The archive · Consumer Apps · Product decision · 2019–2025
Airalo's eSIM bet: from Antler residency to the industry's first eSIM unicorn
Airalo bet travelers would ditch roaming for app-bought eSIMs; the Antler-founded startup serves 20M travelers and became the first eSIM unicorn.
Airalo
What the business is
An eSIM marketplace where travelers buy digital SIM data plans for 200+ countries from an app, typically far cheaper than carrier roaming.
Starting capital：$1.9M seed (Oct 2019), $5.4M Series A (Oct 2021), $60M Series B (Jul 2023), $220M Series C (Jul 2025).
How it started
Abraham Burak, who dropped out of a University of Ottawa law program, had first-hand 'personal agony' from expensive roaming as a digital nomad. He co-founded Airalo with Bahadir Ozdemir in 2019 through Antler's Singapore residency, betting Apple's eSIM hardware shift would make app-bought digital SIMs the new way to roam; the company closed a $1.9M seed in October 2019.
What happened
COVID then froze travel for two years; Burak later described raising a $5.4M Series A led by Rakuten Ventures in October 2021 as happening 'in the middle of a pandemic, when travelling vanished overnight.' Momentum returned in 2022, and in July 2023 Airalo raised a $60M Series B at a $280M post-money valuation, led by e& Capital with telco investors including Orange, Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, KPN, Singtel, Liberty Global and Rakuten; it then had 5.1M customers and 689 plan combinations across 200 countries, with revenue growing about 20% month-on-month.
How it ended up
Still live and scaling: in July 2025 CVC led a $220M Series C ($185M from CVC Asia Fund VI, with Peak XV and Antler Elevate returning), valuing Airalo above $1B and making it the industry's first eSIM unicorn, serving 20M+ travelers across 200+ destinations.
Background
Airalo's bet was that Apple's eSIM iPhones would upend travel connectivity: travelers would buy a digital SIM from an app — often a few dollars — instead of paying carrier roaming rates. Abraham Burak, a digital nomad who had faced 'personal agony' from roaming bills, co-founded Airalo with Bahadir Ozdemir in 2019 through Antler's Singapore residency, right as eSIM iPhones arrived.
The timing was brutal: Airalo closed a $1.9M seed in October 2019, then COVID killed travel for two years — Burak later described raising a $5.4M Series A led by Rakuten Ventures as happening 'in the middle of a pandemic, when travelling vanished overnight.' Momentum returned in 2022, and in July 2023 Airalo raised a $60M Series B at a $280M post-money valuation, led by e& Capital with telco investors including Orange, Telefónica, Deutsche Telekom, KPN, Singtel and Liberty Global. It then had 5.1M customers and 689 plan combinations across 200 countries, with revenue up ~20% month-on-month.
The thesis was that carriers would partner rather than fight: if a traveler is already looking for cheap roaming elsewhere, the carrier has lost the customer anyway — a deal with Airalo still wins it some revenue. That logic made telcos investors as well as suppliers.
Two years later the bet compounded: in July 2025 CVC led a $220M Series C ($185M from CVC Asia Fund VI) with Peak XV and Antler Elevate returning, valuing Airalo above $1B — the industry's first eSIM unicorn — with 20M travelers served across 200+ destinations and an enterprise platform promising roaming cost cuts of up to 90%.
What has to be true
- Burak and Ozdemir saw Apple's eSIM hardware shift as a once-in-a-decade opening and staked the company on it before the market existed.
- Airalo built a 'marketplace' of 689+ plan combinations across 200+ countries — a breadth single carriers rarely offered travelers.
- Instead of fighting telcos, Airalo made them investors and suppliers, aligning incumbents with its growth.
- Survival discipline: a seed round closed months before COVID and a lean remote team let Airalo outlast the travel collapse and catch the 2022 rebound.
What can be applied
A hardware standard can open a consumer category: ride Apple's eSIM shift, build a global marketplace of cheap plans, and recruit the incumbents (telcos) as investors instead of fighting them.
Aftermath
As of 10 Jul 2025, Airalo is private and scaling: a $220M Series C led by CVC (through CVC Asia Fund VI) at a valuation above $1B made it the industry's first eSIM unicorn; it serves 20M+ travelers across 200+ destinations and is expanding Airalo for Business, white-label partner stores and API integrations, with plans including unlimited-data bundles. Its backers include Peak XV, Antler Elevate, e& Capital, Rakuten, Liberty Global, Singtel, Orange, Deutsche Telekom, Telefónica and KPN. No IPO has been announced.
Sources
- Airalo becomes the first eSIM Unicorn with an investment round of $220m
- AIRALO BECOMES THE FIRST ESIM UNICORN WITH AN INVESTMENT ROUND OF $220M
- Canadian co-founded eSIM provider Airalo hits unicorn status with $220-million USD Series C round
- Airalo locks in $60M to expand its eSIM-based global roaming 'marketplace'
- Digital Nomad Builds $1B eSIM Marketplace to Solve Travel Connectivity
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