Gigs, a platform that makes it easier for any company to become a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), has raised $73 million in a Series B round of funding.
The announcement comes as countless companies have added mobile networking services to their product lineup this past year, including neobanks such as Nubank (a Gigs customer) and Revolut — they both launched travel eSIM services that provide customers with mobile data to use while abroad. And more recently, Nubank became a fully-fledged MVNO, with the launch of NuCel in its native Brazil.
For context, MVNOs are independent mobile networks built atop the infrastructure of larger telecom companies. While they’re far from a novel concept, more MVNOs are being minted than ever. This is in part due to all-digital distribution strategies enabled by new technologies such as eSIM, and with Apple launching its first eSIM-only phone in 2022 (though it wasn’t the first such smartphone). This served as a catalyst for disruption in the dusty old telecom sector: it was the first time that millions of people could bypass mobile networks to provision their SIM cards.
In tandem, emerging cloud technologies, such as those provided by Gigs, handle all the manual work involved in becoming a mobile network. This includes bundling cellular and data plans; provisioning SIM cards; providing multi-currency checkout and payment systems; and making it all available via an API, replete with analytics and reports.
A ‘global connectivity layer’
While the ultimate goal is to allow any company to become a fully-fledged mobile network in any country around the world, Gigs currently offers three tiers of product with varying degrees of availability.
Its data-only eSIM product is pretty much available globally, as it doesn’t require much in the way of local network integrations — no phone numbers are allocated for this product. In addition to that, Gigs offers an enterprise product that gives businesses phone plans in some 50 markets. This way, multinational companies can essentially launch their own internal mobile network of sorts. And then there is the consumer-focused mobile service which is where a company goes all-in on the MVNO concept, which is open to businesses in the U.S., Germany, and the U.K.
Gigs co-founder and CEO Hermann Frank says that it wants to serve as the “global connectivity layer” that not only allows any company to launch a mobile service with minimal upfront investments, but also continue running the service with minimal costs.
“The connectivity part is almost the easy part [in running a mobile network], the real hard part is the operations of the service,” Frank told TechCrunch in an interview. “So everything from customer support, to network monitoring, billing and so on — all of these things are incredibly resource-consuming and not automated at all.”
This lack of automation is why, Frank says, the telecom sector — including network operators and MVNOs — runs as a very high gross margin / low net margin business: they make a lot of money, but also spend a lot keeping the home fires burning.
“They do not productize everything, and we’re obsessively productizing every single thing,” Frank added.
As such, Gigs is preparing to launch an AI customer support assistant dubbed “operator” that budding MVNOs can integrate into their digital portals, allowing customers to update their credit card details, for example, or request a new eSIM without involving any human agent.
Friends with fintech
Founded in 2020, Y Combinator alum Gigs raised a $20 million Series A round in 2022, with notable backers including Google’s Gradient Ventures, YC Continuity fund, and angels such as Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.
Notably, Gigs’ Series B raise is led by Ribbit Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm historically more aligned with fintech startups, having backed the likes of Robinhood, Nubank, and Coinbase. Gigs represents one of its first-ever investments outside of fintech/crypto space, with Ribbit Capital general partner Jordan Angelos pointing to synergies between the telecoms and banking sectors as one of the reasons they led this investment — Gigs, after all, has been touted as a “Stripe for phone plans.”
“Mobile connectivity, like banking, is one of the most widely used consumer services globally, yet it consistently ranks among the lowest in customer satisfaction,” Angelos said in a statement.
However, plenty of companies outside the financial services realm have also hopped on board the mobile network services bandwagon. This includes phone makers, such as Murena, which this year started selling phone plans alongside its de-Googled smartphones; French grocery chain Carrefour, which recently launched a travel eSIM service; and floundering AI hardware maker Humane, which bundled data connectivity via a monthly subscription alongside its quirky AI Pin.
With another $73 million in the bank, Gigs is gearing up to expand on just about every front, including geographic footprint and product lineup. This will mean expanding its network partnerships in the U.S., which is currently limited to T-Mobile and AT&T. And just this week, Gigs announced a tie-up with Vodafone in the U.K. to make it easier for tech companies to embed phone plans into their products. Gigs also has plans to expand beyond its existing sole network in Germany and eventually roll into other European markets.
“We’re working on some really exciting first-of-a-kind tech enablement deals, similar to what we just announced with Vodafone in the U.K.,” Frank said.
Other than Ribbit Capital, other investors in Gigs’ Series B round include Gradient Ventures, Y Combinator, and SpeedInvest.