Moroccan fintech WafR has secured $4 million in an oversubscribed seed round to accelerate its mission of expanding last-mile financial services across the country. The round was co-led by LoftyInc Capital through its newly launched LoftyInc Alpha Fund, alongside Attijariwafa Ventures and Almada Ventures. Returning investors UM6P Ventures and First Circle Capital also participated in the round.
Founded to address gaps in financial access, WafR is digitising Morocco’s vast network of neighborhood corner stores—known locally as hanouts—by transforming them into financial service hubs. The platform currently operates through nearly 20,000 active stores, enabling services such as airtime top-ups and bill payments, with plans to expand into peer-to-peer transfers and nationwide remittances.
By embedding fintech infrastructure into everyday retail touchpoints, WafR is positioning these merchants as critical distribution nodes for financial inclusion—bringing essential services closer to underserved communities.
“We are proud to co-lead this round and champion WafR’s bold mission,” said Mariam Kamel, Partner at LoftyInc Capital. “WafR’s model unlocks access to essential financial services for thousands of underserved Moroccans—exactly the kind of scalable impact we aim to support across Africa.”
The investment aligns with LoftyInc Alpha Fund’s thesis of bridging the so-called “graduation gap” in African venture capital—supporting startups that have demonstrated early traction but face limited access to late-seed and Series A growth capital.
For WafR, the new capital is not just financial backing, but strategic leverage.
“The entry of LoftyInc Capital, Attijariwafa Ventures, and Almada Ventures marks a pivotal milestone for us,” said Ismail Bargach, CEO and Co-founder of WafR. “Their fintech expertise and regional networks will be instrumental as we scale our impact.”
LoftyInc’s portfolio includes early investments in African fintech leaders such as Flutterwave, Moove, and Wave. With more than 13 years of venture experience and four unicorns in its portfolio, the firm is increasingly expanding its footprint across North and Francophone Africa—identifying the next wave of digital finance champions.
As Morocco accelerates its digital transformation agenda, WafR’s store-led fintech infrastructure may well become one of the country’s most scalable engines of financial inclusion.
