Circles.Life to expand into Taiwan, Australia in 2019

IN its bid to expand into other markets and build on its digital service capabilities, Circles.Life has secured a round of funding led by venture capital player Sequoia India.

The mobile virtual network operator plans to use funds from the Series C round of financing - details on investment size were not disclosed - to launch in more than five countries in the next 18 months. Two markets have been confirmed for launch in 2019, with Taiwan in Q2 and Australia in Q3.

Circles.Life, which leases network from telco M1, is looking to invest more than S$50 million in each new market. The company has said that it will be the first to launch a fully digital telco product in these markets.

The round of funding also includes a S$25 million investment in the Circles-X platform. The company applies a cloud-based business model, using Circle-X technology, which automates end-to-end telco systems.

Circles.Life, which started commercial operations in June 2016, has about 5 per cent of Singapore's mobile subscriber market.

On Thursday, Circles.Life also launched a S$20 unlimited data add-on, after saying on Wednesday that its S$20 for 20GB add-on option would not be available from March. The unlimited data add-on is available for both existing and new users.

The company has also partnered HL Assurance to launch the Circles PhoneProtect device insurance plan for S$7 a month. The plan covers screen cracks, liquid damages and door-to-door replacements.

Said Rameez Ansar, co-founder and chief executive of Circles.Life: "The significant investment from a blue-chip venture capital firm is testament to the impact we bring to the industry. We plan to offer more personalised digital services and revolutionise the telco industry globally, using our tech stack, Circles-X."