{"id":41289,"date":"2023-10-20T15:12:58","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:12:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/melbourne-startup-unlockd-closes-a-further-15-million\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:12:58","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:12:58","slug":"melbourne-startup-unlockd-closes-a-further-15-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/melbourne-startup-unlockd-closes-a-further-15-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne startup Unlockd closes a further $15 million"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Unlockd<\/div>\n

Australian telecommunications startup Unlockd has closed a $15 million Series A round as it looks to aggressively expand into the UK and Asia.<\/p>\n

The Melbourne-founded tech company<\/a>, which offers a platform to mobile service providers where users can gain discounts by viewing ads after unlocking their smartphone, has now raised more than $20 million on total.<\/p>\n

The startup boasts high-profile investors including Lachlan Murdoch, Seek\u2019s Matt Rockman and the founders of Catch of the day.<\/p>\n

The Series A round comes from these existing investors as well as newcomers including carsales.com.au founder Greg Roebuck and Radek Sali, the CEO of Swisse Wellness.<\/p>\n

Unlockd co-founder and CEO Matt Berriman says the cash injection will be used to fuel international expansion plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have over a dozen live conversations with telcos across every market,\u201d Berriman tells StartupSmart.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe appetite is there and that\u2019s a big reason for taking the funding \u2013 to capture that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plans for global domination<\/h3>\n

First on the cards is the UK, with Unlockd already having signed a deal with an undisclosed telco that\u2019ll see its product on offer to more than 20 million consumers worldwide.<\/p>\n

Berriman says this deal is exclusively with the one provider and will be officially announced in the next two months.<\/p>\n

He says the startup has also signed three term sheets with telcos around the world, including with some of Asia\u2019s \u201cmost significant phone carriers\u201d.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2014, Unlockd first launched in Australia through a deal with Labara Mobile in October last year, and announced a big expansion into the US at the start of this year<\/a>. After signing with Sprint Telecom, the Aussie startup\u2019s technology is now on offer to more than nine million US customers.<\/p>\n

Berriman says the US launch has been \u201creally strong\u201d and has served to validate the startup\u2019s offering.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve already got hundreds of thousands of users in the US in ten weeks and that definitely shows that users want it,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe other confidence we get is in the interest from telcos \u2013 they know the customers better than anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe interest from consumers has been across the board and it\u2019s been quite generally accepted.\u201d<\/p>\n

While interest from telcos around the world has been strong, he says that Australian providers are yet to properly get on board with the concept.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully sometime soon we\u2019ll get back to Australia and convince some local telcos to get on board,\u201d Berriman says.<\/p>\n

The right amount of capital<\/h3>\n

According to the founder, Unlockd could\u2019ve easily raised more funding, but chose to secure just enough to get it to its next growth stage.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was about what we can efficiently use in the business to get to the next critical junction before we look to take more funding,\u201d Berriman says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a number we all worked on with the board and key investors. We planned out where we would spend the money, the outcomes we\u2019d achieve out of it and that drove the number more than the number driving the strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says it\u2019s important for founders to consider how much capital they actually need rather than saying yes to all interested parties.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s flattering as a founder if people want to invest in your company,\u201d Berriman says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut you have responsibility to shareholders and the business to be sustainable. This was about how we can execute on what we need to achieve then working out what funding we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNow it\u2019s about putting our heads down. We\u2019re in the fortunate position of being able to focus on the business and not running around looking for funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter,<\/em>LinkedIn <\/em>and <\/em>SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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