Dutch Telecom Innovator Braid Secures $38 Million to Expand Global Network Access

2026-10-29 data

Amsterdam, Thursday, 29 October 2026.
Profitable since its 2023 inception, The Hague-based startup Braid raised $38 million to help global enterprises seamlessly integrate mobile network services without navigating legacy telecom infrastructure complexity.

Capitalizing on Telecom Dematerialization

The Hague-based connectivity startup Braid, formerly known as Next Communications, closed its first-ever institutional funding round on October 29, 2026, securing $38 million (€34.13 million) in Series A equity capital [1][3][4][7]. The transaction was led by London-based venture capital firm Octopus Ventures, alongside participation from KPN Ventures, the venture capital division of Dutch telecommunications operator KPN [1][4]. The startup has operated profitably and remained cash-flow positive since its establishment in 2023, funding its foundational development organically prior to taking outside institutional support [1][2][4][7].

Transforming Network Delivery via Software Infrastructure

Braid functions as an abstraction layer across global telecommunications, tackling the operational and financial hurdles that have historically made deploying mobile networks expensive and slow [1][3]. Co-founded in The Hague by Chief Executive Officer Jignesh Dave, Vishal Dave, and former Citi MEA and Flutterwave Chief Financial Officer Mitesh Popat, the company emerged directly from personal operational friction [1][5]. Prior to establishing Braid, Jignesh Dave worked in commercial banking across South Africa and the United Kingdom—including Lloyds—and ran an independent mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) for seven years [3][5][7]. In that venture, launching his very first SIM card required an initial investment of €500,000 and 18 months of bureaucratic integration [1][3].

How Braid’s Integration Platform Functions

Braid replaces fragmented legacy negotiations by orchestrating access to more than 600 telecommunications carrier networks spanning upwards of 200 countries via a unified API and software development kit (SDK) [1][3]. Supported by KPN Wholesale as an infrastructure partner for global sponsored roaming, the architecture permits commercial enterprises to bypass the regulatory overhead of becoming registered carriers [3][5]. Instead, client businesses can conduct full live trials in 3 minutes or launch a customized, brand-led digital storefront offering physical SIM and eSIM services in one week [1][3][7].

Enterprise Traction and Strategic Market Tailwinds

The operational efficiency unlocked by software-driven connectivity has attracted nearly 90 enterprise customers across the travel, financial technology, sports club, community, and telecommunications sectors [1][3][5]. Embedded connectivity provides tangible defensive and commercial utility: digital enterprises such as airlines and banking applications avoid transaction drop-offs and lost revenues when traveling customers experience service interruptions [5][6]. Braid plans to allocate the $38 million Series A proceeds toward accelerating international footprint growth across India, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, deepening its underlying carrier network integrations, and scaling engineering resources to expand its presence within the embedded mobile ecosystem [1][5][7].

The Maturing Global eSIM Landscape

Braid’s capital injection aligns with broader institutional migration toward embedded connectivity infrastructure [6]. Market researchers at Counterpoint Research project that over 9 billion devices equipped with eSIM and related technologies will ship between 2024 and 2030, eventually accounting for nearly 70% of all global cellular hardware shipments by 2030 [5]. This shift has accelerated corporate adoption and venture deployment across Europe, highlighted by digital bank Monzo entering the consumer eSIM ecosystem in August 2025 and competitor Roamless raising a $12 million Series A round in December 2025 [5][6]. Following consumer-facing scale-ups like Airalo, which achieved a $1 billion valuation after raising nearly $287 million and registering 20 million users by July 2025, enterprise infrastructure providers like Braid demonstrate that connectivity is shifting from a peripheral travel utility into mission-critical corporate infrastructure [5][6].

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Venture capital Telecom infrastructure