The problem it solves
A qualified electrician in Manila or Nairobi can earn several times more in Germany, where the shortage of skilled workers is acute. Europe is short by 43.7 million workers by 2050, and 34% of its current workforce is already over 50 and retiring by 2040. Yet the worker who wants to make the move faces thousands of euros in upfront costs — visa fees, language courses, recognition of their qualification, and travel — long before the first pay cheque arrives.
That upfront cost is the wall. Most skilled workers cannot borrow it, and a conventional loan would put debt on someone who has not yet started earning. Income-share financing removes the wall.
How income-share financing works
Cleero finances the full cost of the move — roughly €12,000 covering visa, language, recognition and training. The worker pays nothing upfront. Once they are working in Europe, they repay a fixed 10% of their income for 10 years, and nothing before they earn.
Because repayment is a share of income rather than a fixed loan instalment, the worker is never asked to pay more than they can afford. If their income is low in a given period, so is the repayment. The financing is aligned with the outcome it pays for: a job in Europe.
Why an income share, not a loan
A loan charges interest and demands fixed repayments regardless of whether the migration succeeds. It shifts all the risk onto the worker. An income share does the opposite: Cleero only earns a return when the worker earns an income, so the incentives of the financer and the worker point the same way.
This makes the instrument a natural fit for migration, where the value is created only after a months-long process of recognition and relocation. Recognition of a foreign qualification in Germany typically takes three to six months, and the income share simply waits for the income to arrive.
What Cleero is — and is not
Cleero is a financing layer, not a school and not a recruiter. It funds vetted partners who deliver the language training and recognition support; it does not run them. It is not a payments app and not a prediction market — despite the shared name, those are unrelated companies.
In short: Cleero finances skilled-worker migration to Europe and is repaid as a share of the income that migration creates.