Devyce
 | |
Screenshot Devyce's portal dashboard page | |
Type of site | Telecommunications Application |
|---|---|
| Founded | January 20, 2020 in London, United Kingdom |
| Headquarters | 51 Eastcheap, London EC3M 1JP, London, United Kingdom |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Founder(s) | Leo Bartle, Edward Clayton and Nick Browne |
| Website | www |
| Current status | Active |
| Written in | Swift and Kotlin |
Devyce is a registered telecommunication software company, based in the United Kingdom, with company number 12404413...[1] Devyce offers a mobile phone application and platform that enables users with UK based mobile and landline numbers worldwide, without the need for a second phone or SIM card.
Founded by Leo Bartle, Nicolas Browne, and Edward Clayton, based in London in January 2020, towards the start of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Devyce was born as a result of a founder chatting to a client about the hassle and cost of having to purchase a second mobile handset for his company's employees. The platform targeted small and medium-sized businesses, as an alternative solution to having two handsets. Devyce's app can be accessed using internet connectivity via their app for tablets and smartphones, available via the Google Play Store for Android and App Store for iOS devices. The platform was envisioned to allow businesses to adopt a 100% cloud based phone system, which was accessible, transparent, and collaborative.
History
January 2020: Company's Foundation
Devyce Limited was founded on the 20th of January 2020, during the global COVID-19 pandemic, by co-founders, Leo Bartle, Nicolas Browne, and Edward Clayton.[2]
June 2021: Devyce's Partnership With The Youth Group
In June 2021, Devyce announced their collaboration with The Youth Group, offering free calls & texts for 100 unemployed young people, for 12 months.[3]
January 2021: Roaming Fee Introduction By Leading Providers
In 2021 major providers including EE and Vodafone introduced EU roaming fees.[4] This disproportionately affected expats and businesses. This occurred as a result of Brexit, as the UK no longer enforced the EU roaming limit, previously capping roaming, through the Roaming Regulation act of 2017. Devyce was, therefore, able to target these terminated customers, some of which had previously had their contracts terminated.[5]
2021-2022: Devyce Featured on Waverton Investment Management's Podcast - Why Invest?
During Devyce's Mid-2021 venture capital and angel investment round the company was featured on Why Invest? a podcast by Waverton Investment Management which broke down the investment potential of the organisation, featuring co-founders Nick Browne and Ed Clayton.[6]
June 2022: Y Combinator Backs Devyce
In June 2022 Y Combinator invested in Devyce, as part of Y Combinator's summer 2022 cohort. Y Combinator is an American technology startup accelerator launched in March 2005. It has been used to launch more than 3,000 companies, with a 1.5-2% acceptance rate, having launched Stripe, Airbnb, Cruise, PagerDuty, DoorDash, Coinbase, Instacart, Dropbox, Twitch, and Reddit.[7] Soon after announcing Y Combinator's backing Devyce moved the company to the US, in order for it to raise additional funding in the US. In an interview with The Guardian co-founder Nick Browne elaborated on the reasoning behind this move "We struggled to get seed funding in the UK and had numerous long meetings with UK venture capital financiers before receiving some offers on harsh terms. In the end, we had to move the company to the US, where we got $500,000 from an accelerator off the back of a 10-minute call. We’ve now got about 30 conversations lined up with US investors."[8]
Corporate Affairs
Brexit and The Reintroduction of EU Roaming Fees
Between 2017 and the end of 2020, UK based mobile provider's consumers were able to use the minutes, texts and data included on their phone tariffs, when travelling in the EU, as a result of the 2016 Roaming Regulation. However, as a result of Britain's exit from the European Union on the 31st January 2020 this legislation became inapplicable to UK providers, therefore, resulting in the reintroduction of EU roaming charges for UK numbers.[9] Therefore, during early September major providers including Three, EE and Vodafone announced plans to reintroduce EU roaming fees for existing customers. Devyce's exposure was then boosted through features in news outlets; The Connexion,[10] Olive Press[11] and other news publications as recommended alternative solutions to roaming.
As a result Devyce launched Xpatfone, a brand that could target affected users, with unlimited roaming for expats living abroad with UK numbers. This saw the release of their 'Brexit Buster' plan which targeted expats living in New Zealand, Spain, France, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece, Germany, Australia, and Thailand. According to Spain's largest expat newspaper OlivePress "Xpatfone customers feel carefree relying on a once a month payment. with no unexpected charges of fees, to connect them to the UK."[12] this led to drastic growth in the number of customers using Devyce. Similarly, the Express warned of 'increasing roaming prices', advising consumers to move to Devyce.[13]
Ofcom Blocks Foreign Virtual UK Numbers
In late October 2021 Ofcom reached out to major UK mobile providers requesting networks block foreign UK virtual numbers,[14] with the aim to reduce the number of scam calls from abroad. This was following research by Ofcom which found that over 45 million people were targeted by scam texts and calls over the Summer of 2021.[15] Devyce was able to continue to operate, unaffected by these changes due to the UK origin of their numbers, powered by Stour Marine, their mobile network operator. As a result, Devyce was able to continue operating, whilst the foreign VoIP market was potentially restricted.
Seed Funding Round
As of late February 2023 Devyce announced the closure of their seed funding round, having secured £2.2m,[16] led by their lead investor; Y Combinator alongside Garage Capital. Having expanded their client base across 100 countries worldwide, with over 5,000 customers, reportedly Devyce’s monthly recurring revenue grew by 144 per cent in 2022.[17]
References
- ↑ "Devyce Limited". Companies House. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- ↑ "Management Team". Devyce. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
- ↑ "Free Calls & Texts for 100 Unemployed Young People for 12 months". The Youth Group. June 21, 2021. Archived from the original on August 19, 2021. Retrieved August 19, 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Nixon, George. "EU roaming charges for Vodafone and EE are back — but don't fret". The Times. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
- ↑ Hutton, Georgina (August 19, 2021). "End of Brexit transition: mobile roaming". House of Commons Library. UK Parliament. Retrieved August 19, 2021.
- ↑ Nick Browne and Ed Clayton: Co-Founders of Devyce, 2021-10-22, retrieved 2021-11-10
- ↑ "Devyce: The hybrid phone system for the future of work". Y Combinator. Retrieved 17 June 2022.
- ↑ "Devyce: 'Raising money is difficult': British startups finding it harder to access funding". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
- ↑ "Mobile roaming charges in Europe: What you need to know". BBC News. 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ↑ "Telecom firms tighten rules on UK mobiles and EU roaming". The Connexion. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- ↑ "How Can I Avoid New Roaming Fees in 2022?". The Olive Press. Retrieved 23 March 2022.
- ↑ Reporter, Staff (2021-10-22). "Worried about the reintroduction of mobile phone data roaming fees in Spain and the EU?". Olive Press News Spain. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ↑ BLAZQUEZ, ANDREA (2021-09-22). "Expat warns of 'increasing' roaming phone charges and risk of being 'disconnected' abroad". Express.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ↑ "Ofcom asks phone networks to block foreign scam calls". BBC News. 2021-10-25. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ↑ "45 million people targeted by scam calls and texts". Ofcom. 2021-10-20. Retrieved 2021-11-10.
- ↑ Allen, Patricia (2023-02-28). "London-based Devyce lands €2.5 million to build global mobile network for businesses". EU-Startups. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
- ↑ "Y Combinator backs telecoms startup Devyce in £2.2m seed round". UKTN | UK Tech News. 2023-02-28. Retrieved 2023-03-20.
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