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Sophia Alj

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Ecosystem Insider
Investors Back Mobility, Climate Tech, and Fintech as Anda, Sawa Energy, and nextProtein Close Key Rounds
The African startup ecosystem, especially the mobility, clean energy, and fintech sectors, gained additional momentum last week with investors doubling down on participation in these thriving industries. Highlights include Anda’s €3M seed for Angolan motorcycle taxis, Sawa Energy’s €2.5M solar expansion, and nextProtein’s €18M Series B in Tunisia. These deals signal sustained investor appetite for […]
AU-Startups·11/13/2025
Ecosystem Insider
Investors Double Down on Africa’s Next-Gen Fintech, Energy, and AI Startups
We had a major upturn of events over the last week on the African funding scenes with capital flowing across multiple fronts. The funding rounds featured startups building financial access, clean energy, and enterprise software. Most notably, Kuunda, Chari, and Nanovate secured major rounds while Adenia Partners expanded its insurance footprint and FUNGUO grew its […]
AU-Startups·10/22/2025
AU-Startups Watchlist
Ecosystem Highfliers: Nine Fastest-Growing Startups to Watch in Africa in 2025
Africa is home to one of the fastest-growing startup ecosystems in the world. While the African tech startup industry has experienced some setbacks in the past few years, its overall growth in the past decade is nothing short of remarkable. This is thanks to the efforts of numerous tech solutions that have emerged as game-changers […]
AU-Startups·2/11/2025
Ecosystem Insider
Issue #88: Pineapple benefits from the Largest insurtech fundraising in Africa as Pricepally and others also secure significant financing
Last week saw a flurry of financing activities in Africa, with eight companies securing funds from multiple investors. Pineapple had the largest Insurtech funding round in Africa, as it raised $21.5 Million. Welltec also secured $5.4 Million, Pricepally got a seed funding of $1.3 Million while Shekel Mobility raised $7.2 Million in a mix of […]
AU Startups·11/20/2023
Ecosystem Insider
Issue #68: Berry Health Secures $1.6 million in Pre-Seed, While Chari Raises Third Round in Six Months
Last week, we recorded a total of eight funding rounds, and for the second consecutive issue, Cameroonian startups were featured in the newsletter. Additionally, Ghanaian startups were also represented, with Berry Health and Mazzuma making appearances in this week’s issue. Notably, in its third funding round within the past six months, Chari secured $1.5 million […]
AU Startups·7/3/2023
Ecosystem Insider
Issue #62: M-KOPA raises $255 million in a mix of debt & equity, Sabi secured $38 million, and more
Last week was marked by a flurry of funding activities, with a total of eight deals ranging from pre-seed to series B. Notably, M-KOPA made headlines with its massive $255 million funding round, while Sabi secured an impressive $38 million in Series B funding, valuing the company at $300 million. Pre-Seed Amini, a Kenyan climatetech […]
AU Startups·5/22/2023
Ecosystem Insider
Issue #48: Jendaya Raises $1.2M in Pre-Seed Funding, While Yodawy Secures $16M in the First Close of its Series B Round
This week, like previous weeks, saw a lot of funding activity, with a total of nine funding rounds recorded. The majority of them were early stage investments, with five of them being seed or pre-seed investments. Fastagger and Sendy raised undisclosed amounts while Yodawy raised the highest amount recorded in the week; $16 million in […]
AU Startups·2/10/2023
Ecosystem Insider
Issue #37: Egyptian fintech MoneyFellows raises $31 million in Series B funding, Nigerian proptech SmallSmall raises $3 million in seed funding, and more
Welcome to the AU-Startups Weekly Newsletter issue for this week. We’ve been busy this week highlighting some of the outstanding founders and startups that raised funds in the last month. As our AU-Startups Founder of the Month, we profiled Sophia Alj, co-founder and COO of Chari, and Kenyan furniture startup, MoKo Home + Living, as […]
AU Startups·11/4/2022
Founders Spotlight
AU-Startups Founder of the Month: Sophia Alj
Sophia Alj is the co-founder and COO of Chari, a B2B e-commerce/fintech startup in Morocco that digitizes the procurement process for traditional retail stores. She worked as a strategy consultant for McKinsey for four years before deciding to co-found Chari with her husband, Ismael Belkhayat, in 2019. Chari participated in Y Combinator’s summer 2021 batch […]
AU Startups·11/4/2022

Mentioned in

Investors Back Mobility, Climate Tech, and Fintech as Anda, Sawa Energy, and nextProtein Close Key Rounds

Investors Double Down on Africa’s Next-Gen Fintech, Energy, and AI Startups

Ecosystem Highfliers: Nine Fastest-Growing Startups to Watch in Africa in 2025

Issue #88: Pineapple benefits from the Largest insurtech fundraising in Africa as Pricepally and others also secure significant financing

Issue #68: Berry Health Secures $1.6 million in Pre-Seed, While Chari Raises Third Round in Six Months

Issue #62: M-KOPA raises $255 million in a mix of debt & equity, Sabi secured $38 million, and more

Issue #48: Jendaya Raises $1.2M in Pre-Seed Funding, While Yodawy Secures $16M in the First Close of its Series B Round

Issue #37: Egyptian fintech MoneyFellows raises $31 million in Series B funding, Nigerian proptech SmallSmall raises $3 million in seed funding, and more

AU-Startups Founder of the Month: Sophia Alj