Oolu

Overview

Oolu built a pay-as-you-go solar distribution and credit business for households and small businesses beyond reliable power grids in West Africa. Founded in Senegal in 2015, it bundled imported equipment, installation, maintenance, local field agents, and mobile-money payments into one service.^[1]

Its hard problem was never the panel. It was financing equipment for low-income customers, collecting thousands of small payments, and servicing assets across several countries. Oolu turned that operating system into strategic value: Ignite Power acquired the company in April 2024 to gain its West African customer base, distribution network, and local knowledge.^[2] This was an acquisition, not a shutdown, although the undisclosed price prevents a firm judgment about investor returns.

Founding Story

Nilmi Senaratna and Daniel Rosa founded Oolu in 2015 after seeing energy poverty at household level. Senaratna had spent a year living in a rural Senegalese community while working on a renewable-energy project for the United Nations Environment Programme. Disrupt Africa reported that she left that work, formed a team, and launched Oolu.^[3] Public sources do not clearly establish how the two founders met, so that part of the origin story remains unresolved.

The initial insight was concrete. Rural families often traveled to charge phones and bought kerosene for light. Rosa told TechCrunch: “These communities are, by and large, farmers of cash crops.” He added that a Senegalese household could contain ten people and several phones requiring twice-weekly charging.^[4] Solar hardware already existed in East Africa. The missing layer was a trusted system for selling, financing, installing, collecting, and repairing it in West African villages.

Oolu, which means “trust” in Wolof, made that word an operating requirement. The company worked through mayors and village chiefs and built local agent networks. Senaratna described the method plainly: “These are built through excellent customer service and work with local mayors and village chiefs.”^[3]

YC backed Oolu in Summer 2015. The company later expanded beyond basic household kits into appliances, larger productive-use systems, and commercial solar. That progression widened the revenue opportunity but also increased inventory, credit, installation, and maintenance complexity.

Timeline

• 2015: Senaratna and Rosa founded Oolu in Senegal and joined Y Combinator's Summer 2015 batch.^[1]
• 2015: Oolu began leasing installed solar home systems and taking recurring payments, including through mobile money.^[3]
• 2018: The company entered Nigeria; TechCabal reported about $3.2 million raised to date.^[5]
• 2020: Oolu raised an $8.5 million Series B led by RP Global, with All On and Persistent Energy among the investors.^[6]
• 2021: Oolu and RP Global launched Westa.solar for financed commercial and industrial projects.^[7]
• April 2024: Ignite Power acquired Oolu for an undisclosed amount.^[2]
• 2026: Oolu continued operating inside Ignite's platform, including a BGFA-backed connection program in Burkina Faso.^[8]

What They Built

Oolu sold access to electricity as a managed service. A field agent found customers in an off-grid community, assessed demand, and arranged installation. The household received a small solar panel, battery, lights, phone-charging capacity, and later optional appliances. Oolu retained the financing and service relationship while the customer paid over time.

Mobile money made recurring collection possible. Oolu partnered with Orange Money in Senegal, letting customers pay from a phone rather than travel with cash.^[4] The arrangement was still physical. A 2019 impact study found that 64% of surveyed customers made trips solely to add money to their accounts, which shows how digital collection still depended on cash-in infrastructure.^[9]

The company did not manufacture panels. It concentrated on distribution, underwriting, installation, customer support, and maintenance. That choice avoided factory capital but left Oolu responsible for the expensive parts that determine whether PAYGo works: last-mile acquisition, asset financing, repayment monitoring, and field service. Rosa said the package reduced participating families' energy spending by an average of 60%, although Oolu did not disclose exact early pricing.^[4]