A Boston startup that aims to let international students easily begin using their mobile phones in the U.S. has raised $1.5 million in funding.
The company is CampusTVs Inc., which began as a TV rental business for college students about four years ago. The company has since expanded into the realm of mobile service for international college students; the new funding will go toward that side of the business, which is called CampusSIMs.
The service is used by students at more than 125 universities, including Harvard, Northeastern, Stanford, the University of California at Berkeley and Georgetown, according to the company.
The CampusSIMs service works by having universities provide international students with a SIM card that they can insert into their phones. The student is assigned a phone number based on the zip code of their school, and students can choose from three monthly plans, ranging in cost from $25-$55 a month.
The company launched the mobile service after hearing from international students that “getting a phone in the U.S. is a huge pain point,” CEO Scott Pirrello said in an email.
The new funding was led by Nauta Capital, a venture firm out of Boston, London and Barcelona. CampusTVs had previously raised $2.2 million in funding.
