Broadband ISP Cuckoo Raises GBP4.3 Million in Extra UK Funding

Cuckoo, which only launched last summer and is thus still a relatively new broadband ISP in the UK, has just completed a fresh funding round – led by RTP Global with participation from JamJar Investments – that saw them raise £4.3 million in order to help fuel their future growth.

At present the provider is still a fairly small operation and its team consists of just 11 people, although they expect to double that by the end of 2021. Cuckoo also boasts of having a 250% growth rate so far in 2021, although they’ve only been in the market for a short period of time and so will be starting from a very low base (no customer figures are stated). The latest company accounts can be found here.

The company’s founder and CEO, Alexander Fitzgerald, told UKTN: “We’re growing quickly through word of mouth and referrals. People have grown sick of their broadband company during lockdown! We’ve even had one customer receive almost £400 in cash so far this year from referring their friends to Cuckoo.”

Unusually the provider is currently only offering a single package based off Openreach’s Fibre-to-the-Cabinet (FTTC) technology and the 80Mbps (20Mbps upload) tier, which is promoted as offering average download speeds of 67Mbps on a monthly (rolling) term for £29.99 per month (plus a £60 one-off setup fee) – with a free router and included phone line rental (standard call charges).

In today’s market of gigabit-speeds and full fibre, where most new entrants are also building their own infrastructure, that package already runs the risk of looking a bit dated. But it is at least reasonably priced for that particular FTTC tier, especially when you consider that this is their standard pricing and not a discounted rate (note: they do state that prices may still rise with inflation).

Cuckoo also differentiates itself by taking 1% of each bill and using it to help spread internet connectivity into challenging places, such as conflict zones, natural disaster sites and developing communities (customers choose the project).