How Olara Works

The short answer

Olara finds productive physical assets, structures shared ownership, and lets people own a share of an asset through their own account. The asset generates income from the service it provides, Olara helps manage the ownership and operation, and each owner participates in the income according to their share.

You choose an asset

Olara works differently. We help you own physical assets that make money.

Every investment on Olara starts with an asset. It could be a solar plant that sells electricity. It could be internet infrastructure. It could eventually be a billboard, data centre, rental property or another productive asset.

We find the asset, understand how it makes money, and structure it so that people can own a share of it.

You see what the asset is, what it costs, how it makes money and what your ownership could earn. Then you decide whether you want to invest.

You own a piece of it

You don't need to buy the entire asset.

If a solar plant costs ₦1.1 million, five people could each own ₦220,000 worth of it. Each person owns a share of the asset and participates in the income it produces.

This is important because many useful assets are simply too expensive for one person to buy alone.

Olara makes the ownership smaller without making the asset smaller.

You earn from what the asset produces

Once the asset is operating, it generates income. For example, a solar plant may sell electricity to customers every month.

After the costs of running the asset, the remaining income belongs to its owners according to their share. So if you own 20% of an asset, you receive your share of its income.

This is why we care so much about the asset itself.

Your income comes from something real that is working.

The amount you receive can change if the asset's income or costs change. Predictable does not mean guaranteed.

Invest with Friends

This is one of the simplest ideas behind Olara.

Sometimes you want to own an asset, but you don't want to — or can't — pay for the whole thing yourself. So you can invite people you know to invest with you.

Suppose an asset costs ₦1 million. Instead of investing ₦1 million alone, you could invite four friends and each invest ₦200,000.

You now collectively own the asset. You didn't need to find ₦1 million.

You just needed to find four people who wanted to own the same thing.

But there is an important difference between this and simply sending money to your friends and investing together.

Olara handles the ownership. Each person invests through their own account and owns their own share.

Your friend doesn't hold your money. You don't have to calculate who owns what. You don't have to chase anyone for their share of the income. And if someone wants to leave, their ownership is separate from everyone else's.

You get the economics of investing together without having to manage the investment together.

You don't have to invest with friends

Invest with Friends is optional.

You can invest on your own or join an asset with other Olara users. That means an asset doesn't need to be filled by people you know personally.

You could invest ₦50,000 into an asset alongside people you've never met, while Olara manages the ownership and operation.

The idea is simple:

Ownership can be social without being informal.

Olara manages the asset

Owning an asset doesn't mean you have to run it.

You don't need to maintain solar panels, collect payments from customers, repair equipment or manage the day-to-day operation.

Olara works with operators who handle the asset. We track its performance, collect the income and distribute each owner's share.

That is what makes this different from simply buying a physical asset yourself.

You own it. We help manage it.

The goal is income

Most people think about investing as: “I put money in today and hopefully have more money later.”

Olara is built around a slightly different goal: “I put money into something that can produce income.”

That doesn't mean every asset will produce the same amount every month, or that income is guaranteed. It means the starting point is different.

We look for assets that can provide useful things to people, generate revenue and distribute income to their owners.

Over time, you can use that income to spend, save, or invest in more assets.

That's the bigger idea behind Olara.

You don't just put money away.

You put money to work.

You own something. That thing produces something. And you participate in what it produces.

Olara makes productive assets easier to own.

Common questions

Sources and further reading