Y Combinator-backed Devyce dials up $2.7 million

London-based digital telco startup Devyce has raised $2.7 million in a seed funding round. The company plans to use the investment to spur on its ambition to create a global mobile network for business using its own mobile network. 

The round is led by Y Combinator alongside Garage Capital and FoundersX Ventures. John Kim, founder & CEO of Sendbird, and Ryan Chan, founder and CEO of UpKeep also participated in the round.

Hands in the air if you’ve ever given out your personal mobile number at an event, a meeting, and/or for Whatsapp, Telegram, etc. conversions. Right. Me too.

And how many of you have had that phone ring/message come in during personal time and/or weekends, and felt the sinking feeling of “I need to take this”, when in fact, you really don’t?

My friends, we’ve come full circle now, as this is exactly why corporate numbers are provided, but alas, who amongst us really wants to carry around (much less charge) two or more phones?

Whereas a digital phone number requires neither its own SIM card or handset to operate, Devyce customers can assign phone numbers to employees that they can use on their personal handsets. 

In addition to being able to silence Devyce assigned phone numbers outside of the 9 to 6 (ok, 8 to 6, if we’re honest), the methodology significantly reduces the overhead of managing multiple work phone numbers, contracts, and handsets for employees who might be located all over the world. 

But if you’re quick to point out that call stats, staff performance analysis and AI-generated call summaries that funnel into a CRM are out the window, think again as Devyce is two steps ahead of you on this one.

But wait, can’t any number of SaaS VoIP providers do the same thing, or thereabout? Well, yes and no. At least not for business customers.

Where Devyce is angling to stand apart from the crowd is insomuch as VoIP service providers require access to a phone network operator or platform on which their services can operate. For every number they lease from that network, they pay the network a connection fee, then continue to pay for calls and messages their customers make or receive. 

In the case of Devyce, the company’s co-founders Leo Bartle and Nick Browne are majority owners of a mobile network operator. By allocating numbers from this operating network, Devyce can reduce costs for its customers by as much as 70 percent.

“Businesses are continually up against it to find cost efficiencies while creating more hybrid working environments for their people. Mobile devices, whether used for calls, messages or video meetings, are an essential tool for doing business,” explained Browne. “Devyce makes it easier and cheaper for companies to help their people make best use of the devices they already have at their disposal, wherever they are located.”