LONDON, July 10 (Reuters) - European private equity firm

CVC led a $220-million funding round in Singaporean

travel technology specialist Airalo, valuing the business at

more than $1 billion, the companies said on Thursday.

CVC, which has 202 billion euros ($236.52 billion) of assets

under management, invested $185 million in the new round, with

existing backers Peak XV and Antler Elevate also participating,

the companies said in a statement.

Founded in 2019, Airalo provides a technology known as eSIM

that allows consumers to switch wireless providers without

inserting a new physical SIM card. It has more than 20 million

customers across 200 countries.

The company said the new funding will go towards improving

the customer experience, including enhanced user support and new

products.

"This raise allows us to drive innovation across every part of

the user journey by delivering more flexible plans and a faster,

more seamless experience," Airalo's CEO and co-founder Ahmet

Bahadir Ozdemir said. The company describes itself as the

world's first and largest eSIM provider.

Siddharth Patel, managing partner at CVC, said the digital

travel eSIM market, worth $1 billion, "is at the very early

stages of becoming the main method by which consumers can

receive the highest quality experience abroad, at a much lower

price than they pay for roaming today."

CVC is making the investment through its Asia Fund VI.

European telecom groups Telefonica Open Innovation, Orange

Ventures and Liberty Global Ventures are among other investors

in Airalo.

($1 = 0.8540 euros)