Ericsson invests in LotusFlare

Ericsson closed a minority equity investment in LotusFlare and took a stake intended to support LotusFlare’s DNO Cloud and Nomad eSIM products while extending Application Programming Interface (API) exposure and network monetization capabilities.

The companies described plans to accelerate development and commercial deployment of AI-powered software solutions in the telecommunications industry and to create a global network API ecosystem; Kickstart Ventures also participated in the financing round.

LotusFlare presented two integrated product lines: DNO Cloud, an AI-powered digital commerce and monetization platform that serves communications service providers across consumer, enterprise and wholesale lines and that powers API marketplaces, mobile, broadband and converged brands as well as MVNE/O platforms; and Nomad eSIM, a global connectivity product offering data plans in over 200 destinations.

The announcement noted that Ericsson’s investment complemented its end-to-end solutions to communications service providers by supporting the exposure and monetization of network APIs, and that LotusFlare’s DNO Cloud offering would provide network abstraction and external network exposure, including consent management, for network APIs. Gunderson Dettmer served as legal counsel to LotusFlare led by partner Bennett Yee.

“LotusFlare has consistently shown that it can build and deploy world-class products in ways that can move the needle for mobile operators like our LP, Globe Telecom. Our investment reflects our conviction in their strong performance and continuous strategic relevance. We believe this latest round led by Ericsson makes the opportunity even more compelling for us and positions LotusFlare for a strong next chapter,” said Kickstart Ventures Managing Partner and Co-founder Dan Siazon.

The companies planned to explore opportunities related to network asset monetization and API exposure, and LotusFlare said it would expand its global presence, accelerate development of AI-ready solutions that reduce cost and complexity, and deliver platforms for communications service providers.