Okra unveils home-grown Cloud Service, Nebula
Okra has just launched Nebula, its own cloud infrastructure platform. A potential alternative to AWS.
Okra, a Nigerian fintech startup, has launched Nebula, a new cloud service designed to support local innovation and reduce reliance on foreign solutions. CEO Fara Ashiru highlighted in a recent LinkedIn post, the critical need for supporting local innovation.
“For too long, Africa has leaned on imported solutions, paying premiums for software and services,” she noted, emphasising Nebula’s unique ability to accept payments in naira.
This feature positions Nebula competitively against local rivals like Layer3, especially in a market grappling with severe currency devaluation.
This launch is timely for Nigerian businesses, many of which are seeking to minimise their exposure to the US dollar amidst the naira’s depreciation. Companies across various sectors are grappling with rising costs for international cloud services, billed in foreign currencies, adding to the financial strain in an already challenging economic environment.
Over the past year, cloud computing costs have more than doubled for Nigerian companies relying on AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud, all of which charge in US dollars.
Okra’s entry into the cloud sector reflects a broader trend among Nigerian tech firms aiming to capture market share from global providers by promoting homegrown solutions. This move is further supported by Nigeria’s National Cloud Computing Policy, which encourages government agencies to prioritise local cloud service providers, making these options even more appealing.
For Okra, the introduction of Nebula is expected to help it expand its revenue streams and offset potential losses from its open banking business, following reports of discontinued products. In April 2020, Okra raised a $1 million pre-seed investment from TLcom Capital, followed by a $3.5 million seed investment a year later to expand across Nigeria.
To make it easier for businesses to make the switch, Okra is offering powerful resources at no cost to test Nebula without any financial commitment. The scale-up programme provides ₦5,000 free credits and up to ₦150,000 free credits, with eligibility based on the startup stage and affiliation with Okra’s partners.
Okra claims to have been using its Nebula for the past three months.
“Over the last 3 months, we have migrated all our workflow and applications on Okra to Nebula Cloud, saving us in costs, reducing latency, and increasing our deployment efficiency,” said Abisoye Olaomi, a DevOps engineer at Okra.
