London startup Devyce raises £2.2m to build 'money-can't-buy' global mobile network for business

Devyce, a UK SaaS company that provides digital phone numbers to multinational businesses, has closed a £2.2m seed funding round to spur on its ambition to create a global mobile network for business using its own mobile network operator licence.

A ‘graduate’ of Y Combinator’s Summer 2022 accelerator cohort, Devyce’s funding round is led by Y Combinator alongside Garage Capital (backers of Substack and Vendr) and FoundersX Ventures (investors behind Moonshot Brands). Individual investors also participated in the round, including John Kim, founder & CEO of Sendbird, and Ryan Chan, founder & CEO of UpKeep.

Founded by three London-based entrepreneurs in 2020, Devyce supplies businesses of all sectors and sizes with mobile phone numbers that can be used by their employees anywhere in the world using WiFi or mobile data.

A digital phone number requires neither its own SIM card or handset to operate. Instead, a business customer assigns Devyce phone numbers to employees that they can use on their personal handsets.

Nick Browne, co-founder of Devyce, comments: “Businesses are continually up against it to find cost efficiencies, while creating more hybrid working environments for their people. Devyce makes it easier and cheaper for companies to help their people make best use of the devices they already have at their disposal, wherever they are located.”

Helen Liang of FoundersX Ventures adds: “Owning their own mobile network puts leagues between Devyce’s founders and their nearest competition in the digital telecoms market. It is a money-can’t-buy asset, as internet companies globally know having tried and failed to create mobile networks of their own. Devyce on the other hand ploughs on, able to offer unmatched low costs for an essential service that every company globally can’t do without.”

Mike McCauley of Garage Capital concludes: “As more organisations globally embed flexible, hybrid or entirely remote working policies, there is an urgent need to accommodate cost-effective communications infrastructure among employees who may be located across multiple countries.

“Devyce helps companies cut costs while keeping their teams connected and working productively. We’re excited to support Devyce’s founders and their team as they expand business in the UK and replicate their unique opportunity in markets across Europe.”

Devyce’s monthly recurring revenue grew by 144 per cent in 2022. Its customer base includes billion dollar global companies with established hybrid or remote working policies and 5,000 employees located in more than 100 countries worldwide.

Devyce is headquartered in London with a team of 11 based throughout Europe. The investment will be used to bring Devyce’s product into new European markets and expand its product engineering team.