US-based wireless service provider FreedomPop raised a $30m series B round yesterday led by corporate-backed venture capital firm Partech Ventures and including VC firms DCM Capital and Mangrove Capital.
Partech held a first close of a $227m growth fund in January 2015, backed by automotive company Renault, retail chain Carrefour, insurance companies CNP Assurances and AG2R La Mondiale, payment services provider Ingenico Group and state-backed Bpifrance.
FreedomPop has also secured an unnamed backer for a second tranche of the round, but details about this commitment will only be revealed at a later date.
FreedomPop offers a freemium mobile phone plan. Customers receive 500 megabytes of wireless data, 200 call minutes and unlimited text messages for free, and can buy additional data and minutes or features for a fee.
The company is due to launch its service in the UK during this summer.
FreedomPop previously raised a total of $19.3m from DCM and Mangrove according to regulatory filings and press releases.
Stephen Stokols, founder and chief executive of FreedomPop, said: “We received several merger and acquisition offers, but we ultimately decided it was premature to sell on the cusp of exponential traction.
“Following on accelerated growth and our pending global expansion, we are confident we will create massive value within the next 12 to 24 months at which point we could revisit exit options.”