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In focus
- Airalo lands in the black in 2024
- The problem with ARR as a litmus test of success
- Anthropic eyes $70b in revenue by 2028
Hello reader,
I’m a big fan of Gomo, the digital telco. Their no-expiry data packages were perfect for me, as I mostly just go out on the weekends.
Most other telcos offer seven-day and monthly promos, and I always end up not using a chunk of the mobile data package I paid for.
While I’ve used Gomo for international roaming, its coverage is quite limited. That said, I’ve only travelled to Hong Kong and Malaysia recently, which are both covered by Gomo, so I haven’t needed an eSIM yet.
I’m in the minority, though, as the market for eSIMs is huge. Airalo, which operates an eSIM marketplace, turned net profitable in 2024.
Its Singapore-based entity, AirGSM, swung to a US$10.1 million net profit last year. At the same time, its revenue surged 89% year on year to US$286 million, outpacing its rising costs in marketing and tech.
But that success is also attracting a crowd. While Airalo faces high-growth rivals like Holafly and Jetpac, the bigger challenge may come from a completely different sector: fintech.
Companies like Revolut and Monzo are now jumping into the game, seeing eSIMs as the new, sticky feature to lock users into their ecosystems.
Airalo is aware of this and is making moves of its own. In 2024, it partnered with fintech firm Koho to help launch the Canada-based business’ own eSIM service through Airalo Partners.
The B2B market is relatively new for Airalo, and it would be interesting to see how this vertical could shift its numbers. One thing’s for sure: It has the capital to continue investing in Airalo Partners, especially after its unicorn-making US$220 million round this year.
Miguel Cordon, journalist
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