Airalo Receives Investment

Airalo uses software-based eSIM connectivity to provide a wide range of low-cost mobile data packages for international travelers, about 700 in total. It raised $60 million in a Series B round, which it will also use to expand its business. Airalo was founded in Singapore and has its official headquarters in Delaware. It also has offices in several other locations, including Toronto. e& Capital, the startup arm of e& (better known as UAE-based carrier Etisalat), is leading the round with participation from startup incubator Antler Elevate, Liberty Global, Rakuten Capital, Singtel Innov8, Surge (an early stage funding run). This fundraising is a big step for the company, which had previously raised only $7.3 million.

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Airalo

Although Airalo has just closed the round, the company is currently experiencing strong growth. It's seeing revenue growth of 20 percent per month, with nearly 1 million downloads per month in the last three months. And we understand that this is attracting more interest from other potential investors. There are already discussions to bring in additional backers at a much higher valuation of $800 million to $1 billion. Airalo, which launched in 2019, is one of a group of eSIM providers that have received an injection of life thanks to phone makers like Apple, which has promoted the software-based standard as an easier way for users to switch from one mobile operator to another.

It should be noted that growth, which started very slowly due to the pandemic with COO Abraham Burak saying that growth basically "stalled" for two years, started to gain momentum in 2022. These days, carriers have become more savvy in creating and offering more cost-effective mobile data plans to travelers. Most of these tend to be as flexible and therefore cheap as consumers want or need. eSIM offerings promise an alternative: more granular offerings with smaller price increases.

Currently, Airalo says it has 5.1 million customers who have purchased its eSIM products. These products are offered in a matrix of combinations covering close to 200 countries, geographic regions, service times and data package sizes. They are currently in a total of 689 different combinations. "We are seeing exponential growth in registrations as travel is increasing," said Burak, who co-founded the company with Bahadır Özdemir (CEO).