TelcoSwitch plans to use funding to boost channel

Unified communications (UC) specialist TelcoSwitch has indicated that it plans to use some of its first external funding to support channel growth.

The five-year-old firm has attracted £4m growth capital funding that will help underpin merger and acquisition (M&A) aspirations, staff recruitment, product development and greater support for its partner ambitions.

The firm raised £2.5m through BOOST&Co, and the remaining £1.5m through existing long-term investors.

Its recent business performance, gaining a position as the 25th fastest growing technology company in the UK, according to the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, had seen year-on-year (YoY) climbs of 45% in seats on its UC platform. The business has also doubled its YoY revenues for the past three years.

On the M&A front, the business is currently engaged in three deals and is keen to expand its portfolio and its customer base through acquisitions.

From a channel point of view, the plan is to double the office space to get to 100 staff that can support partners over the year ahead.

The timing of the funding round comes just a few weeks after the firm appointed former Maintel CEO Eddie Buxton as chairman of the board, with a view to utilising his experience in developing and implementing strategic plans to advance revenue, profitability and growth.

Russell Lux, TelcoSwitch founder and CEO, said that it had done well during 2020 and kept on delivering growth. “We’ve worked extremely hard to get to this point, and now have a hugely supportive partner in BOOST&Co to help us drive the business forward, continue acquiring other relevant businesses, and accelerate the growth of our base,” he said.

Lux has seen the business he founded grow over time, with offices throughout the UK, US, and South Africa, specialising in hosted voice, unified communication as a service (UCaaS), and compliance solutions via its CallSwitch hosted telephony platform. Plans going forward involve getting more channel partners involved with the operation, and build on the 60,000 users currently on the platform.

The firm is also expecting the hybrid working environment, which many industry observers expect to become a permanent fixture in the future, will provide opportunities to encourage customers to revisit their communications strategy.

Kim Martin, principal at BOOST&Co, said that TelcoSwitch presented the sort of business that it liked to get involved with.

“TelcoSwitch is a founder-led business with a strong, high-calibre management team. They’re focused on investing in growth, which will also lead to the creation of new jobs at a time when unemployment is on the rise.

“This deal will support the continued success of a disruptive telecoms player, while ultimately also supporting economic recovery as a whole,” he said.