Moroccan startup, Aza Petrosolutions has received funding worth $296,000 from Maroc Numeric Fund II, to aid the continuation of its projects.
About Aza Petrosolutions
The company which was founded in 2020 by Zakaria Azemzi, Fatima Ezzahra, and Abdelaziz Elaiachi is focused on developing tech-based solutions tailored to the oil distribution industry.
The startup also offers a fully automated system such as distribution and refueling. It also provides and facilitates the use of mobile payment at the service stations.
About The New Funding For Aza Petrosolutions
This funding from Macro Numeric Fund II will be the 6th donation it has made and the MAD3 million ($296,000) will aid the company in the expansion of its projects.
The Managing director of MITC Capital (the management company behind the Maroc Numeric Fund II), Dounia Boumehdi said:
“We are very happy to support Aza Petrosolutions in its development. We were seduced by the quality and complementarity of its teams, and by the innovations, they’ve developed and which meet real digitization needs in the oil distribution industry”.
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The solutions which AZA Petrosolutions proposes to solve will enable its clients to have full monitoring solutions that allow them to remove the traditional methods of reconciliation and incorporate an automated system for managing both refueling and distribution operations.
Maroc Numeric Fund II
Maroc Numeric Fund II has been responsible for the funding of various startups such as Damanesign.ma, Yalla Xash, ATLAN Space, and KoolSkools. They have proven to be real catalysts for high-potential startups by providing their portfolio companies with advice and also monitoring their management.
Startups in Africa: Advantages and Disadvantages
Having a startup means you have created a solution to an existing problem ranging from electricity- Energy to Education. Being the CEO of a startup entails that you have to leave your paying job to start from scratch and may depend on funding from donors to expand your projects also it takes time before profit will begin to emanate from the startup. There are a lot of advantages as well as disadvantages of owning a startup in Africa:
1) Agility:
Being agile means, you can adjust to any circumstance and any situation and because startups are smaller and not too structured, they can improve their models, portfolios, and processes. They can also adapt to the latest technologies and changes in market conditions.
2) Efficiency:
Startups are known to offer their services at a more efficient and lesser price because they know that they will need to gain some market trust so, they are likely to partner up with smaller organizations while focusing on their core strengths.
3) Team culture:
Most employees of big organizations don’t have the drive that the owner had when he started it newly but are attracted to the organization because of the fat salaries that they pay but those who commence a startup are driven by passion, beliefs, and values. They are part of that startup because of the passion and the problem they aim to solve, they work for the good of the company, its customers, and the world at large.
4) Personalized services:
Since they are new to the market, they offer their services with a personal touch where they aim to understand the customer’s requirements and create a unique customer experience. They offer personalized services to have lasting relationships with their customers.
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5) Versatility:
Due to the lack of funds that most startups encounter upon operation, most employees that work at startups usually multitask themselves as a salesperson could also be relationship managers which aids their versatility due to startup support for learning and having a higher tendency to tolerate mistakes.
6) Flexibility:
Being new to the market means that startups will do almost anything to ensure that they satisfy their customer which could leave them working late hours even if it is not convenient for them.
Disadvantages
1) Risks:
Not all startups excel as most of them fail within their first year of operation which means that the risk of failure of most startups is high. Working under such risk could divert employees from the major aim of that startup and blur their strategic vision which could make them make costly mistakes in their operations.
2) Compensation:
To commence operations on a startup requires a lot of hard work from the employees who may not be adequately rewarded since it takes loads of time before startups make profits hence leading to the closure of that startup.
3) Market Access:
Gaining their share of the market will be very tough for new startups as most people are likely to patronize established brands than try out new products which will make it difficult for new startups to understand the market since they don’t have a customer base. These factors will make it very difficult and expensive for new startups to gain their customer base in the market.
4) Getting The Right Team:
Most startup owners are people who are jobless and find startups out of desperation to make money hence they hurriedly gather up a team some of whom are just there as figureheads. For a startup to be successful, all the members from the founder to the employees must be driven to fix the solution to which that startup was created.
5) Resources:
Most startups lack the resources needed to rival well-established companies which makes them phased almost immediately as they commenced operations. Most of the Well-established organizations which have access to these resources push out new startups when they consider them a threat.
6) Poor Procedures And Processes:
Most of these newly established startups lack proper operational procedures which expose them to financial losses, Liability, and poor customer service. To solve this issue most startups source for external personnel which could be very expensive and could form a barrier to the advancement of that startup.
