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Braid raises $38m Series A to put mobile connectivity inside the apps of global enterprises

Global orchestration platform backed by Octopus Ventures and KPN Ventures lets brands offer their customers brand-led connectivity - instant, invisible and programmable

THE HAGUE, 22 OCTOBER 2026, 7AM CEST - Braid, a platform that lets enterprises launch their own branded mobile connectivity, has raised $38m in Series A funding led by Octopus Ventures, with participation from KPN Ventures, the strategic investment arm of Dutch telecoms operator KPN. Launched in 2023, the company has never raised external capital and is profitable and cash-flow positive today.

The problem: building connectivity is slow and costly

Becoming a connectivity provider has traditionally meant months of procurement - RFPs, carrier negotiations spanning three to six months, and regulatory filings before a single customer can be served.

Most enterprises that touch connectivity still treat it as a cost to absorb, not a lever to pull. The difference is between connectivity that’s given (a one-off purchase a customer quickly forgets) and connectivity that’s earned, embedded permanently inside a brand’s own product. The businesses best placed to capture that value already own those customer relationships. Until now, they’ve had no simple way to build it themselves.

How Braid works

Braid replaces that process with a single API that orchestrates 600+ carriers across 200+ countries. Enterprises can get branded mobile connectivity running in minutes: a live trial takes three minutes, and a brand-led mobile launch can take as little as a week, not a quarter. They embed SIM and eSIM connectivity directly into their own products via API or SDK, or launch a fully branded storefront with no engineering required, without ever becoming a telecoms operator themselves.

Before founding Braid, CEO and Founder Jignesh Dave 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. It was only after building that business from scratch that he realised the infrastructure underneath it - not the SIM card itself - was the real opportunity. That insight shaped Braid, which is built for enterprises rather than consumers: the platform behind brands’ connectivity, not a connectivity provider in its own right. Braid serves close to 90 enterprise customers today, including major global fintech and travel brands.

What it means for brands

As enterprises increasingly compete on the digital experiences they offer rather than the products they sell, embedding connectivity directly into a product - the way fintech embedded payments a decade ago - is becoming a meaningful point of differentiation. In practice:

  • A traveller books a flight, and connectivity is there through the airline or travel agent from the moment they book until they’re home again.
  • A bank rewards a customer with connectivity wherever they go, from the commute to work and back.
  • A sports fan follows their club abroad, and connectivity travels with them so they can watch the game wherever they are.

For the brand, that means:

  • Owning the experience: customers stay within the brand.
  • Influencing the outcome: connectivity can drive acquisition, engagement and loyalty.
  • Sharing in the economics: new revenue and stronger customer lifetime value.

Jignesh Dave, Founder and CEO of Braid, said: “I spent 18 months and half a million euros just to sell my first SIM card, and that is why Braid exists. After seven years running a mobile virtual network, I realised we weren’t really selling SIM cards. We had built the infrastructure that makes connectivity accessible to everyone. 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.”

“Connectivity is core to everything we do at KPN and with KPN Wholesale we are a very active player on the global sponsored roaming market” says Reinout van Ierschot, EVP KPN Wholesale, “Braid has built an impressive platform enabling enterprises to easily embed connectivity into their products through a single API, reducing complexity and accelerating time-to-market. As Braid’s connectivity partner, we support their next phase of growth. With access to more than 600 networks across 200+ countries and a dedicated team focused on maintaining the quality of this global footprint, we provide the reach, expertise and reliability Braid needs to grow. Together we can offer enterprise customers a seamless and outstanding connectivity experience worldwide.”

Uthish Ranjan, Partner at Octopus Ventures, adds: “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 and has the team, technology and ambition to become the default infrastructure layer for businesses delivering connectivity to their customers.”

The new funds will be used to accelerate international expansion, deepen Braid’s carrier network, and continue building the infrastructure to further increase its market share in embedded connectivity - a sector that is drawing significant capital and attention.

About Braid

Braid (formerly Next Communications) is a platform that lets enterprises offer branded mobile connectivity. Through a single API connected to 600+ carriers across 200+ countries, brands embed SIM and eSIM connectivity directly into their own products, or launch a fully branded storefront with no engineering required, without becoming a telecoms operator.

Launched in 2023 and headquartered in The Hague, Braid is built for enterprises only and serves close to 90 customers, including major global fintech and travel brands. Braid is backed by Octopus Ventures and KPN Ventures.