DisrupTech Ventures, a leading early-stage fintech venture capital fund, announces its investment in Chari, a Y Combinator-backed startup that is transforming Morocco's retail sector into a nationwide fintech network. This marks DisrupTech's first investment in Morocco and its second in Africa outside of Egypt, underscoring the fund's growing commitment to supporting fintech innovation across the continent.
Founded in 2020 by Ismael Belkhayat and Sophia Alj, Chari has built a licensed fintech platform that turns thousands of neighbourhood shops into access points for digital payments and financial services. By leveraging its payment institution licence from the Central Bank of Morocco, Chari is enabling merchants to function as financial hubs for their communities, giving consumers access to services that were previously out of reach.
While its mobile app also allows retailers to order consumer goods from FMCG distributors with rapid delivery, Chari's mission goes far beyond e-commerce. The company is digitising financial flows in the informal economy, reducing dependency on cash, providing instant working capital, and embedding insurance and payment solutions directly into merchants' day-to-day operations. In doing so, Chari is building what could become the financial backbone of Morocco's informal retail economy.
