NEW YORK — OXIO, the first telecom-as-a-service platform for brands and enterprises with a white-label, fully-customizable solution to help turn brands into telecom carriers, has raised $40 million in Series B funding.
The round was led by ParaFi Capital, with participation from Digital Currency Group, Ascend, and Leyden; as well as existing investors Multicoin Capital, Monashees, Atlantico Capital, FinTech Collective; seed investors Allan Green of Candel & Partners; and angel investors from LightShed Partners and Sea Group. The Series B follows OXIO’s $12 million Series A in November 2020, which together with earlier seed rounds brings total proceeds raised to $65 million to date.
The funding will support OXIO to accelerate its continued growth in Mexico and to launch its business in the largest mobile market in the world, the United States. OXIO’s innovative web3-built technology, combined with the latest funding, strengthens the company’s pioneering role in creating the telecom-as-a-service (TAAS) category.
Telecom-as-a-Service: Web3 Meets Telecom
Launched in 2018, OXIO is the first, fully-customizable mobile TAAS platform for brands and enterprises. The company allows organizations to offer telecom services for end-users and to create bespoke enterprise solutions, easily accessing and packaging 4G and 5G carrier infrastructure capabilities through modern UI and API methods.
This white-label technology makes it possible for any brand to launch a customized mobile service, effectively acting as a mobile operator, without the cost or complexity. The result provides end consumers with a fast, affordable, and reliable mobile service from a well-loved brand they already interact with on a daily basis.
For example, in Mexico, OXIO’s clients include some of the largest brands in the country, such as Grupo Bimbo, (the world’s largest bread maker); Grupo Coppel, (Mexico’s premier white goods 1,200-store retail chain); and Rappi, (Latin America’s (LATAM) preeminent food delivery and services app).
This approach of turning brands into mobile carriers is poised to revolutionize the telecom industry, which is ripe for change, and it is especially relevant today as businesses compete on the basis of how much they know about their users.
Web3 technology is a key driver of OXIO’s innovation in telecom as it is the basis for how the company is rebuilding the traditional telecom stack. With this edge, OXIO is poised to lead an emerging telecom marketplace for mobile data, where the credibility and neutrality of blockchain and web3 will be critical in securing carriers’ trust in the platform and subsequent adoption. This view is shared strongly by some of the top funds investing in blockchain today, which came in as top investors in OXIO’s Series B round.
“We are excited to have captured the support of this group of investors, who are embarking on this journey with us as we extend our TAAS solution to the U.S., Brazil and globally,” stated OXIO Co-founder and CEO Nicolas Girard. “This funding round is punctuated by a handful of web3 investors – ParaFi Capital chief among them – because they understand how new technologies are disrupting and fundamentally reshaping traditional industries. Telecom is one of the oldest industries, akin to Fintech in the early 2000s, and now it’s our turn to innovate. We believe we are on the brink of solving something big.”
“Girard’s vision to create a modern, next-generation telecom anchored in web3 is exactly the kind of innovative thinking we look for in our portfolio companies,” stated Ryan Navi of ParaFi Capital. “OXIO is fundamentally changing how the telecom industry is built and, through that foundation, enabling a superior customer experience.”
This round of funding will fuel significant growth for OXIO, with focus on accelerating the business in Mexico and on expanding its network into the U.S. by rolling out its telecom platform to large U.S. clients. The company also plans to expand into new markets in LATAM, most notably Brazil, LATAM’s largest phone market with over 250 million mobile users. Funding will also be used to grow the company’s team in the U.S. and Mexico, starting with senior roles in revenue and in finance alongside aggressive hiring in product and engineering.
