Aiming to take a serious step towards the fintech space, Chari announces today the closing of a bridge round led by the Saudi-based venture capital fund Khwarizmi Ventures (KV), AirAngels (Airbnb Alumni Investors), and Afri Mobility, the venture capital arm of AKWA Group.

Chari is a B2B e-commerce and fintech startup that digitises the largely fragmented FMCG sector in French-speaking Africa. By using Chari’s app, traditional convenience stores in Morocco and Tunisia can order all the products they need and receive them in less than 24 hours.

“Chari will use the money of this bridge round to test the BNPL services with its existing customers. Upon successful results, Chari will acquire a local credit company to enable shop owners to lend money to their end-users and further grow their business”, announced Ismael Belkhayat CEO of Chari and Cornell University Alumni.

This bridge round allows Khwarizmi Ventures, Air Angels and AKWA Group to join the existing cap table of Chari that includes Y Combinator, Rocket Internet, Global Founders Capital, Plug n Play, Orange Ventures, Harvard University Management Company, Village Capital, P1 Ventures… among others.