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Airalo worth $ US 300 m now







Airalo locks in $60M to expand its eSIM-based global roaming ‘marketplace’
Ingrid Lunden@ingridlunden / 12:26 AM GMT+10•August 1, 2023
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Image Credits: Airalo (opens in a new window)under a license.
Travel is back on the agenda after a COVID-19 hiatus, and today a mobile startup is announcing a healthy round of funding to capitalize on that. Airalo — which uses software-based eSIM connectivity to provide a wide range of lower-cost mobile data packages, nearly 700 in all, for international travelers — has raised $60 million in a Series B round that it will be using to expand its business.
The all-equity round, which values Airalo — founded in Singapore, officially HQ’d in Delaware with offices in many other places, including Toronto — at $280 million post-money, includes a long list of financial and strategic backers, a mix that speaks to who works with the startup as a business partner as a complement to their own direct operations.
e& Capital, the venture arm of e& (better known as the UAE-based carrier Etisalat), is leading the round with participation also from startup ‘generator’ Antler Elevate, Liberty Global, Rakuten Capital, Singtel Innov8, Surge (the early-stage fund run by Peak XV, formerly known as Sequoia Capital India and SEA), Orange, T Capital (the venture arm of Deutsche Telecom), KPN Ventures, Telefónica Ventures and I2BF Global Ventures. GO Ventures and LG Technology Ventures are two other previous backers that were in its Series A. This fundraise is a big step up for the company, which had previously raised just $7.3 million.

Although Airalo’s only just closed the round, the company is currently on a strong growth rate — 20% revenue growth month on month, with nearly 1 million downloads monthly for the past three months. And from what we understand, that’s leading to further interest from other potential investors. There are already discussions to bring extra backers on at a considerably higher valuation of between $800 million and $1 billion.
Launched in 2019, Airalo is one of a group of eSIM providers that have received an injection of life thanks to handset makers like Apple promoting the software-based standard as an easier way for users to move from one mobile carrier to another, doing away with requiring customers to physically change the small SIM card in their phones.