First things first…
One 📱card to explore the 🌍world.
Those who know me, know that I love to travel. With 30+ countries scratched off the map, I can say I’ve seen many places. But on each trip, there is always one big issue: How to stay connected while traveling without going broke from high roaming fees.
To solve this, I’ve tried a few things, from locally buying prepaid SIM cards to pre-ordering physical travel SIM cards online. However, the best solution so far that I discovered last year is the travel eSim solution: Airalo.
Airalo lets you purchase and use mobile data in over 200 countries with just a few clicks and all this at quite fair prices.
As you can see, I’m a fan. Reason enough to make Airalo the objective of this week’s venture check.
💻 Today’s venture: Airalo
🧩 Category: Telecommunications
🚀 Founded in 2019 by Ahmet Bahadir Özdemir and Abraham Burak
🤑 Financials: In 2023 Airalo raised $60M in a series b funding (https://www.airalo.com/blog/press-release:-airalo-raises-$60m-in-series-b-financing)
📦 Their business model: eSIM mobile data solutions for travelers.
💜 Why we love them:
- …because their solution is simple and hassle free, eSIM cards can be instantly downloaded and they offer mobile data plans for over 200 countries.
- …because they identified a true pain point for travelers—expensive roaming charges and the inconvenience of physical SIM cards—and build a solution around it.
What customer is Airalo targeting?
Tech-savvy, international travelers seeking consistent and affordable mobile data access
- Tourists
- Business Travelers
- Digital Nomads
Customer Segments:
🌍 Geographically:
- Global reach, targeting travelers from all continents.
- Focus on regions with high international travel rates, such as Europe, North America, and Asia.
⚧️ Demographically:
- Young adults to middle-aged individuals, typically 18-45 years old.
- Both leisure travelers and business professionals.
🛒 Behavioral:
- Frequent international travelers who prioritize convenience.
- Tech-savvy individuals who adopt new technologies quickly.
🧠 Psychographic:
- Value convenience and affordability in travel solutions.
- Seek seamless and reliable connectivity for navigation, communication, and work.
How could a typical Airalo customer persona look like?
🧑🦰Anna is a dynamic and passionate individual in her early thirties, residing in London, UK, who embodies the essence of a modern-day adventurer. As a marketing manager at a tech startup, Anna’s professional life is balanced with her insatiable love for travel and exploration, which she pursues avidly whenever she can. Tech-savvy and research-oriented, she navigates the world with ease, relying on her smartphone for seamless connectivity and convenience. Anna’s values are deeply rooted in sustainability, authenticity, and efficiency, guiding her choices in both her personal and professional endeavors. Whether she’s immersing herself in new cultures, attending music festivals, or exploring local cuisines, Anna seeks experiences that enrich her life and broaden her horizons. With a keen eye for quality and a commitment to ethical consumption, she shops consciously, favoring brands that align with her values of sustainability and longevity. Driven by a desire for personal growth and fulfillment, Anna embraces life with a sense of adventure, curiosity, and purpose, making every journey a meaningful and memorable experience.
What JTBDs, Pains & Gains do Airalo‘s customers have?
⚙️ JTBD (Jobs to be Done):
- Find a provider for mobile data access abroad
- Find a solution to avoid costly roaming charges while traveling internationally.
- Install and Activate mobile data plan.
- Purchase mobile data plans directly from your smartphone.
- Monitor data usage and renew/ recharge data
😍 Gains:
- Uninterrupted connectivity for work-related tasks and communication while abroad.
- Access local services, transportation information, and tourist attractions online.
- Save money by using local providers versus roaming.
- Instant and flexible data plans for different usage needs.
- Have peace of mind knowing they can stay connected at all times, regardless of their location.
😓 Pain Points:
- High roaming charges & costly fees incurred when using mobile data abroad.
- Difficulty in identifying reliable data providers in unfamiliar destinations.
- Time-consuming process of purchasing and activating physical SIM cards.
- Language barriers and unfamiliar local regulations when purchasing data plans abroad.
- Concerns about exceeding data limits or running out of data during travel.
- Having to purchase different SIMs when on a multi country trip.
What is Airalo‘s value proposition?
📦 Product Features:
- Mobile/Web App to purchase and manage data plan from anywhere
- eSim that can be instantly activated from anywhere
- Regional & global multi country data plans
- Data plans for 200+ countries
- Data usage dashboard & renew option
- Loyalty reward system
- Member get member benefits
- What’s App & chat support
💝 Gain Creators:
- Instant mobile data access for uninterrupted work and communication while abroad.
- Data plans enable access to local services, transportation info, and tourist attractions online, enhancing travel experiences.
- Affordable data plans from local providers help to save money avoiding roaming charges.
- Instant and flexible data plans for different usage needs.
- Extensive coverage and transparent pricing ensure peace of mind with reliable connectivity.
💊 Pain Point Solvers:
- Affordable local data plans to avoid costly roaming fees.
- Diverse partner network of trusted mobile operators worldwide.
- Fast & easy eSIM purchase activation via the mobile or web app.
- Multilingual platform that ensures compliance and ease of purchase.
- Clear data usage monitoring and easy recharge.
- Regional & global data providers valid in multiple countries.
🏆 Unfair Advantage:
Extensive network of partnerships with mobile operators worldwide & seamless eSIM activation.
💬 Their hero message could be something like this:
Struggling with expensive roaming charges while traveling abroad? We provide you with affordable and instant mobile data access worldwide. The travel eSim solution for tech-savvy travelers seeking convenience and connection.
How does Airalo make money?
🤑 Revenue Model
They likely use a reseller model where they negotiate discounted wholesale rates with network operators, then sell them with a markup.
But we are not 100% sure, they could also use a commission-based revenue model, where they take a % of transaction value for each data plan sold via the platform.
💸 Pricing Model
Leveled Pricing Model, with different plans where the pricing depend on:
- Amount of data included
- Duration of the plan
This adds to their value proposition by providing flexibility to choose a data plan that aligns with their specific needs.
How is Airalo acquiring and locking in customers?
🍝 Their Secret Marketing Sauce:
The Airalo marketing strategy is all about referrals, whether from influencer or customers, and travel content focused on their target.
- They cracked social media: They use social media (Instagram/Facebook, TikTok, Youtube, Twitter, Telegram, Linkedin, Snapchat) in two ways:
- Collaborations with travel influencers
- Own travel content
- Affiliate Marketing: They also offer an affiliate program that offers content creators (bloggers), coupon sites and social media influencers a 10%+ commission for each referral.
- WoM & Rewards:
- Heavy use of trust elements like customer reviews on their web/app and other channels
- Loyalty rewards program that provides 6% cashback on every transaction
- Member get member, where users can share their referral code and get credit for each new user.
Where are their strength & weaknesses and what are opportunities & risks?
😣 Weaknesses:
- Dependence on eSIM-compatible devices
- Activation complexity for non-tech-savvy users
- Service quality and availability depends on local mobile network operators
💪 Strength:
- Instant eSIM purchase & activation
- Global coverage and network partnerships
- Strong influencer and content creator collabs
🚨 Risks
- New competition and pricing pressure
- International roaming de-regulation (elimination of fees) could ruin their business model
🤩Opportunities
- Offer delivery of physical SIM cards for Non-tech-savvy users
- Offer unlimited data plans for heavy users
- Partnership with airlines for inflight marketing or collabs in their FFPs
