Berlin-based phone-as-a-service provider ‘everphone’ announced that it has raised $200M (approx €177M) in a funding round led by Cadence Growth Capital (CGC). Deutsche Telekom, AlleyCorp, and signals Venture Capital also invested in the round.
Robin Cresswell, Head of Direct Lending DACH, Deutsche Bank, says, “As part of the circular economy, and with its aspiration to drive the digitalisation of a broad base of workers, everphone is leading the way into the future. In order to be able to provide the young Berlin-based company with sufficient capital for rapid growth, and at the same time meet the very agile phone-as-a-service model, we jointly developed a customised hybrid financing solution.”
The funding will enable everphone to up its acquisition game, product development, and the growth of the active device fleet. The company is also planning to expand its business further in Europe and the USA.
Jan Dzulko, CEO and founder at everphone, says, “The demand for our model is not only unabated, but it is also even increasing rapidly. The more companies understand that they should only use as many devices as they really need, the more we save the environment and valuable resources. My goal has always been for the circular economy to become widely accepted and we are doing our part. In short, I believe in using rather than owning.”
How everphone was born?
Former CHECK24 board member Jan Dzulko founded everphone when his smartphone’s screen cracked. He took insurance for the smartphone but it took three weeks and navigating through a lot of red tape till the insurance provider accepted the damage and replaced the device.
He realised there had to be a faster, more customer-friendly way to solve smartphone problems, and thus the everphone was born.
Phone-as-a-service
The German company’s phone-as-a-service is a circular economy model. In general, the circular economy aims to reuse the same raw materials in whole or in part in order to save finite resources.
everphone positions itself as a one-stop-shop that sources, configures, and deploys rental smartphones and tablets in a corporate context.
The company gives corporate customers the flexibility to obtain mobile and other devices, including tablets and laptops, for their workforce as necessary and needed, at any given moment. Currently, the portfolio includes devices from Apple, Samsung, Nokia, Google, and Fairphone.
Since December 2020, everphone has been an official B2B partner of Samsung Electronics’ device-as-a-service strategy in Germany. The company’s clients also include Henkel, Ernst & Young, and TIER Mobility. The company employs over 170 people in Berlin.
everphone is backed by numerous investors including Dr. Henrich Blase (founder of CHECK24), Kevin Ryan (founder of MongoDB/BusinessInsider), Cadence Growth Capital, Deutsche Telekom, and signals Venture Capital.
Investor
Cadence Growth Capital (CGC) is a growth private equity investor focused on technology-driven companies in the DACH region with strong organic and inorganic growth potential. In addition to the capital, the company also provides operational expertise and an extensive network as well.
Leonard Clemens, co-founder and Managing Partner at Cadence Growth Capital, says, “We have been accompanying everphone for years and see great potential for a successful positioning as a partner for customers from the enterprise and SME sectors in Germany, Europe, and the USA. everphone’s one-stop solution fits perfectly into our time of change enabling flexible working hours and, lately, hybrid location models. This makes everphone an enabler of New Work and, at the same time, implements sustainability with a significant contribution to the Circular Economy.”
