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Raylo offers SIM-free iPhone 11 and 11 Pro’s from a monthly subscription price
London-based start-up Raylo has secured a new round of investment funding from Macquarie Group and Carphone Warehouse co-founder Guy Johnson.
Following on from £1.6 million of pre-seed investment in June, Raylo’s new round of investment constitutes £2.9 million.
Raylo provides SIM-free iPhone 11 and 11 Pro devices at a monthly subscription price, which it says is cheaper with a SIM-only deal than either a handset contract from an operator or buying the new phones outright and coupling them with a SIM-only deal.
Subscriptions for the Raylo products start from £25.99 for the iPhone 11 and £36.99 for the 11 Pro for 24 months.
After the subscription period expires, the iPhone devices are returned to Raylo and refurbished for recirculation back into international markets.
The phones come with 100 per cent compostable and biodegradable cases made from flax seeds, and can also come with insurance underwritten by AXA for £7.99 per month.
Raylo co-founder and CEO Karl Gilbert said: “Consumers are increasingly worried that the pace of technology innovation is quite literally costing the Earth.
“Yet none of us can really imagine a world where we would be willing to give up our mobile phones.
“Until now, they have been stuck between a rock and a hard place, either paying £1,000-plus prices for handsets or signing up to expensive bundled handset and SIM contracts with one of the networks.
“We created Raylo to give consumers the freedom and savings that come with a SIM-only network contract, combined with a simple, low monthly subscription for a SIM- free handset.”