Caught the Spirit
Digital Republic Proves Purposefulness and Grows Significantly
About three years after entering the market, we can look back on considerable achievements with Digital Republic: 325% growth in revenue compared to the previous year, cooperations with almost 100 partners, active SIM cards in the five-digit range, business customers in the four-digit range. As a young mobile operator, we are focusing on digitality and flexibility – our plan seems to be working.
How It All Began
When we, Ali and Marco, the two founders of Digital Republic, met at our former employer – a large Swiss telecommunications provider – we had little idea of the scale that our initially vague idea would take on. On a daily basis, we experienced how the traditional telecommunications industry with its existing systems and inflexible structures was coming up against its limits. Historically grown product ranges made it increasingly difficult for customers to keep track of the overwhelming abundance and to decide on the right product. This led from special offers to bundles to lock-ins and thus from hidden costs to intransparency to negative customer experiences.
Our own dissatisfaction with this situation for customers gave rise to our motivation to tackle things ourselves. Why not meet the customer need for a simple and customizable product with our own solution?
No sooner said than done: we made plans, sketched out the first ideas and developed prototypes. IoT-compatible SIM cards, handled 100% digitally, as simple as Netflix – this was soon to become reality and be given a name. In 2018, we succeeded in entering the market with Digitec Galaxus as our first customer, which offered its customers our SIM cards under its brand, in the so-called white label. The sale of SIM cards for mobile data under our own name was not long in coming.
From Zero to One
Although the offer was well received, we quickly realized that the journey would not stop with SIM cards for mobile data. With the goal of delivering smart solutions for the Internet of Things and telecommunications, we continued to develop Digital Republic.
We demonstrated our pioneering spirit by becoming the first mobile provider in Switzerland to offer an API connectionand make it available to business customers with as little as one SIM card. With the introduction of eSIM in September 2020, Digital Republic is digitizing the entire customer journey and is one of the first MVNOs to offer its mobile tariffs as eSIM as well. In spring 2021, the products were expanded to include 5G and the voice option for telephony and SMS. With this step, we have developed Digital Republic into a full-fledged mobile provider in Switzerland, where customers can find the right offer for all their mobile needs – without hidden costs and without a contract. Recently, it has even become possible to pay with cryptocurrencies.
Into the Future With Strong Growth
This innovative strength is clearly reflected in the figures: already in the first half of 2021, Digital Republic is growing by 325% compared to the same period of the previous year. “Our growth confirms that we have caught the spirit with our flexible offers – with private customers as well as business customers,” we acknowledged in the Startup Ticker. With Digital Republic, we are proud to have created an offering that not only provides more flexibility and transparency for private customers as a classic connectivity solution, but is also attractive to business customers from the fields of smart farming, gastronomy, the hotel industry, logistics and many more as an IoT application.
Our plan to unleash ourselves from old structures and introduce progressive offerings seems to be paying off.
With the same motivation as at the beginning, we will continue to develop Digital Republic and even shift it up a gear. We are no longer just the two of us, but can count on a powerful team and exceptional partners who will join us in seeing the mobile market in Switzerland off, making it more transparent and digital.
We would like to thank all our customers who placed their trust in us and Digital Republic early on and took the first steps with us. At the same time we ask you: Fasten your seatbelts, hold on tight, Digital Republic has just started.
Ali and Marco
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