Morocco’s fledgling technology scene just recorded its largest locally sourced Series A of the year. ORA Technologies, the Rabat-based super-app developer best known for its “E-Morocco for Everyone” initiative, has confirmed a $7.5 million equity injection led by venture firm Azur Innovation Fund and supported by three additional Moroccan investors. The round, completed in late June, lifts the company’s cumulative funding to $11.9 million since January 2023—an unprecedented figure for a startup less than two years old and a headline moment for the nation’s venture ecosystem.
From multipurpose concept to super-app reality
Founded by serial entrepreneur Omar Alami in 2023, ORA set out to collapse several daily-life services into a single mobile interface. The flagship ORA app already hosts:
- Peer-to-peer transfers and bill payments
- Kooul, a food-delivery marketplace with an affordable commission model
- A growing e-commerce catalogue for local merchants
- Chat and social networking functions to keep users engaged
- An upcoming digital wallet, ORA Cash, promising account opening “in 15 seconds” and instant, feeless transfers
Within ten months Kooul has attracted more than 15,000 monthly diners, while ORA Cash has on-boarded 50,000 users in five months, fuelled by riders who now prefer digital settlement to Morocco’s cash-heavy “pay-on-delivery” culture.
Why investors doubled down
Azur Innovation Fund, which co-led ORA’s $1.9 million pre-Series A only four months ago, cites the momentum behind Morocco’s retail-tech and fintech sectors—and ORA’s disciplined execution—as key factors for upping its stake. Two macro trends worked in ORA’s favour:
- Rapid digitisation of small businesses. Corner-shop retailers and independent restaurants are actively seeking cost-effective last-mile solutions following the post-pandemic e-commerce boom.
- Government tailwinds. The launch of the sovereign Fonds Mohammed VI pour l’Investissement, which pledges capital and guarantees to local VC funds, has signalled that Moroccan authorities see tech as a pillar of future growth.
“With a bigger balance sheet, ORA can now deepen logistics coverage outside major cities and cement its position in digital payments,” Azur’s investment manager noted.
Where the money goes
According to Alami, funds will be deployed in two directions:
- Last-mile expansion. Doubling the Kooul delivery fleet, opening regional fulfilment micro-hubs, and piloting AI-assisted route planning to shave minutes off delivery times.
- Digital cash collection. Building APIs that let third-party couriers, utility companies, and micro-lenders settle transactions through ORA Cash, converting Morocco’s still-dominant cash-on-delivery flows into digital records.
Significance for Morocco’s startup scene
Local founders have often lamented the need to court foreign capital for anything beyond seed funding. ORA’s Series A challenges that narrative. All investors in the new round are Moroccan, demonstrating that domestic capital is finally stepping up for growth-stage ventures.
Tech analyst Leïla Sabry calls it “a watershed”: “If a 100 percent Made-in-Morocco super-app can raise almost $12 million locally in 18 months, the ecosystem has turned a corner.”
What’s next for ORA?
Alami hints at regional ambitions. Pilot integrations are under consideration with payment networks in Tunisia and Senegal, two markets with similar cash-heavy retail structures. Yet he remains adamant that ORA’s identity stays Moroccan: “We want to prove you can build a continental-scale product from Rabat without relocating.”
With fresh capital, a clear roadmap, and a supportive policy backdrop, ORA Technologies now sits in the vanguard of North Africa’s digital-commerce race—an emblem of how far Morocco’s tech ecosystem has come, and perhaps a preview of where it is headed next.
