Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
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CVC invests $220M in Airalo, valuing the eSIM provider at over $1B. The funds will enhance customer experience and product offerings.
By Amy-Jo Crowley
LONDON (Reuters) -European private equity firm CVC led a $220-million funding round in Singaporean travel technology specialist Airalo, valuing the business at more than $1 billion, the companies said on Thursday.
CVC, which has 202 billion euros ($236.52 billion) of assets under management, invested $185 million in the new round, with existing backers Peak XV and Antler Elevate also participating, the companies said in a statement.
Founded in 2019, Airalo provides a technology known as eSIM that allows consumers to switch wireless providers without inserting a new physical SIM card. It has more than 20 million customers across 200 countries.
The company said the new funding will go towards improving the customer experience, including enhanced user support and new products.
“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,” Airalo’s CEO and co-founder Ahmet Bahadir Ozdemir said. The company describes itself as the world’s first and largest eSIM provider.
Siddharth Patel, managing partner at CVC, said the digital travel eSIM market, worth $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."CVC is making the investment through its Asia Fund VI. European telecom groups Telefonica Open Innovation, Orange Ventures and Liberty Global Ventures are among other investors in Airalo.
($1 = 0.8540 euros)
(Reporting by Amy-Jo Crowley in London; Editing by Anousha Sakoui and Rod Nickel)
Airalo provides eSIM technology that allows consumers to switch wireless providers without needing to insert a new physical SIM card.
CVC invested $185 million in the recent funding round, which totaled $220 million.
The new funding will be used to improve customer experience, enhance user support, and develop new products.
The digital travel eSIM market is estimated to be worth $1 billion and is still in the early stages of growth.
Existing backers Peak XV and Antler Elevate also participated in the funding round alongside CVC.
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