casablanca
(2)
Chari
Chari is a Moroccan B2B e-commerce and fintech company that turned the country's corner grocery stores into digital customers. Through one app, the traditional shopkeepers who form the backbone of North African retail can order fast-moving consumer goods and get them delivered in under 24 hours, keep their customer credit ledgers, accept card payments, pay bills, and tap embedded financial services. Founded in 2020 by Ismael Belkhayat and Sophia Alj, Chari was the first Moroccan startup admitted to Y Combinator (S21). In October 2025 it raised a $12M Series A - the largest in Morocco's history - and became the first VC-backed Moroccan company to win a payment institution license from the central bank, the foundation for its Banking-as-a-Service platform.
Anas Biad
Anas Biad is a Partner at Sequoia Capital based in London, where he invests in early-to-growth-stage companies across enterprise software, AI, SaaS, gaming, and fintech. A mathematics graduate of Ecole Polytechnique who grew up in Casablanca, he spent time at Bain & Company and Silver Lake before joining Sequoia in 2021 as one of its first European partners. He backs founders building enduring companies across Europe and is known for his passion for gaming, quantum computing, and his admiration for Richard Feynman.