Australian telco startup Unlockd thinks the industry is ripe for disruption and has just raised another $15 million to help it.
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The $15 million comes from the startup's Series A round, with existing investors such as Seven West Media board member Peter Gammell, Virgin Australia board member Sam Mostyn and PLC Ventures all joining in.
The funding round also attracted two new big names, including Swisse Wellness CEO Radek Sali and Carsales.com.au CEO/founder Greg Roebuck.
"Unlockd has built a world-class, simple innovation that helps to solve a key challenge facing the telecoms industry, that of falling ARPU's. It was this intelligent, first to market solution that particularly attracted me – it places Unlockd in a unique a position to positively change the global telecommunications industry," Mr Sali said.
The investment comes as Unlocked prepares to expand into the UK, following its launch in the US in January with Sprint subsidiary Boost Mobile. Once it's like with its UK partner, Unlockd will be offered to more than 20 million customers between the two countries.
Lebara Mobile uses Unlockd in Australia already, while it will also be heading to Asia by the end of 2016.
"The Telco industry is facing a continual decline in ARPU's (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," Unlockd founder and CEO Matt Berriman said.
Unlockd works by offering a discount or bonuses in exchange for ads. In Australia with its partnership with Lebrara Mobile, you can receive 2GB of extra data a month in exchange for watching ads or special deals. Sprint in the US offers a $5 monthly discount in exchange for the same thing.
