In this episode, we talk with the team behind CitizOn, a startup that is changing how people discover Moroccan cities through cultural guides and storytelling. We discuss the services they provide, their vision for making culture more accessible, and the challenges of building a cultural startup in Morocco in an ecosystem mostly focused on tech sectors. The conversation also explores what it really means to be a startup founder in Morocco, the opportunities in the local ecosystem, and why culture and tourism can be powerful drivers of innovation.
In this episode, we sit down with a pioneer who set out to change how oncology is approached in Morocco. What started as a discovery about the environmental and systemic impact of chemotherapy waste turned into a mission: creating a practical guide for chemotherapy in Morocco and launching the country’s first university diploma in oncology pharmacy. His proposal was rejected. The initiative was dismissed. But the vision didn’t stop there. Today, his work influences pharmacists, healthcare professionals, and even international projects beyond Morocco. We talk about building what doesn’t exist, managing risk in healthcare, pushing through institutional resistance, and how an entrepreneurial mindset can transform an entire field. This is a conversation about impact, resilience, and the courage to build systems that protect millions.
In this episode of the Cozone podcast, Rinse Jacobs shares his unique expertise, from the creation of Solaris Bank in Germany to his new project, Zazu, in Africa. A founding member of Solaris Bank, he explains how the company achieved €100 million in recurring revenue by offering a fully licensed banking technology platform for large enterprises. Jacobs is now dedicated to Zazu, a neobank for African SMEs based in Morocco. Zazu aims to provide financial clarity by centralizing all of entrepreneurs' financial flows in a single interface. To finance this project, Zazu raised $1 million through "safe notes," a flexible instrument favored by angel investors for its speed of execution. The episode also discusses Jacobs' strategic vision: scalability should come from automation and the internal use of AI (for code review or KYC) rather than from increasing staff. Finally, he emphasizes the importance of leadership, recommending surrounding oneself with resilient co-founders and employees with a growth mindset to overcome the challenges of daily entrepreneurial life. His ultimate ambition is to make Zazu a major pan-African organization within five years.
