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Airalo Becomes the First eSIM Unicorn With an Investment Round of $220m

via Business Wire

Backed by strong global demand, Airalo is scaling its eSIM solutions and infrastructure to power the next generation of travel with borderless mobile access for consumers and businesses alike.

Airalo, the world’s first and largest eSIM provider, today announced a $220m investment led by new investor, CVC. The investment includes new growth capital valuing Airalo at over $1 billion, marking its status as the industry’s first unicorn. Driven by surging global demand, Airalo has continued its rapid expansion and now serves over 20 million travelers across 200+ destinations. With a new app experience and unlimited data plans launching this summer, Airalo is setting a new standard for global connectivity. Airalo’s mobile app empowers travellers to instantly get the highest quality roaming experience when abroad, at prices that are a fraction of what they would normally pay.

As millions of users rely on Airalo to stay connected abroad, the company is scaling faster than ever, and this latest funding will further accelerate its growth. The investment includes $185m from lead investor CVC (through its CVC Asia Fund VI), with participation from existing investors Peak XV and Antler Elevate. This new capital will fuel the continual improvement of the customer experience, including enhanced user support, new products and better value for money. Airalo will also use its industry-leading platform to provide connectivity to companies, both for the needs of their employees and their customers.

“This funding is a major milestone, not just for Airalo, but for the future of global connectivity,” said Ahmet Bahadir Ozdemir, CEO and co-founder of Airalo. “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. We’re not just enabling better eSIM solutions for travel - we’re building the infrastructure for the next generation of international mobile connectivity.”

“We are thrilled to partner with Airalo — the clear category leader in travel eSIMs and a pioneer in redefining how travelers connect worldwide,” said Siddharth Patel, Managing Partner at CVC. “The digital travel eSIM market, whilst already worth US$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. Airalo, with a highly scalable digital model grown primarily through organic channels, is best positioned to deliver superior value and customer experience for global travelers. We look forward to supporting Bahadir and the Airalo team.”

Airalo continues to expand its connectivity offerings to provide a full suite of options for every traveler. Starting in July, the company will offer the market’s most extensive range of eSIM data bundles, whether it’s for business or pleasure—ranging from 1 GB plans ideal for quick trips and layovers to 30-day unlimited data bundles for travelers with heavier data needs. Additionally, Airalo is introducing dedicated data, text, and voice packages in select destinations to allow users to truly “connect like a local.” Beyond these new packages, Airalo will soon roll out a new in-app experience across web, iOS, and Android to further improve the user journey.

The company is also scaling its enterprise platform to meet rising demand from businesses and partners. Airalo for Business provides companies with a streamlined platform to manage global connectivity for their teams—helping them assign eSIMs, control budgets, and reduce roaming costs by up to 90%. For partners, Airalo’s White Label solution makes it easy to launch a fully branded eSIM store in minutes, unlocking new revenue opportunities with minimal effort. Airalo also offers API integrations, reseller tools, and voucher programs to enable any partner to offer travel connectivity to its users. These offerings, along with a new eSIM capability launching soon, reflect Airalo’s commitment to building the infrastructure that powers modern, mobile-first businesses everywhere.

To learn more about Airalo and how it is helping travelers stay connected, visit www.airalo.com. For more information on Airalo’s business solutions, visit www.partners.airalo.com.

About Airalo

Airalo, founded in 2019, is the world’s first and largest travel eSIM provider. Trusted by over 20 million travelers to date, Airalo offers eSIM packages in 200+ countries and regions, empowering users to instantly connect to mobile networks worldwide. Headquartered in the U.S. with a remote team spanning 55 countries, Airalo is committed to making mobile connectivity on the move easier, more affordable, and accessible to all.

Airalo is backed by a global network of venture capital, private equity and strategic telecom investors, including CVC, Peak XV, e& capital, Antler, KPN Ventures, Wayra Ventures (Telefonica), Bell Ventures, Orange Ventures, Liberty Global Ventures, Rakuten Capital, Singtel Innov8, Telekom Innovation Pool, LG Technology Ventures, GO Ventures, Plug and Play, and other investors.

Learn more at www.airalo.com and www.partners.airalo.com.

About CVC

CVC is a leading global private markets manager with a network of 30 office locations throughout EMEA, the Americas, and Asia, with approximately €202 billion of assets under management. CVC has seven complementary strategies across private equity, secondaries, credit and infrastructure, for which CVC funds have secured commitments of over €260 billion from some of the world's leading pension funds and other institutional investors. Funds managed or advised by CVC’s private equity strategy are invested in approximately 140 companies worldwide, which have combined annual sales of over €168 billion and employ over 600,000 people. For further information about CVC please visit: https://www.cvc.com/. Follow us on LinkedIn.

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