LONDON, UK — UK tech repairs specialist iSmash announced yesterday it has finalized a new investment round, led by Telus Ventures, to accelerate its nationwide expansion across the UK.
Telus Ventures is Telus Corp.’s strategic investment arm. The amount of the investment was not disclosed.
iSmash says it will use the investment to develop its service channels, which includes the UK-wide rollout of walk-in service centres offering express repairs of smartphones, tablets and computers.
Telus already owns Canadian smartphone/tablet repair company Mobile Klinik, which it purchased in July 2020.
According to a press release, iSmash and Mobile Klinik “will collaborate on opportunities to improve the customer experience, develop innovative propositions, and help both businesses grow.”
“We look for opportunities to back companies and management teams that bring new value to the telecom ecosystem — both in Canada and internationally,” said Mario Mele, vice-president of corporate strategy at Telus Ventures, in the press release.
“Recognising the critical role of the device-repair experience in overall customer satisfaction and with the significant success since the acquisition of Mobile Klinik in 2020, iSmash presents us with an excellent value-creation opportunity allowing us to improve the customer experience and move into the international tech repair space,” Mele added.
iSmash’s announcement today follows a previous investment from Sky, which supported the opening of five new iSmash service centres in 2020, co-located within Sky shops.
Founded by entrepreneur Julian Shovlin in 2013, iSmash now has 33 service centres across the UK, including in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Cardiff and Glasgow.
The company plans to use this most recent investment to open 20 new service centres in 2022 and to further develop its direct channels and enhance its existing business, including opening a new distribution facility and central service centre, creating 75 new jobs nationwide, according to the press release.
“We’re incredibly pleased with this new investment which provides growth capital to accelerate our expansion. The opportunity to collaborate closely with Mobile Klinik, alongside our existing partner Sky, will help us cement our position as the leading solution to your everyday tech problems, be that through repairing, replacing or protecting devices,” said Shovlin, who is also managing director of iSmash.
“The Mobile Klinik management team has long admired iSmash’s innovative approach to tech repair in the UK market,” said Mobile Klinik CEO Tim McGuire.
“We are delighted at the opportunity to work with the iSmash team to identify opportunities to jointly share best practices, test and expand new opportunities, and capture synergies across both businesses to fuel even faster growth in both the UK and Canada.”
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