Airalo
 | |
| Airalo eSIM | |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Telecommunications, Travel |
| Founded | 2019 |
| Founders | Ahmet Bahadir Ozdemir Abraham Burak Duran Akcaylier |
| Headquarters | US |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Ahmet Bahadir Ozdemir, CEO |
| Services | eSIM |
| Members | Over 10 million |
Number of employees | 51-200[1] (2024) |
| Website | www |
Airalo operates an online marketplace for the purchase of eSIMs. It is headquartered in Delaware with its operational base in Singapore.[2] As of May 2024, it had 10 million users.[3] It offers eSIMs for use in over 200 countries.
eSIMs are a type of SIM card.[4][5][6][7][8][9]
History
[edit]Airalo was founded in 2019 by Ahmet Bahadir Ozdemir, a serial entrepreneur, Abraham Burak, a Canadian businessman, and Duran Akcaylier, a web application designer and developer.[2][10][11] Duran Akcaylier left the company in 2020.
In May 2024, the company reached 10 million users.[3]
Financing
[edit]In 2019, Airalo secured $1.9 million in seed funding from Antler and Sequoia Capital.[12]
In October 2021, it secured $5 million in Series A financing.[12][13]
In July 2023, it received $60 million in a Series B financing round led by e& Capital, the venture arm of e&, with participation from Antler Elevate, Liberty Global, Rakuten Capital, Singtel Innov8, Surge, Orange, T Capital (the venture arm of Deutsche Telekom), KPN Ventures, Telefónica Ventures, and I2BF Global Ventures. At that time, it had 5.1 million customers.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24]
References
[edit]- ^ "Airalo News, Hiring, Layoffs, Competitors, CEO, Fundraising Insights". RivalSense. Retrieved 28 October 2024.
- ^ a b Hoon, Yeoh Siew (2023-08-21). "A minute of silence for the physical SIM card, please". WiT. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ a b Choudhary, Lokesh (29 May 2024). "Peak XV-backed eSIM startup Airalo reaches 10 million users". Tech in Asia.
- ^ Chen, Brian X. (2023-03-23). "Attention, Travelers: Now Is the Best Time to Switch to eSIM". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ Tibken, Shara (July 8, 2023). "Your Smartphone Can Have Two Lines. Here's Why You'd Want That". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2024.
- ^ "Roaming disattivato in Africa, ma la super bolletta arriva lo stesso: perché?". la Repubblica (in Italian). 2024-08-11. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ Moity, Steven (2024-01-05). "Come Home With Memories, Not a Shocking Phone Bill". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ Rogers, Reece (2024-07-21). "eSIM para viajes internacionales: cómo se configura y todo lo que debes saber para usarla". WIRED (in Mexican Spanish). Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ Rogers, Reece. "How to Use an eSIM for International Travel". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ Cordon, Miguel (2019-10-09). "Sequoia Capital reveals 20 startups in second Surge cohort". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ CrowdforThink. "CrowdforThink : Blog -Airalo Looks To Redefine Rules Of Roaming For Indians With eSIM Marketplace". CrowdforThink. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
- ^ a b Sri, Deepti (October 11, 2021). "Rakuten, Sequoia, and more pour $5.4m into traveltech firm". Tech in Asia.
- ^ Morris, Anne (2021-10-13). "Wayra buys into eSIM startup Airalo". TelcoTitans.com. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ "Airalo, a company in GO Ventures' portfolio, raises $60 million in Series B financing". The Malta Independent. August 10, 2023.
- ^ "eSIM platform Airalo raises US$60 million in Series B funding". The Business Times. 2023-08-02.
- ^ Lunden, Ingrid (July 31, 2023). "Airalo locks in $60M to expand its eSIM-based global roaming 'marketplace'". TechCrunch.
- ^ "Telefónica invierte en Airalo en una ronda que cierra con 54,6 millones de euros". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 2023-08-02. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ "People thought we were crazy to invest in Airalo during the pandemic…They just raised a $60M Series B". www.wayra.uk. 2023-08-08. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ "Airalo Raises $60M in Series B Financing". FinSMEs. 2023-08-01. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ "Airalo Secures $60 Million To Expand Its eSIM-Based Global Roaming Marketplace". Tech Company News. 2023-08-01. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ "Airalo eSIM marketplace raises USD 60 mln in new funding round". www.telecompaper.com. 2023-08-02. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ Muzoriwa, Kudakwashe (2023-08-02). "Airalo raises $60m in fundraising round led by e& Capital". Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ "UAE's e& leads $60 million funding round for Airalo's eSIM marketplace - Edge Middle East". Edge Middle East. 2023-08-02. Retrieved 2024-08-28.
- ^ Sharma, Shubham (2019-10-11). "Airalo is world's first eSIM store and here's how it plans to change the telecommunication industry forever". Silicon Canals. Retrieved 2024-08-28.