A company for every venture
Each venture is its own registered company. The founder holds the majority. Pesara's stake is written in from the first day.
Partnership
We get paid when you get paid.
You bring the idea and the market. Pesara brings the technology and the payment rails. Pesara is paid from what the business earns, so the only way we win is if you do.
What you bring
- A problem you understand from the inside
- Access to the first customers: a community, a trade, a network
- Time to run the business day to day
- Licences, relationships or an existing operation, if you have them
What Pesara brings
- Product design and engineering, web and mobile
- Payments, ledgers and hosting on Pesara Rails
- Validation before the build, so money isn't spent on guesses
- Launch support, reporting and ongoing upgrades
The three shares
How Pesara is paid.
Equity
15–35%
An ownership stake in the company we build together. It vests as Pesara delivers, so Pesara earns it by building, not by signing.
Revenue share
5–10%, then 1–3%
A share of gross revenue until Pesara has recovered 2–3 times the cost of the build. After that it steps down for the life of the agreement.
Platform fee
0.5–1.5%
A small fee on the venture's own revenue collected through Pesara Rails. Never on money the venture holds for its customers. It pays for payments, hosting, security and upgrades.
Worked example
A venture earning KES 2,000,000 a month.
Illustrative only. Not a quote, a forecast or a real client. Build cost KES 3,000,000. Terms: 25% equity, 8% revenue share until Pesara recovers 2.5× the build cost, then 2%, and a 1% platform fee.
First 47 months
- Revenue share (8%)
- KES 160,000
- Platform fee (1%)
- KES 20,000
- Stays with the venture
- KES 1,820,000 (91%)
The revenue share steps down once KES 7,500,000 is recovered, which takes about 47 months at this level.
After recovery
- Revenue share (2%)
- KES 40,000
- Platform fee (1%)
- KES 20,000
- Stays with the venture
- KES 1,940,000 (97%)
Pesara also holds 25% of the company, vesting over 4 years. The founder side keeps 75%.
Your numbers
Try it with your own revenue.
KES
Each month, while the build is being repaid
91%
You keep KES 910,000 of KES 1,000,000
- Revenue share (8%)
- KES 80,000
- Platform fee (1%)
- KES 10,000
- Build repaid after
- 94 months (~7.8 yrs)
- Then you keep
- 97% · KES 970,000
Illustrative terms: 8% revenue share until Pesara recovers 2.5× the build, then 2%; 1% platform fee; 25% equity (range 15–35%). Your real terms are agreed in writing for your venture.
Collection
The split happens when the money settles.
01
The customer pays
By M-Pesa, card or bank, into the venture's collection account on Pesara Rails.
02
The payment settles
Pesara Rails records every payment and reconciles it the same day.
03
The split is applied
The agreed shares are deducted at settlement. The rest goes to the venture's own bank account.
Pesara Rails is in development. Until a venture's payments run on it, shares are settled monthly from the venture's statements, and the founder can see the calculation line by line.
Protection
Written so both sides can trust it.
Vesting on both sides
Founder and Pesara shares vest over 4 years. Anyone who leaves early keeps only what they have earned.
Platform stays with Pesara
The venture owns its brand, customers, data and the product built for it. The shared platform underneath is licensed from Pesara, so every venture benefits from its upgrades.
Open books for the founder
The founder sees every payment, every fee and every split in real time. Nothing is deducted that the agreement does not name.
A clean way out
A venture that wants to leave the platform can buy out the revenue share at a multiple fixed in the agreement. No one is held hostage.
When it's a fee instead
Not every idea fits a co-build.
If money doesn't pass through the product, or you would rather own it outright, Pesara Digital builds it for a fee. Paid work never becomes an ownership claim.
Questions
- Do I pay anything up front?
- In a co-build, no build invoice. Pesara carries the build cost and recovers it from the revenue share. Some ventures agree a small founder contribution to cover third-party costs such as licences or devices.
- Why a revenue share and equity?
- The revenue share repays the build while the company is young. The equity is what Pesara earns if the company becomes valuable. Together they keep the upfront cost to the founder at zero.
- What if the venture never makes money?
- Then Pesara earns nothing from it. That is the risk Pesara takes, and it is why every idea is validated before we build.
- Who owns the product?
- The venture owns its brand, customers, data and the features built for it. The shared platform underneath stays with Pesara and is licensed to the venture.
- Are these percentages fixed?
- No. They are typical starting points. The final terms depend on what each side brings and are written into a separate agreement for each venture.