Braid Raises $38M Funding to Put Mobile Connectivity Inside Bank and Airline Apps

Braid, the The Hague-based embedded connectivity platform, has raised $38 million (€34.13 million) in Series A funding led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from KPN Ventures. The round marks the company’s first external capital since it was founded in 2023, and Braid states it is already profitable and cash-flow positive.

The funding comes as Braid prepares to accelerate international expansion, deepen its carrier network, and strengthen the infrastructure that lets businesses embed SIM and eSIM connectivity directly into their own products—without becoming telecom operators themselves. The company serves close to 90 enterprise customers, including major global fintech and travel brands.

Braid Funding Overview By CREDX Media

Startup Name	Braid (formerly Next Communications)
Founders	Jignesh Dave (CEO), Vishal Dave, Mitesh Popat
Founded	2023
HQ	The Hague, Netherlands
Round	Series A Funding
Amount Raised	$38M (€34.13M)
Valuation	Not disclosed
Category	Embedded Connectivity, Telecom Infrastructure, B2B SaaS
Lead Investor	Octopus Ventures
Key Investor	KPN Ventures
Total Funding Raised	$38M (first external round)
Carrier Network	600+ carriers across 200+ countries
Enterprise Customers	~90

💡 Use of Funds

• International Expansion: Accelerating growth across new markets.
• Carrier Network: Deepening connections with mobile network operators globally.
• Infrastructure: Strengthening the API platform that orchestrates connectivity for enterprise customers.

Startup Overview: Braid

What Braid Is Building in Simple Words

Braid has built a single API that lets enterprises embed mobile connectivity into their own products—without the months of procurement, carrier negotiations, and regulatory filings that traditionally come with becoming a connectivity provider. The platform orchestrates 600+ carrier networks across 200+ countries, enabling a business to launch a branded mobile service in as little as a week, or a live trial in three minutes.

• Single API: Enterprises embed SIM and eSIM connectivity directly into their apps or launch fully branded storefronts with no engineering required.
• No Telecom Operator Status: Brands offer connectivity under their own name without becoming MVNOs or dealing with carrier complexity.
• Proven Speed: Live trials in three minutes; brand-led launches in as little as a week—versus three to six months for traditional procurement.
• Real-World Use Cases: An airline offers roaming from the moment a passenger books a ticket; a bank rewards customers with connectivity; a sports club keeps traveling fans connected.

Why Braid Matters

• Traditional connectivity procurement is broken. Building an MVNO takes months and costs hundreds of thousands. Braid replaces that with a single API.
• Connectivity is becoming an embedded category. Just as payments were embedded into apps a decade ago, mobile data is moving inside the products customers already use.
• Profitable before fundraising. Braid raised external capital only after proving it could be cash-flow positive, giving it leverage with investors.
• Strategic telecom validation. KPN Ventures’ participation signals that incumbents see Braid as complementary infrastructure, not a threat.

Founder Background: The MVNO Operator Who Saw the Real Opportunity

Jignesh Dave (CEO) spent years in UK and South African banking, including a role at Lloyds, before founding and running a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) for seven years.

That experience was formative—and expensive. It cost him €500,000 and 18 months before his previous company sold its first SIM card. The lesson: the infrastructure beneath a connectivity business is more valuable than the SIM card itself.

He co-founded Braid in 2023 with Vishal Dave and Mitesh Popat. The company operated as Next Communications before rebranding to Braid.

Dave’s framing of the opportunity: “Amazon built AWS to power its own business and found it could power everyone else’s, and it was the same for us. Today a business can start in three minutes. And when brands make connectivity part of their customer experience, they unlock something far more valuable: stronger relationships, greater loyalty and new revenue.”

Founder Intelligence: What Founders Can Learn from Braid

• Turn your most expensive mistake into a product: Dave’s €500,000 and 18-month journey to sell one SIM card revealed the real opportunity—the infrastructure, not the card. Braid exists because he saw the problem from the inside.
• Build for the businesses that already own the customer: Braid doesn’t sell to consumers. It sells to airlines, banks, and travel brands that already have the relationship. Connectivity becomes a feature of their product, not a separate purchase.
• Profitability before fundraising: Braid raised external capital only after proving it could be profitable and cash-flow positive. That discipline gave it leverage with investors and a clear story: the round is for scale, not survival.
• Partner with incumbents: KPN Ventures’ participation signals that telecom operators see Braid as a partner, not a threat. Working with the industry can be smarter than trying to disrupt it from the outside.

Investor Intelligence: Why This Round Gets Premium Capital

Octopus Ventures led the round. Uthish Ranjan, Partner, framed the thesis: “The best infrastructure businesses make something complex feel effortless. Jignesh and the Braid team have taken an industry built around long negotiations and fragmented systems and created a materially simpler way for businesses to embed connectivity into the products their customers already use. We believe Braid is defining a new category in embedded connectivity.”

KPN Ventures participated as a strategic investor. Reinout van Ierschot, EVP KPN Wholesale, noted: “Braid has built an impressive platform enabling enterprises to easily embed connectivity into their existing product offering via a single API, accelerating time-to-market and taking away complexity on the customer side resulting in substantial growth.”

The investor composition signals conviction: Octopus’s track record with category-defining infrastructure businesses, combined with KPN’s telecom validation, positions Braid to scale as embedded connectivity becomes standard.

The Road Ahead for Braid

Expansion Targets

With $38 million in capital, Braid will:

• Accelerate international expansion beyond its current footprint across India, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
• Deepen its carrier network to expand coverage and improve reliability.
• Strengthen infrastructure to support more enterprise customers and higher volumes.

Competitive Response

Expect:

• Traditional MVNO enablers to add embedded connectivity features.
• Telecom operators to explore direct partnerships with large brands.
• New startups to emerge targeting specific verticals (travel, finance, retail).
• Braid’s moat: 600+ carrier orchestration + proven enterprise traction + profitability + strategic telecom backing.

Conclusion

Braid’s $38 million Series A funding validates the thesis that embedded connectivity is the next infrastructure category hiding in plain sight. The company’s single API—orchestrating 600+ carriers across 200+ countries—lets banks, airlines, and other enterprises offer mobile data without the complexity of becoming telecom operators.

Market tailwinds favor Braid: the growth of embedded services, the willingness of consumers to buy connectivity inside apps they already use, and the strategic validation from KPN Ventures. The company’s experienced founder, profitable operations, and carrier network position it to define the embedded connectivity category as it expands globally.

For deep analysis of embedded finance funding, telecom innovation, and companies reshaping how enterprises deliver connectivity, explore CREDX Media for comprehensive coverage of startup funding trends, valuation intelligence, and founder playbooks.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is Braid’s total funding and latest round size?
Braid has raised $38 million (€34.13 million) in Series A funding led by Octopus Ventures, its first external capital since founding in 2023.

2. How much did Braid raise in its Series A round and who led the investment?
Braid raised $38 million led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from KPN Ventures.

3. What is the valuation of Braid?
Braid did not disclose its post-money valuation.

4. Who are the major investors in Braid?
Major investors include Octopus Ventures (lead) and KPN Ventures.

5. Who are Braid’s founders?
Braid was founded in 2023 by Jignesh Dave (CEO), Vishal Dave, and Mitesh Popat.

6. What is Braid’s business model?
Braid operates a B2B platform, providing a single API that lets enterprises embed branded mobile connectivity into their products. It generates revenue through enterprise partnerships.

7. How does Braid’s platform work?
Braid orchestrates 600+ carrier networks across 200+ countries. Enterprises use its API to embed SIM and eSIM connectivity into their apps or launch branded storefronts, without becoming telecom operators.

8. What traction justifies Braid’s Series A funding?
Braid serves close to 90 enterprise customers, including major global fintech and travel brands. The company is profitable and cash-flow positive.

9. What are Braid’s plans for the $38 million Series A capital?
Braid will accelerate international expansion, deepen its carrier network, and strengthen its infrastructure.

10. What problem does Braid solve for enterprises?
Braid eliminates the months of procurement, carrier negotiations, and regulatory filings required to offer connectivity. It lets businesses embed mobile data into their products in minutes or days, not months.

11. Who is the CEO of Braid?
Jignesh Dave serves as CEO and founder. He previously worked in banking at Lloyds and ran an MVNO for seven years.