At 19, Issam Darui saw Morocco’s transport problem differently, built Lagare.ma, earned global recognition, and eventually moved into international shipping

Issam Darui grew up in Oujda, Morocco, around the transport business. His family worked in trucking, while he also spent time accompanying his older brother, a bus driver. By his teenage years, he had seen how passengers, drivers and operators dealt with travel.

In 2014, at 19, Darui launched Lagare.ma. The idea was simple: bring Morocco’s intercity bus-ticket booking online. The platform allowed travelers to search routes, compare options and buy tickets without relying entirely on traditional bus stations.

The platform eventually reached more than 6 million unique visitors. It expanded its reach with support for 25 currencies and 10 languages, making it easier for users from different markets to navigate the service.

Issam Darui grew up watching how the bus business worked

Darui was born in Oujda in 1994. His father was a truck driver, and his older brother drove buses. For Darui, the transport business was not something he encountered later as an entrepreneur. He was around it as a child.

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At 13, he began accompanying his brother on bus journeys between Oujda and Casablanca. He helped load luggage and handed out tickets to passengers. He also spent long hours seeing how drivers, passengers and bus stations worked together, and where the process could become difficult.

Those experiences stayed with him. Darui later said he found transportation fascinating, while also noticing problems with organization and structure. He had no company yet and no digital platform to build. What he did have was a fairly unusual understanding of the industry for someone his age.

At 19, he put Morocco’s bus tickets online

Darui launched Lagare.ma in 2014, shortly after finishing his studies in experimental sciences. The idea was simple enough for travelers to understand: search for a bus, compare options and book a ticket online instead of handling the entire process at a station.

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The service eventually grew into a much larger operation. Lagare.ma has attracted more than six million unique visitors and records more than 10,000 departures each day, based on the figures provided. Its network covers more than 150 destinations in Morocco and seven European countries.

The platform also expanded its reach beyond local travelers. It supports 25 currencies and is available in 10 languages. Darui is no longer involved in the company’s daily management, but he remains a shareholder and adviser.

The change is significant because the business grew from something Darui had experienced personally. He knew the bus journey before he tried to put part of it online.

Colis.ma brought his attention to another transport problem

Darui returned to the sector in 2022 with a different problem in mind. This time, the focus was not people traveling between cities but parcels crossing borders. He founded Colis.ma in Oujda after six months of testing and adaptation.

The company offers a website and mobile app for individuals, e-commerce sellers and businesses. Customers can compare shipping prices, arrange international deliveries and track their packages. Colis.ma works with international carriers and operates between Morocco and several European countries, including Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg.

Parcel collection is another part of the service. In cities across eastern Morocco, the company says packages can be collected in less than three hours before being sent toward Europe. Darui has also described shipping rates as four to five times cheaper than conventional options.

His two companies solve different problems, but both grew from the same familiarity with transportation. Lagare.ma focused on getting passengers through the booking process. Colis.ma focuses on making international parcel delivery easier to manage.

That path brought recognition early. In 2017, Darui was named an outstanding young African entrepreneur at the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship and was included among Forbes’ 30 promising young entrepreneurs in Africa.