FinTech brand Raylo raises over £8m Series A equity

Raylo offers a subscription model for smartphones, allowing people to lease for less thana the RRP over a 12 or 24-month period

Tech brand Raylo has raised a further $11.5 million of Series A equity. This latest funding round was led by Octopus Ventures, the backer of Cazoo, Depop and BoughtByMany.

This takes the total amount of equity and debt raised by Raylo to $40 million. Other key investors include Macquarie Group, Guy Johnson of Carphone Warehouse and the co-founders of Funding Circle.

Raylo offers a subscription model for smartphones, allowing people to lease for less than the RRP over a 12 or 24-month period. At the end of the lease the customer can upgrade to a new smartphone and then simply return the old one.

An early investor from Octopus Ventures, Tosin Agbabiaka said: The subscription economy is rapidly transforming the way we access products and services – yet the smartphone, an individual’s most valuable device, is still locked behind a bundled, ownership-based model.

“This means most people are trapped in a buy-and-dispose cycle, with a steep financial and environmental costs.

“Raylo solves these problems by offering access to premium consumer devices at lower, subscription-based prices, helping to widen access to the latest technology.

“By repurposing its devices at the end of their cycle, Raylo is also the sustainable choice in this market and has built a product loved by its customers – the opportunity here is massive, and we believe that Karl, Richard, and Jinden have the vision and depth of expertise to transform the way we all access our devices.”

Raylo co-founder and CEO Karl Gilbert said: “Raylo is the technology powering a world where fewer consumer devices are manufactured and those that are get an extended life through our managed cycle of refurb, reuse and recycle. We are delighted that Octopus Ventures share our vision and are supporting us at this important stage of our growth.”