By Amy-Jo Crowley
LONDON (Reuters) -European private equity firm CVC led a $220-million funding round in Singaporean travel technology specialist Airalo, valuing the business at more than $1 billion, the companies said on Thursday.
CVC, which has 202 billion euros ($236.52 billion) of assets under management, invested $185 million in the new round, with existing backers Peak XV and Antler Elevate also participating, the companies said in a statement.
Founded in 2019, Airalo provides a technology known as eSIM that allows consumers to switch wireless providers without inserting a new physical SIM card. It has more than 20 million customers across 200 countries.
The company said the new funding will go towards improving the customer experience, including enhanced user support and new products.
“This raise allows us to drive innovation across every part of the user journey by delivering more flexible plans and a faster, more seamless experience,” Airalo’s CEO and co-founder Ahmet Bahadir Ozdemir said. The company describes itself as the world’s first and largest eSIM provider.
Siddharth Patel, managing partner at CVC, said the digital travel eSIM market, worth $1 billion, “is at the very early stages of becoming the main method by which consumers can receive the highest quality experience abroad, at a much lower
price than they pay for roaming today.”CVC is making the investment through its Asia Fund VI. European telecom groups Telefonica Open Innovation, Orange Ventures and Liberty Global Ventures are among other investors in Airalo.
($1 = 0.8540 euros)
(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London; Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Rod Nickel)
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