Chari Raises Record $123M, Secures Banking Licence to Transform Moroccan Retail

It’s not every day that a Moroccan startup makes headlines on both the fintech and venture capital fronts at once. But that’s exactly what Chari has pulled off. The Casablanca-based company, founded in 2020 by the husband-and-wife team Ismael Belkhayat (formerly of BCG) and Sophia Alj (ex-McKinsey), has closed an eye-catching $123 million Series A round — the largest ever for a Moroccan startup. The round was led by SPE Capital and Orange Ventures, with a long list of local and international investors including Verod‑Kepple, Plug and Play, and Endeavor Catalyst. Add to that several well‑known business angels like Michael Lahyani from Property Finder and Karim Beguir of InstaDeep fame, and you’ve got what the locals might call a full house.

Now, here’s where things get really interesting: Chari isn’t just stacking cash. It’s also become the first VC‑backed startup in Morocco to snag a financial institution licence from Bank Al‑Maghrib, the country’s central bank. I reckon that’s quite the coup. This licence lets Chari provide a proper suite of banking‑style services — everything from issuing Moroccan IBANs and debit cards to running POS systems, remittances, and even micro‑insurance offerings. Imagine your local shopkeeper being able to pay suppliers, transfer money, and handle bill payments all from one app.

Sophia Alj put it neatly, saying the goal is to turn traditional grocery stores — or “hanouts”, as they’re affectionately known — into local hubs for digital finance. It’s the sort of inclusive model that feels spot on for MENA markets, where cash is still king but smartphones are quietly redefining habits. And believe it or not, Chari’s tech backbone is entirely home‑built. Ismael Belkhayat mentioned that after developing the systems to run its own platform, the company now plans to open that infrastructure to others, effectively stepping into the “Banking‑as‑a‑Service” space.

That’s quite a leap — from supplying FMCG products to helping corporates and startups plug fintech features into their own apps. On the flip side, scaling such an operation won’t be a walk in the park. Regulatory demands can be a bit of a faff, and convincing small merchants to shift from cash to cards won’t happen overnight. Still, if Chari manages to pull it off, it could turn Morocco’s corner shops into gateways for financial inclusion across Francophone Africa.

I remember visiting some of these neighbourhood stores during an Arageek field trip last year — tiny spaces packed floor‑to‑ceiling with goods, but cash‑only. The idea that they could one day serve as digital banking points is honestly exciting. It’s a reminder that when tech meets trust at a local level, real change follows.

That said, the proof will be in the pudding. Chari’s raised an impressive war chest — $17 million before this round and now this record‑breaker — and it’s got two main pillars ahead: building a super app for merchants and offering fintech tools as‑a‑service. If they get it right, we might soon see other Moroccan startups following suit. For now, though, the Chari team must be chuffed to bits… and rightly so, even if the road ahead is definately long.

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