Chari, a Moroccan B2B e-commerce and retail business, announced that it has raised a $100 million bridge funds.
New investors in the bridge round included Afri Mobility, Khwarizmi Ventures, Air Angels and AKWA Group's venture capital arm.
They join Rocket Internet, Plug n Play, Global Founders Capital, Orange Ventures, P1 Ventures, Harvard University Management Company, Y Combinator and Village Capital as investors in Chari's $5 million seed round, which raised $70 million in October.
Chari automates the widely decentralized FMCG business in Morocco and Tunisia, like many other B2B e-commerce startups throughout the globe.
Chari is a mobile app that allows small businesses in these two nations to purchase goods from collaborating FMCG corporations and local producers and receive them in under 24hrs.
Karny.ma, a Moroccan ledger book, was bought by the YC-backed business last October. About 50,000 retailers use the Khatabook-like platform for credit and bookkeeping. It enables these businesses to manage the loans they extend to their customers.
The purchase of Karny and the bridge round are part of Chari's goal offer banking transactions. It provides the organisation in a great position to offer credit facilities to its customers, specifically purchase now, pay later.
"Chari will use the funds from this bridge round to put BNPL's services to the test with its current clients." Chari will buy a local credit company if the findings are positive, allowing shop owners to give loans to their customers and promote their products, according to CEO Ismael Belkhayat in a statement.
Karny provides Chari with crucial information about the loans that grocery businesses issue to their consumers, allowing Chari to credit-assess cashless transaction shop owners and determine the most appropriate credit terms for each.
In summary, Karny data enables Chari to learn about the things sold by shop owners to their end customers, as well as the money lent. Chari would then provide credit terms and BNPL alternatives to most of its business owners depending on their date of the agreement, sale volume, average purchase order, and money loaned to their end - user via its own closed-loop wallet app.
Chari has chosen a few business owners to try this, according to Belkhayat, who co-founded the business with Sophia Alj. Shop owners can have a net loss on their e - wallets if they meet the four requirements; the limit is -$100 to -$500 and they can only keep it for 30 days without being charged.
Chari intends to increase this BNPL business to Tunisia and other French-speaking nations in Africa when it has perfected its activities in Morocco.
Given the rapid adoption of e-commerce and the pandemic's consequences, BNPL services are beginning to see significant growth throughout Africa.
Carbon Zero in Nigeria, Payflex in South Africa (recently bought by Australian BNPL Zip), and LipaLater in Kenya (recently obtained $12 million in debt and equity financing) are just a few of the BNPL businesses that appeal to customers. Others provide services to other companies, such as TradeDepot, a Nigerian firm similar to Chari, while others invest in infrastructure, such as Nigeria's ThankUCash.
Firms generally acquire borrowed funds for their BNPL projects; as previously stated, the majority of the participants have done so. Chari, on the other hand, chose not to. The issue, according to Belkhayat, was that the credit investment groups with which Chari was in talks started charging the firm interest rates as high as 15%.
"Because this is simply a test, I'd rather raise the cash at a high value from cash that can assist me with my plan." He explained Chari's high seed asset value and why it only raised equity. "I get a little condensed, but in return, I get a ton of support from skilled entrepreneurs," he said. "If the pilot is a success, I'll need a lot more money to cover my financial needs and other expenses."