, as well as Cairo’s Teegara, closing excellent rounds in Emerging Venture Markets, this E-commerce FinTech hybrid offering has been gaining steam.
Karny.ma is a key purchase since it provides a simple and effective debt finance solution. The Karny.ma software allows users to keep track of their transactions on their phones, share them with their debtors, and collect their loans more quickly. Chari can extend its market and operations with this new addition to the range of offerings; the Morocco-based marketplace is currently witnessing monthly growth of more than 10% and expects to have a turnover of more than $20 million by the end of 2021.
Chari is a B2B e-commerce program that allows traditional convenience stores to get everything they need and have it delivered in less than 24 hours. It was launched in January 2020 by the duo 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.
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
