SurgePays, Inc.

SurgePays, Inc.

SurgePays, Inc. is a fintech and telecommunications company founded in 2017 and based in Bartow, Florida. The firm operates as a technology platform targeting underbanked and unbanked populations, offering prepaid wireless service through its SurgePhone Unlimited brand, cashless payment systems through SurgePay, and point-of-sale financial products distributed via convenience stores and independent retailers. The company also owns Torch Wireless, a Lifeline-subsidized wireless provider, and went public via a reverse merger in 2019, trading on the Nasdaq under the ticker SURG. SurgePays' strategy centers on a technology-enabled distribution network: its platform integrates with over 10,000 convenience stores across the United States, enabling these locations to offer prepaid wireless SIMs, reloadable Mastercard cards, mobile top-ups, and bill-pay kiosks. The company's key asset is its MVNO agreement with T-Mobile, which provides the underlying network infrastructure for SurgePhone Unlimited. Torch Wireless addresses the Lifeline government-subsidy market, where SurgePays estimates it serves hundreds of thousands of subscribers. The firm also provides a white-label digital wallet and payment processing system for retailers. SurgePays has grown primarily via acquisitions. In 2021, it acquired Fumse, LLC, a fintech platform for prepaid cards, and in 2022 it purchased Torch Wireless. As of late 2024, the company reported approximately $130 million in annual revenue and operates with around 100 employees. The firm does not manage assets on behalf of external families or institutional investors; it is a publicly traded operating company. Unlike traditional asset managers or family offices, SurgePays is a publicly traded technology company with a defined revenue model and shareholder base. Its structural differentiator is its dual-market approach: simultaneously serving both the prepaid consumer market and the Lifeline government-subsidy segment while piggybacking on third-party network infrastructure (T-Mobile) and leveraging a nation-wide third-party retailer distribution network. This asset-light, platform-based model allows scalable distribution without significant capital investment in network buildout.