Swiss telecom start-up alao secures significant investment from prominent investors despite challenging market situation
With YoY growth of 300%, alao’s business model has attracted the attention of well-known investors. Founded just four years ago, the company is in a promising position. The alao.ch platform operated by alao AG supports Swiss consumers in optimizing their monthly telecom expenses and makes a significant contribution to the digitalization of the industry.
Despite times of inflation and crisis, alao was able to attract two major investors in 2023. Peter Wuffli, the former CEO of the UBS Group, joined as a new investor. He made the investment in the telecoms start-up via his family fund Aribeda AG. In addition, existing investor Dr. Volker Wendel increased his investment in alao. Dr. Volker Wendel is the founder and CEO of the Sanoptis Group, a majority stake in which was sold to Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL) in April 2022 as part of a large transaction. Both investments were made as part of a convertible loan issued by alao totaling CHF 4 million.
What makes alao particularly attractive to investors? As the ideal point of contact for cell phone and Internet subscriptions, alao makes it easy for users to find and take out the right subscription for them. The subscriptions offered cover 98% of the Swiss private customer market for telecom subscriptions and appear at the best conditions. Thus, alao solves a deep-rooted problem in the telecom industry: consumers want to optimize monthly expenses but shy away from the hassle of switching. This seamless customer experience is a key success factor in alao’s business model.
Not only investors are convinced by the model. Partners such as TWINT have also recognized the advantage of combining comparison and simple sign ups. alao has been integrated into the TWINT app for almost a year and, together with TWINT, is pursuing the goal of making life easier for people in Switzerland. In addition, alao is making an impression in the Swiss entrepreneurial world. This year, the Swiss Economic Forum awarded alao the SEF.Growth High Potential Label. This is a renowned growth program for scale-up companies. In addition, alao is part of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 this year.
Another trend is benefiting alao. Currently, the smartphone market is not producing any significant innovations, which means that more and more people are looking for better value for money from their mobile subscriptions. The increasing desire for optimization means that innovative solutions that focus on consumer behavior will inevitably become more important in the longer term.
