Chari Raises $1 Million from Orange Ventures

Morocco’s B2B e-Commerce startup Chari has raised $1 million from Orange Ventures. As part of the deal, Grégoire de Padirac, partner of Orange Ventures Middle East and Africa will join Chari’s supervisory board.

Founded in 2020 by Ismael Belkhayat and Sophia Alj, Chari lets retailers purchase large quantities of inventory items directly from suppliers. The platform has onboarded over 20,000 food businesses in Morocco.

Speaking on the development, Grégoire de Padirac said, “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 to digitise local company owners.”

Ismael Belkhayat, co-founder and CEO of Chari said, “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.”

In 2022 as part of its activities to further boost its operations, Chari made a few acquisitions. In March it acquired Axa Credit, the credit branch of Axa Assurance Maroc, for $22 million. While in June of the same year acquired Diago, an Ivorian app. It also raised $1 million from Endeavor Catalyst as part of its Series A funding round.