Startup Stories
Tell us about your startup
eSIM Go was established in 2020 to provide businesses, including those within the travel sector, with the technology to become an eSIM MVNO in a matter of days.
Our vision is to become the world’s leading B2B2C provider of mobile plans. We work with bedroom developers and blue chips, enabling enterprises of any size, anywhere, to sell, bundle or upsell mobile plans on a white-label or ancillary basis. Our mission is to enable companies to deliver better connectivity solutions to telecommunications subscribers.
eSIM Go helps businesses develop and launch their own branded eSIM propositions; generating new revenue streams and additional customer loyalty from selling mobile data in ways that were nowhere near as feasible in the old world of plastic SIM cards.
Our beta offering was launched in Spring/Summer 2022, ahead of opening up our API solution in October 2022. Starting out as a team of 4 co-founders, the eSIM Go team is now (as at June 2023) over 60 people.
In the space of 1 year we’ve gained significant market traction, notably (but not exclusively) in the travel sector. We have over 100 partner customers including European-based budget airline giant, Wizz Air, who launched in May 2023, Sydney Airport, who opened-up its eSIM offering in April 2023, and Mobimatter who became one of the earliest eSIM Go pioneers.
We’ve also sourced some of the best wholesale data eSIM partnerships available on the market (including over 35 mobile operators globally, with coverage in 150 countries and access to 400+ mobile networks), and have worked closely with highly-regarded technology suppliers relationships to create a robust and flexible tech stack.
Our latest innovation is the Breeze affiliate eSIM product.
What is your USP?
The eSIM Go USP is that we do it all with the best technology platform, APIs and Tier-1 connectivity options. This allows us to offer a wide variety of commercial models, including wholesale, white-label and affiliate. It also ensures maximum reliability, quality, choice and value for money in the eSIM bundles themselves.
The upshot is that organisations just have to pursue eSIM as an ancillary revenue objective and we’ll do the rest, quickly, successfully and with virtually no technical or commercial risk. Our approach to the MVNO landscape is unique, providing everything needed to create branded eSIM products and services, from connectivity, platform and APIs, through to full iOS and Android eSIM applications – with absolutely no mobile telecoms infrastructure, knowledge or experience required on their part.
What is your relationship with the telecom sector?
Mobile operators trust us, developers love us and enterprises use us. eSIM Go is a tech company whose founders (with over 40 years’ experience combined) deeply understand mobile telecoms, complemented by ancillary, fintech and proptech executives.
We rely on a deep understanding of mobile data and, through our well-established relationships with global operators, we’re in a position to offer arguably the best wholesale pricing on the market. Because eSIM Go works solely with Tier-1 providers and offers multiple networks around the world (including many with 5G), our partners can give their consumers access to the strongest networks wherever they roam.
The telecom industry and its technologies are evolving all the time and we are committed to helping our customers take advantage of that, without necessarily understanding how it works.
How have you got to your current stage of development?
We’ve been on top of eSIM developments since the concept first took form, but felt the time was right to launch eSIM Go in 2020. The timing was bad in terms of the pandemic beginning just a few weeks later (!!) and the travel sector facing a prolonged existential crisis.
But on the flipside, this gave us ample opportunity to get our technology stack in place – and it’s the investment in these hard yards that are paying off today with a significant upswing in growth during 2023 with customers, partners and the market at large consistently telling us that our proposition is more mature and complete than any competitor.
Our success with big name customers is fuelling rapid expansion, which we expect to see continue strongly into 2024 and beyond.
Why did you establish the business?
eSIM Go is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Zacchary Couldrick, Darren Shaw, Mitch Fordham and Jose De Bardi. Starting around 2018 onwards, the group shared an enthusiasm for the emergence of eSIM technology and envisioned an early opportunity to play an instrumental role in the enablement of eSIM across global businesses.
It’s about empowerment – that’s what the vision of eSIM Go boils down to. We’re on a journey to become the world’s leading B2B2C provider of mobile plans.
Whatever your eSIM business model, we can enable it. It doesn’t matter your size or starting point, eSIM Go provides everything needed to create your own branded eSIM products and services. From connectivity, platform and APIs through to full iOS and Android eSIM application – our services can be taken in any combination.
Who inspired you?
We’re inspired by other sector-leading companies that have redefined their space. See us as a Twilio, CarTrawler and Stripe hybrid for mobile plans!
What does the future hold for your business?
We’re focused on meeting the needs of a very large market opportunity as brands come to the realisation of eSIM mobile data as a new revenue stream and how straightforward it can be to harness that with our support. That’s happening right now, ahead of eSIM being ubiquitous (GSMA estimates by 2025 that 60% of devices sold will be eSIM-enabled).
As we expand, we hope to turn eSIM Go – currently based in multi-offices across the UK – into the global eSIM business hub of the future, as well as establishing regional operating teams in the US and APAC by 2026, giving any business the opportunity to embrace eSIM into their commercial offerings. We plan on tripling our headcount and revenue for 2023, and believe we’re well on track to achieving that.
Total Telecom Congress
Why not join eSIM Go in the Startup Village. Check out the website to see the full range on startups joining Total Telecom in Amsterdam this November.