NZ telco startup raises $7m for mobile focus

A New Zealand startup that wants to eliminate desk phones in favour of mobile set-ups has set its sights on the Australian and United States markets after closing a A$6.7 million (NZ$7m) series A raise.

Spoke Phone co-founder Jason Kerr said the company was born from the realisation that, while managing a range of businesses across his career, he rarely used a landline phone despite paying handsomely to have one.

‘‘We would spend all this money on this stupid thing that I would never use,’’ he said.

Spoke Phone, which Kerr cofounded with Kieron Lawson, offers businesses secure phone services, with built-in caller menus and features like conferencing but without the need for any fixed-line desk units. The A$6.7m raise, led by Australian firm Marbruck Investments, brings the company’s total fundraising to date to A$11m and smooths the path for a US launch later this year, as well as a formal rollout in Australia.

Spoke will look to gain an Australian foothold just as local telco and business IT challengers are expanding. For example, small business-focused Readiitel raised A$390,000 from the crowd on Equitise in 2019.

Kerr said he was aware competition was fierce in Australia but noted that Spoke Phone was looking to grow by focusing only on mobilefirst businesses.

‘‘We often tell customers: if you don’t have a use case we can add value to, buy something cheaper,’’ he said.

While Spoke is targeting an increasingly mobile workforce, the founders say the final death knell for the landline is still some time off.

Billions of dollars of desk phone units and systems are sold to businesses each year, Kerr noted, even though most of these lack the functionality most workers expect from their devices. ‘‘They are literally just pieces of plastic,’’ he said.

The business currently has 5000 global users and, with plans starting at A$19 a month per user, has revenue of more than A$1m.

– Sydney Morning Herald