Inside the Million-Dollar Race to Digitise Morocco’s Small Shops

Morocco's small independent retailers—known locally as hanouts—have historically operated with minimal digital infrastructure, relying on manual stock-taking, cash transactions and informal supplier relationships. That is beginning to change. Over the past two years, a cluster of Moroccan startups has raised tens of millions of dollars collectively to build the technology layer connecting these shops to distributors, financial services and data systems, betting that the digitisation of the informal retail sector will bring the most out of one of the country's largest untapped commercial opportunities.

There are over 120,000 of these neighbourhood convenience stores around the entire country, and for the most part they are under-digitised and excluded from formal financial services. Under its Commerce 2030 strategy, Morocco’s Ministry of Industry and Trade is starting to take an active role in shifting this reality and has signed formal partnerships with at least two startups to connect thousands of retailers to digital platforms.

Here, we outline six of the most active startups bringing Morocco’s hanout and other small shops online.

Z.systems

Founders: Samer Choumar (CEO), Youssef Ait-Haddouch (CTO), Reda Nebri (CPO), Youssef Drafate (CSO), Meriem Benabad.

Last funding round: $1.5 million pre-seed round in April 2026.

B2B2C platform Z.systems looks to empower retailers through their mobile app, which connects small business owners directly to large brands and wholesalers. The Z app also allows retailers to browse and order from FMCG conglomerates like Nestle, Unilever and Coca-Cola, streamlining the process of procurement.

In September 2025, Morocco’s Ministry of Industry and Trade designated Z.systems as the national digital intermediation platform for distribution under the Kingdom’s Commerce 2030 strategy, giving the startup a mandate to digitally connect 50,000 retailers by 2030.

WafR

Founders: Ismail Bargach (CEO), Reda Sellak (CTO).

Last funding round: $4 million seed round in February 2026.

Part fintech, part retail-tech, WafR approaches the problem of digitising Morocco’s small stores from a financial services perspective. Founded in 2021, the app they have developed converts neighbourhood retailers into informal financial service points — facilitating mobile top-ups, domestic remittances, and cash-in/cash-out transactions through proprietary technology installed at the shop level.

Woliz

Founders: Kamal El Hardouzi (CEO), Othman Jabrane (CTO), Karim Hamri (CPO), Ismail Amri (CRO).

Last funding round: $2.2 million pre-seed funding round in January 2026.

Woliz is a relatively young startup, having been founded in April 2025, but it has already achieved major milestones. Operating as a kind of operating system for the traditional hanout, Woliz’s platform connects point-of-sale terminals with inventory management software, distributor and manufacturer integrations, and data analytics.

Like Z.systems, Woliz signed commercial partnership with Morocco’s Ministry of Industry and Trade to deploy connected terminals across 20,000 shops in phase one of the project and eventually scale toward 90,000 shops across the country.

Chari

Founders: Ismael Belkhayat (CEO), Sophia Alj (COO).

Last funding round: $12 million Series A funding round in October 2025.

Founded in 2020, Chari is a Y Combinator-backed fintech and e-commerce startup that enables small retailers across both Morocco and Tunisia to order FMCG products and access embedded financial services. In tandem with their recent $12 million Series A funding round, Chari also received a payment institution licence from Bank Al-Maghrib, allowing it to issue IBANs and debit cards, process domestic and international transfers, and offer micro-insurance. With this licence, Chari plans to transform into a merchant super app—digitising informal retail and turning corner shops into financial service hubs.

Inyad

Founder: Moncef Chlouchi (CEO).

Last funding round: N/A.

Inyad’s motto is “Moving the Offline Business to the Online World in Africa & the Middle East,” a mission the startup has been on since its founding in 2018 by Moncef Chlouchi. As an all-in-one business management software for SMEs, Inyad offers Morocco’s small shops administrative and payment solutions, like automatic invoicing, employee registration and attendance. What separates Inyad from other startups on this list, however, is that they operate across several sectors beyond just small-scale retail, including F&B and beauty & wellness.

Awal

Founder: Meriem Benabad.

Last funding round: N/A.

Founded in April 2022 by Meriem Benabad, one of the co-founders of Z.systems, Awal shares several similarities with its step-startup. For instance, their platform allows store owners to order and replenish their stock with just a few taps on their smart devices. Awal provides store owners with analytical tools that grant insights into sales trends, customer preferences, and market dynamics, equipping them with the knowledge they could use to make more informed decisions and optimise their product offerings.