Rebtel
 | |
| Stable release | |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Android, iOS, Windows Phone, Microsoft Windows |
| Available in | English, French, Spanish, Arabic |
| Type | International Calling |
| Website | www.rebtel.com |
Rebtel is a Swedish calling company founded in 2006 by Hjalmar Winbladh and Jonas Lindroth. Its services include international calling, messaging and mobile money delivered in apps for Android, iPhone and Windows Phone.
History
Rebtel’s founder, Hjalmar Winbladh, co-founded and spent 7 years as President and CEO of Sendit AB, taking the firm public before it was acquired by Microsoft for $127.5 million.[1] Rebtel appointed Andreas Bernström, formerly COO of TradeDoubler, as CEO in September 2009. As of December 2013, the company has 75 employees and over 25 million users worldwide.[2] Its revenue was US$ 95 million in 2013.
Products & Services
Rebtel
Rebtel allows its users to make low-cost or free[3] international calls using its smartphone apps or landlines. Rebtel works on any phone without installing software or an internet connection.
SDK
Rebtel launched an SDK in September 2012, allowing independent developers to integrate voice calling and instant messaging in their apps.[4] The Rebtel SDK currently supports app-to-app communication over data, such as 3G or Wi-Fi and uses the same backend as Rebtel’s own apps. Developers can decide how to handle user management, ringtones, calling screens and other aspects of the user experience.
Sendly
In December 2013, Rebtel launched Sendly, a new app that lets users top up the prepaid mobile phones of friends and family abroad.[5]
Change of "logo"
Logo of writing Rebtel is red and white and is intentionally upside down for reasons unclear (2016).
Critics
On the internet there are references to cases of fraud: trustpilot.com
Timeline
- May, 2005 Rebtel is registered by Hjalmar Winbladh and Jonas Lindroth.
- September, 2006 Rebtel raises Series A round of $20 million in external venture capital financing from Index Ventures and Balderton Capital.[6]
- October, 2009 Rebtel launches its iPhone app after a nine-month approval process with Apple Inc..[7]
- June, 2010 Rebtel reports a 100% jump in revenue over the previous year, increasing revenue from $8 million to $16 million. The service also logs its one billionth minute in international calls.[8]
- January, 2011 Rebtel reports 9 million users, revenues of more than $40 million in 2011 and a revenue run-rate projected to hit $75 million by the end of year.[9]
- November, 2011 Rebtel is awarded the Swedish Innovation Award. Previous winners include music streaming service Spotify. "The Innovation Award 2011" (Press release). AF Consult. November 28, 2011.
- September 2012 Rebtel releases its SDK, allowing developers to integrate voice calling into their apps.[10]
- December 2012, Rebtel reports revenues of $80 million and 20 million users.[11]
- December 2013, Rebtel launches Sendly, a new service for transferring prepaid mobile credit internationally. Rebtel reports revenues of $95 million and 23 million users.[5]
See also
References
- ↑ "Microsoft Announces Offer To Acquire Sweden's Sendit". The Wall Street Journal. May 13, 1999.
- ↑ "About Us - What We Do". Rebtel. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- ↑ "Call Rates". Retrieved 2014-01-09.
- ↑ "Give your app a voice". Rebtel. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
- 1 2 Crook, Jordan. "Rebtel Launches Sendly, A Money Transfer App For Topping Up Pre-Paid Phones". Tech Crunch. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ↑ "Rebtel Snags $20M First Round". Red Herring. September 25, 2006. Retrieved 8 December 2009.
- ↑ "Apple Gives Green Light To Mobile VoIP iPhone App From Rebtel" (Press release). Rebtel. October 21, 2009.
- ↑ "Rebtel Makes International Calling Free With New Android App" (Press release). Rebtel. June 24, 2010.
- ↑ "Rebtel Aims at Skype With Free International Calling on BlackBerry" (Press release). GigaOm. January 14, 2011.
- ↑ Lunden, Ingrid. "Rebtel Takes On Twilio, Launches Free VoIP SDK For iOS And Android App Makers". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 April 2014.
- ↑ Lunden, Ingrid. "Nipping At The Heels Of Skype, VoIP Provider Rebtel Passes 20M Users, $80M In Sales And A 2-Year Streak In The Black". TechCrunch. Retrieved 19 December 2012.