Airalo raises $5.4M for digital SIM marketplace

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.”

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.