Chari is a B2B e-commerce app with embedded FinTech for mom & pop shops in French Speaking African countries
Current Status
Our app is already used by +25 000 unique clients. It has been live on PlayStore and Apple Store fore more than 3 years. We have also developped a set of tools internally in order to digitize the whole value chain of the FMCG industry (placing orders, stocking, pick & packing, delivering, following).
In termes of traction, below you will find a few KPIs we track on a monthly basis (KPIs share are from December 2022):
GMV: $8.7 Mn
Revenue: $800k
Unique clients: 13 300
Average basket order: $307
Problem or Opportunity
Mom and pop shops represent a total addressable market of $280 Bn in French Speaking Africa. Indeed, with around $1.5 million stores, the traditional trade market is huge and has been growing at a steady rate in the last 20 years. These mom and pop shops represent >85% of the FMCG industry consumption. However, they have very unconvenient and traditional ways of procuring inventory for their shops. We launched Chari in order to be a digital central purchasing body for these stores. We want to help them fight the competition coming from the modern trade and make sure that they will still exist
Solution (product or service)
Chari is a B2B e-commerce app with embedded FinTech for mom & pop shops in French Speaking African countries. We allow them to order any consumer goods they sell and get delivered for free on the next day while benefiting from financial services like payment facilities, micro-credit…
As opposed to traditional ways of procuring goods, we are digitizing the ways these mom & pop shops work. We are bringing them an innovative way of buying goods while giving them access to financial services and thus, working on the financial inclusion topic.
Business model
Our business model is based on 2 verticals:
1/ E-commerce
2/ FinTech
For the e-commerce vertical, our model is based on buy and sell. We buy goods from suppliers, stock them on our warehouses and re-sell them with a margin at our cutomers.
For the FinTech vertical, we basically charge a fee on each type of transaction done
Incubation/Acceleration programs accomplishment
Yes, we went through Y Combinator in the summer 2021 cohort. Before that, we also joined the Founders' Program at Station F.
