Olio is a mobile app for sharing by giving away, getting, borrowing or lending things in your community for free, aiming to reduce household[1][2] and food waste. It does this by connecting neighbours with spare food or household items to others nearby who wish to pick up those items. The food must be edible; it can be raw or cooked, sealed or open. Non-food items often listed on Olio include books, clothes[3] and furniture.[4]
First launched in early 2015 by Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One,[12][13] by October 2017 the company had raised $2.2 million in funding.[14] Olio's Series A funding was led by Octopus Ventures, with investors such as Accel, Quadia and Quentin Griffiths contributing towards the $6 million that was raised.[15] The Olio app had around 7 million registered users as of May 2023.[16]
