Co-founders of Chari: Sophia Alj (L), and Ismael BelkhayatSummary:
- Chari is transforming Morocco’s neighborhood shops into digital financial service hubs, driving financial inclusion.
- DisrupTech Ventures has invested in Chari and taken a board seat to support its fintech-driven growth.
- This marks DisrupTech’s second investment in Africa outside Egypt, highlighting its pan-African fintech vision.
- With over 20,000 retailers onboarded, Chari is scaling rapidly across Francophone Africa.
DisrupTech Ventures, Cairo, Egypt-based leading early-stage fintech venture capital fund, has announced its strategic investment in Chari, a Y Combinator–backed Moroccan startup that is reshaping the country’s informal retail sector through fintech innovation. This marks DisrupTech’s first investment in Morocco and its second in Africa outside of Egypt, signaling the firm’s growing commitment to fostering financial inclusion across the continent.
Founded in 2020 by Ismael Belkhayat and Sophia Alj, Chari has developed a licensed fintech platform that converts thousands of local shops into financial service access points. Using its payment institution license from the Central Bank of Morocco, Chari enables merchants to serve as neighborhood financial hubs, offering digital payment and essential financial solutions to underserved consumers.
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Beyond providing retailers a digital platform to order consumer goods from FMCG distributors, Chari’s core mission is to digitize financial transactions in the informal economy. The company reduces cash reliance, facilitates instant working capital, and integrates payment and insurance products into daily retail operations — positioning itself as the financial backbone of Morocco’s informal retail ecosystem.
“Our investment in Chari is a milestone for DisrupTech,” said Mohamed Okasha, Managing Partner at DisrupTech Ventures. “Chari is redefining how financial services are delivered at the grassroots level. By empowering small shops to act as financial gateways, Chari is creating the foundation for a new, inclusive fintech infrastructure in Morocco. This is exactly the kind of transformative model we seek to support across Africa.”
With more than 20,000 retailers already onboarded, Chari continues to scale as a leading commerce and fintech platform across Francophone Africa.
“We are delighted to welcome DisrupTech Ventures as a partner on our journey,” said Ismael Belkhayat, CEO and Co-Founder of Chari. “With DisrupTech’s backing, we are accelerating our mission to turn every corner shop into a financial access point. Together, we will continue to build technologies that drive financial inclusion and economic growth across Africa.”
The investment is part of Chari’s Series A extension round. As part of the deal, DisrupTech Ventures will take a board seat to collaborate closely with Chari’s founders in advancing its regional fintech strategy and expansion goals.
Chari recently made headlines by raising $12 million in its Series A round – the largest Series A ever closed in Morocco. The round was co-led by SPE Capital and Orange Ventures, with 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. The round also saw contributions from notable business angels, including Michael Lahyani, Founder of Property Finder, and Karim Beguir, Founder of InstaDeep.
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