Mehdi Daoui

Yo, you gotta hear about Mehdi Daoui. This guy’s a straight-up boss. He’s Moroccan, jumped into the startup scene with WaystoCap, which is basically like the Alibaba of Africa but way more focused on making trade easier and safer across the continent. He was part of YC W17, that’s a big deal, shows he’s legit and knows his shit.

Before all this, Mehdi was deep in finance, working at Banque Centrale Populaire and Societe Generale. So, dude knows money inside out. That background? Total big change for what he’s doing now. He saw how messy and opaque trade financing and payments are in Africa and decided, “Nah, this can be better.” So, he co-founded WaystoCap in 2014, and they’ve been crushing it ever since.

He served as COO, basically the guy running the show day-to-day, and he helped turn WaystoCap into a platform that’s not just a marketplace but also offers financing, insurance, and logistics. Think about it: he’s addressing real pain points for African businesses, making it way easier for them to trade internationally, which is huge for local economies.

What’s dope about Mehdi? His process screams hustle and smart moves. He’s someone who saw a problem, used his finance background, and jumped into building something that actually makes a difference. His experience at big banks gave him the skills to see through the bullshit, and he’s now applying that to enable African entrepreneurs and businesses. Basically, he’s not just building a startup, he’s helping reshape trade in Africa.

Long story short: Mehdi Daoui is a legit innovator. He’s combining deep finance knowledge with a real understanding of African markets. That’s rare. He’s out here making trade smoother, safer, and more accessible, and that’s why he’s a big deal in the startup world right now. No Cap.