Airalo,
which offers digital SIM cards so travelers can stay connected to mobile
networks around the world, has raised $5.4 million in Series A funding. The
round was led by Rakuten Ventures with participation
from Sequoia Capital India's Surge program, Antler, Plug and Play Ventures, LG
Technology Ventures, Go Ventures and others.
Airalo,
which won the Award
for Travel Innovation (Startup Category) at The Phocuswright Conference 2019,
gives users access to eSIMs for more than 190 countries that enable mobile
connectivity at local rates without needing to exchange a physical SIM card.
The
company’s founders, Abraham Burak and Bahadir Ozdemir, say their mission
is to “create the gateway to instant travel connectivity worldwide ... eSIMs
enable a smooth and seamless solution where people do not need legacy roaming
systems or physical SIM cards anymore.”
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With
the new funding, Airalo plans to increase its global coverage and in-app
services, add to its teams in Toronto, Istanbul and Singapore and further
develop partnerships with telecom and travel companies.
“Telcos,
the world over, struggle with the high costs of customer acquisition. We’re
proud to support Airalo in their mission to build new, massively scalable rails
for these critical infrastructure providers to distribute their products and
acquire users,” says Adit Swarup, partner at Rakuten Ventures who will
join the board of Airalo.
Airalo’s last funding was a $1.9 million seed round in
October 2019.