The Washminute team. Image Credits: Washminute
Moroccan startup, Washminute, has received a huge boost in its efforts to revolutionize the car wash industry. This boost came in the form of a $600,000 pre-seed funding. Casablanca-based venture capital firm, Witamax, an unnamed business angel from the Moroccan sports industry, and US-based Near East Foundation all pooled resources together to back Washminute in its mission. Tamwilcom, a Moroccan public financing institution also provided public honour loans to the startup.
This investment comes as Morocco struggles with the adverse effects of climate change, which includes prolonged droughts and increasing pressure on water resources. The nation has taken an active role in championing sustainable development and innovation in water management.
Washminute came into being in 2024 as a brainchild of Jean Baptiste Kouatche and Ishak Afrit, who are both graduates of the HEC Paris and Polytechnique, France’s leading engineering institute. Their unique business proposition was that of being a solution to Morocco’s increasing “hydric stress” – a technical term for water scarcity.
Beyond the latest investment, the startup has also received support from several other organizations. The Washminute vision was nurtured at Technopark, a Moroccan technology hub. It is part of the Innov Invest fund administered by SB3S, a Moroccan firm that supports startups from the cradle of pre-acceleration to post-investment. The startup has also been a participant in programmes organized by Orange, BMCI BNP Paribas, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in partnership with Flat6Labs and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Near East Foundation in partnership with Emerging Business Factory.
Washminute’s business model seeks to minimize water usage in car washing as it offers a faster and more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods of car washing. The company boasts of having achieved 30 per cent monthly revenue increase over the past seven months, having spread its tentacles to seven other sites in Casablanca, Marrakech, and Agadir. The company says it is committed to social impact, focusing on recruitment and training of local “washmen” and establishing a “Washminute Academy” to provide upskilling opportunities for employees and partners.
For Witamax, participating in this investment round marks its first step in the clean technology sector. The investment firm, which boasts of being the first privately backed venture capital fund in Morocco focusing on pre-seed and seed stage tech investments, revealed that it was attracted to Washminute’s potential to address water scarcity in Morocco.
The $600,000 pre-seed investment may come off as a relatively smaller sum when compared to other investment rounds in the global Venture capital sector. However, it shows an emerging interest in clean technology solutions in growing markets. The company’s founders have announced their ambition to expand across Morocco and the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
