DHI Telecom acquires Chilean WiFi startup Trinus

Contxto – The latest Latin American startup to be acquired by a much larger entity is Trinus from Chile. The US-based DHI Telecom recently bought the company for an undisclosed amount to increase its market share of the regional mobile WiFi industry. 

In Summary 

Trinus was a Chilean telecom startup developing WiFi devices and SIM cards for corporate clients. So far, it is the third international WiFi company to join DHI’s portfolio over the past nine months due to its fast growth rate. 

“Trinus had a 116 percent growth rate over the last 12 months,” said Wallace Davis, the president of DHI Telecom. “They have more than 270 companies as clients and have over 5,000 customers. “We plan to merge the Trinus Rental WiFi business with our recent acquisitions.”

Others include TEP Wireless from the United Kingdom and Travel WiFi from France. 

In-Depth 

Since launching in October 2014, Trinus captured the public’s attention for being the first low-cost roaming telecom company in Chile. Around 67 percent of the company’s revenue derived from B2B sales while 33 percent from consumers. 

Prior to the acquisition, Trinus debuted its first voice and data roaming plan in 2015. Many of the B2B exchanges revolved around its low-cost roaming plan available to hundreds of companies across various industries in its native Chile.

With popular products such as its pre-paid international roaming SIM card, past clients reported saving up to 80 percent on international data with Trinus.

Supported by Start-Up Chile and Corfo, the startup offered 3G SIM cards over its B2B platform in the beginning. Later, it introduced WiFi devices for sale or rental over its e-commerce store, eventually upgrading to 4G devices in 2018. 

Over time, the startup also started focusing on high-tech telecommunication devices for travelers. It even boosted airport disruption in hopes of having products available in vending machines at every Latin American international airport by the end of 2019. 

-JA