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Oolu is one of the fastest growing off-grid solar firms in West Africa
Oolu was founded by Nilmi Senaratna and Dan Rosa in 2015. The company's mission is to provide off-grid households in rural regions in Africa with high quality products at an affordable price. In Wolof, a national language of Senegal, Oolu means ‘trust.’
Oolu appears to position itself as a fast-growing off-grid solar firm operating in West Africa, delivering distributed renewable energy for homes, businesses, and governments. The company emphasizes rapid deployment and scalable energy access across multiple African markets, with a focus on resilience and reliability.
The product suite centers on distributed renewable energy solutions, including Solar Home Systems (SHS), Productive Use of Energy (PUE), Hybrid Inverters, Mini-Grids, and Commercial Industrial energy solutions, complemented by Financing Solutions and Digital Solutions to enable deployment, scaling, and access.
Who it’s for: Households, small to medium businesses, and government entities in Africa seeking reliable off-grid solar energy and scalable energy access solutions.
Awards and recognition (multiple sustainability and innovation awards) and a stated aim to scale impact to 100 million lives by 2030; headquartered in UAE with Africa-focused operations.
Nilmi cofounded Oolu in 2015. As the former CEO and later Chief Business Development Officer, she led Oolu through YCombinator and built the company over 5 years from Dakar, Senegal. She managed early stage fundraising, high level recruitment, human capital strategy, new country expansion, business development and partnerships. Nilmi brought the team from 0 to >230 full time employees. She now is an active strategic board advisor and is based in London, UK.
How Oolu’s homepage introduced itself over the years — each line is the page title the web actually saw, linked to that moment’s archived capture.
Reliable and affordable solar energy in developing countries.
Emission free, always on power from advanced fission power plants.
