Singapore-based virtual telco Circles.Life announced today (Feb 11) that it has received an undisclosed amount of funding in an equity round from global private equity firm Warburg Pincus.
It is estimated that the funding amounts to a few hundred million US dollars, based on Warburg Pincus’ investment history listed on CrunchBase.
Warburg Pincus has previously invested in ride-hailing firm Gojek and retail analytics startup Trax, which is touted to be Singapore’s second unicorn.
Coupled with funding from earlier rounds, the combined capital will be used to strengthen its foothold in existing markets and to expand in new markets.
Specifically, it aims to enter two new markets by the end of this year, potentially in the Asia Pacific or the Middle East.
In early last year, Circles.Life announced that it plans to launch in more than five countries in the next 18 months, investing over S$50 million in each market. It later launched in Taiwan and Australia in 2019.
Beyond entering new markets, Circles.Life also wants to ramp up its “non-telco-related” digital services.
Most recently, Circles.Life partnered with Sistic to allow the booking of local concerts and events via their mobile app. Separately, users can also browse and book movies in-app.
It has also partnered lifestyle app Entertainer to offer 1-for-1 deals for S$12 per month.
Moving forward, it intends to roll out more lifestyle services like content discovery and maybe even financial services.
“We see a tremendous growth opportunity for Circles.Life, particularly within the rapidly digitising mobile market in the Asia-Pacific,” said Saurabh Agarwal, managing director at Warburg Pincus.
“The industry has not adapted quickly enough to provide a seamless experience to its customers in this new age, creating a large white space for technology-enabled challengers.”
Featured Image Credit: Mobile World Live