fluke
Fluke is a full-digital mobile operator based in São Carlos, Brazil, offering customizable and ready-made mobile plans with a focus on flexibility and customer experience.
Company Background and History
Fluke, formerly known as Fluke, operates as a full-digital mobile operator based in São Carlos, SP, Brazil. With a team of 43 and active participation in Y Combinator's Summer 2021 batch, Fluke focuses on providing flexible mobile services primarily in Brazil and Latin America. The company leverages infrastructure rented from incumbent carriers like Telecall and Vivo to ensure nationwide coverage. Their innovative approach has earned them recognition from various notable publications including TechCrunch and Exame.
Products and Mobile Plans
Fluke offers two types of mobile plans: ready-made and customizable. Ready-made plans cater to users with consistent monthly usage, providing packages that range from 5GB to 50GB of data, starting at R$37.00. Customizable plans are ideal for users with smaller or irregular consumption patterns, allowing them to select the exact amount of data, minutes, and SMS they need. Prices for customizable plans start at R$4.25 for 0.5GB, R$2.99 for 30 minutes of calls, and R$0.99 for 10 SMS. These plans include a monthly subscription fee of R$9.00, ensuring that unused resources do not expire after 30 days. Notably, all plans offer unlimited WhatsApp usage for texts, audio, photos, and videos, but not for voice and video calls.
Customer Service and Flexibility
Fluke emphasizes digital and humanized customer service, promising assistance without the use of automated robots. Customers can switch plans without the need for a contract and transfer their existing phone numbers without contacting their previous carriers. The company takes pride in offering freedom from telemarketing calls and ensures flexibility in payment methods, accepting credit cards (Elo, Mastercard, Visa, Hipercard) and Pix. They do not deliver SIM cards to certain DDDs in the Centro-Oeste, Nordeste, and Norte regions, but plan to make their service available internationally in the future.
Recognition and Media Highlights
Fluke has been featured in several prominent publications. They were profiled by TechCrunch during Y Combinator's Summer 2021 Demo Day and highlighted by Estadão for raising funding and initiating national expansion. Exame included them in the '50 Startups that Change Brazil', while Projeto Draft focused on their mission to attract customers dissatisfied with traditional mobile carriers. NeoFeed discussed their fintech-inspired approach to mobile telephony, and Folha de S.Paulo reported on their R$4.6 million funding round and operation without a call center. Additionally, Valor Econômico covered Fluke's origins, detailing its launch by students and subsequent angel investor interest.
Network and Coverage
Fluke provides nationwide network coverage in Brazil through partnerships with Telecall and Vivo. Customers can check specific signal strength in their region via a coverage map. The company operates with the assertion that their customer acquisition cost (CAC) is 50% lower and lifetime value (LTV) is 30% higher compared to traditional carriers. Though they do not currently offer e-SIM services, they have plans to introduce them in the future. Fluke's no-strings-attached approach means customers can enjoy mobile services without the constraints of long-term contracts.