Rabat – Y Combinator, an American startup accelerator, has invested in Morocco’s e-commerce startup Chari by acquiring 7% of its shares.
Chari is a Moroccan B2B e-commerce startup and was founded by Ismael Belkhayat and Sophia Alj in January 2020.
Chari’s model is not only innovative and unique in Morocco, but throughout North Africa, as it strives to digitalize the market for fast-moving consumer goods (FCGM).
According to Chari’s website, commerce in North Africa lacks organization and is often fragmented with “approximately 200,000 local shops selling more than 10 billion dirhams of merchandise each year” in Moroccan cities.
The app Chari allows store owners to buy commodities online by connecting them to providers.
Chari aims to facilitate the supply of store managers, and guarantee a regular supply of merchandise with good pricing and free delivery in less than 24-hours.
Chari is the first Moroccan startup to join Y Combinator, a platform that has helped launch a number of well-known companies today, including Airbnb, Cruise, Twitcher, and Dropbox.
Chari first started within Dislog, a Moroccan company specialized in logistics and distribution in Morocco. The startup then moved to Station F Paris, the world’s largest startup facility. Chari has now gained the trust and reputation among stores in Morocco, an asset that will prove essential for its continued success.
According to Chari’s records, the company has registered a monthly growth rate of more than 10% and is expected to yield a 20 millions dollars turnover by the end of 2021.
Additionally, Chari received the award of “African startup of the year” in a competition by Orange, the French telecom operator.
The founder of the promising Moroccan startup, Ismael Belkhayat and Sophia Alj, were selected to be part of the Y combinator summer 2021 batch, set to take place between July and September 2021.
Among the 117 startups selected to be part of the Y combinator, nine African startups were chosen, including two Moroccan startups, Chari and Freeterium, a logistic company based in Morocco.
“It’s an honor for us to participate in the S21 batch of Y Combinator. With my co-founder, we will belong to the very closed circle of YC Alumni, allowing us to benefit from a global network of brilliantly successful startups. This will create a lot of value for our startup,” said Ismael Belkhayat, co-founder of Chari with Sophia Alj.
Y Combinator has become one of the top accelerators in the world, and is increasingly interested in integrating Afrian startups into its programs.
With Y Combinator acquiring 7% of Chari’s shares, the outlook looks promising for the Moroccan startup as it develops and broadens the field of action in the Moroccan market.
