Singapore-based mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Circles.Life has secured a funding round led by EDBI, the investment arm of Singapore’s Economic Development Board (EDB), as well as by Silicon Valley-based Founders Fund.
The participation of Founders Fund also marks the first telco investment for the Silicon Valley investor. Founded in 2005, Founders Fund was set up by notable tech pioneers like Peter Thiel and is one of the early investors in Facebook and SpaceX.
This funding comes just four months after Circles.Life raised an undisclosed Series C round (reportedly to the tune of US$50 million) from Sequoia India.
The company plans to use the newly acquired funds to hire more tech talent to build a tech hub in Singapore to support its expansion plans.
Circles.Life said that it intends to expand the Singapore engineering team by 50 percent by the end the year as it looks to continue developing personalized digital services built on its Circles-X platform in Singapore and beyond.
With support from EDBI, Circles.Life aims to align itself with the nation’s ambition to make the smart nation a reality. As a strategic investor, EDBI looks forward to supporting Circles.Life in its next phase of growth to be a regional champion, leveraging Singapore as their springboard.