Australian mobile technology start-up, Unlockd, has closed its $15 million Series A round of investment from some of the biggest names in the business community, ahead of its second major market launch in the UK.
Unlockd’s financing saw increased investment from early strategic backers that includes PLC Ventures (led by Jeff Emmanuel), Peter Gammell (Seven West Media non-executive) and Sam Mostyn (board member of Virgin Australia and Citibank).
The company has also attracted new investors including Swisse Wellness CEO, Radek Sali, and carsales.com.au CEO and founder, Greg Roebuck.
"Unlockd has built a simple innovation that helps to solve a key challenge facing the telecoms industry, that of falling ARPUs. It was this solution that particularly attracted me - it places Unlockd in a position to positively change the global telecommunications industry,” Sali said.
The investment comes as Unlockd prepares to launch in the UK market, following a successful launch in the US with Boost Mobile (subsidiary of Sprint Telecom) in late January. The launch will see Unlockd’s technology offered to more than 20 million customers across the two countries.
Unlockd has also signed term sheets with other telcos around the world, including some of Asia’s phone carriers, and expects to be active in more than five international markets by the end of 2016.
Unlockd CEO and co-founder, Matt Berriman, said the company's international expansion and increasing support from investors was validation of its solution helping solve one of the biggest challenges telco companies face globally.
"The telco industry is facing a continual decline in ARPUs (average revenue per user), at the same time as growing competition to keep prices low for consumers. This is due in part to the massive increase in data usage per user, as smartphones become the screen for browsing, playing games, and viewing content," he said.
"Unlockd ensures carriers can stabilise or increase their ARPUs through new revenue streams while also giving their customers rewards and helping keep their phone bills down."
