Wise Venture Capital Invests In Morocco’s Online Brokerage Startup SOS Credit IMMO

Wise Venture Capital, the independent Moroccan investment management firm owned by Small Assistance Enterprise Fund (SEAF), has invested an unspecified amount in Morocco-based SOS Credit IMMO, an online brokerage startup that specializes on mortgage-related products and services. 

The investment is part of the Middle East and North Africa Investment Initiative (MENA II) which is financially assisted by USAID. The scheme aims to unlock equity capital by providing matching capital and technical assistance to innovative, early-stage businesses across the MENA region. 

Founded by Bachir Bem Slimane, SOS Credit is an online startup offering mortgage brokerage service that provides a unique client experience when shopping for mortgage-related financial products in Morocco. The company has built a digital service helping clients obtain tailor-made financial advice and compare different offers for free. 

The startup leverages the latest technology to involve all stakeholders in the financial process and ensure real-time monitoring of the progress made through a secure user space.

It has established partnerships with major banks in the market and provided its clients with the most competitive offers, particularly residential mortgages, resulting in high growth during the 2017-2018 period. The Fund will use its investment to support and accelerate this growth and position the startup as a leader in the online brokerage of financial products.

SOS Credit IMMO aims to provide financial services to a wider population through improved customer experience. The company has focused on consumers who are often excluded from obtaining mortgage finance at reasonable terms, and seeks to provide them with digitized services that can compare rates across several Moroccan banks and assist them in completing the paperwork for consideration both quickly and accurately. 

Founder With Digital Marketing Expertise And Ventures Experience

Slimane has a professional career in investment banking and consulting firms, with training in finance and digital marketing under his belt. His move to Morocco was in a bid to create many digital market companies, all of which reportedly held key accounts in the banking, insurance, real estate, consumer products, and international fields.

He founded SOS Credit IMMO as the first free, online-only brokerage service with tailor-made advisory services that highlight the best financial options suited to each client. 

“We have the pleasure and honor to be among the first startups invested in by the SEAF Morocco Growth Fund. This has been made possible thanks to the ‘Innov Invest’ program, which has attracted an internationally renowned investment fund, SEAF, dedicated to supporting innovative, early-stage companies and startups. 

This partnership will enable us to achieve our vision of emerging as a leader in the online brokerage of financial products, whether traditional or sharia-compliant. This effort began in Morocco through soscreditimmo.ma, with the ambition of exploring other international markets by 2020.” commented Mr. Ben Slimane.

“We are thrilled to welcome and support SOS Credit IMMO, a company that has already achieved several milestones, and one which facilitates access to efficient, high-quality financial services for a large part of the population, previously with limited access to mortgage finance. Thanks to SOS Credit, this widely needed service is free,” said Ms. Meriem Zairi, Managing Director of the SEAF Morocco Growth Fund.

SOS Credit’s Social Impact 

Wise Venture Capital has invested in SOS Credit IMMO not only for its innovative business line and prospects for high growth but also for the significant potential impact it will have on Moroccan society. This investment will contribute to greater economic inclusion, while addressing one of the Government of Morocco’s (GOM) key priorities – youth unemployment. 

With the housing market as a driving force in the Moroccan economy, representing roughly one fourth of the country’s economy in 2017 but still significantly below its potential as a result of the present inefficiencies in the mortgage market, the company aims to play a key role in fostering economic growth and creating employment in Morocco’s construction industry.

Furthermore, SOS’ innovative business model is providing Morocco’s first free, online-only financial service that promotes financial inclusion while challenging some of the country’s long-standing industry norms. SOS Credit will accelerate the evolution of a data-driven, digital mortgage experience in Morocco.

Finally, the company’s online model has the ability to educate consumers in rural areas that might not have the resources necessary to become financially independent and will serve as a model for other businesses seeking to make inroads in underserved regions. 

Wise Venture Capital partnered with SEAF Morocco Growth Fund (SMGF) to address the many gaps in the Moroccan financial sector and to encourage increased equity investments in small and medium-sized businesses while contributing to the development of the investment ecosystem. This is the third investment for SMGF, an investment fund targeting innovative Morocco-based companies with high growth potential.