Nothing, the young consumer tech startup headquartered in London has confirmed its plans to launch a new smartphone – the Nothing phone (1). This is the brand’s, first and most highly anticipated smartphone product. The phone (1) is the second product to be launched by the company that focuses on an iconic design and seamless connectivity.
At the Nothing (event): The Truth, the brand just showcased its product roadmap. This includes the phone (1), which is slated for launch in the coming months and its proprietary operating system Nothing OS.
$10M investment
The London startup has also announced a $10 million allocation for the upcoming equity-based community investment round, which will keep the valuation the same as the Series B round from EQT Ventures and C Ventures. This comes after the company picked up $1.5 million in its first community investment round last year in a record-smashing time of 54 seconds.
The investors have access to the private community of Nothing through which they will get exclusive benefits and insights into the company. Also, pre-registration for the easy access is also open. This upcoming community investment round will be live on April 5.
Earlier this month, Nothing nabbed $70 million in Series B funding, which took the total funding raised by Nothing to date to $144 million. The proceeds of this round will be used towards scaling its product ecosystem and establishing its London Design Hub and creating new product categories with Qualcomm Technologies and its Snapdragon platform.
“Having raised $144M, built a team of over 300 people and secured support from trusted partners like Qualcomm Technologies, Inc, we are ready for phone (1) to mark the start of change for the sleepy smartphone market,” said Carl Pei. “We are also doing a new $10M round of community investment, so that our supporters get the chance to be part of our journey going head to head against the giants of the industry.”
Upcoming Nothing products
As a result of the partner with Qualcomm, the Nothing phone (1) will use the Snapdragon mobile platform. This smartphone will run Nothing OS, which is built on an open and seamless ecosystem that will effortlessly connect and integrate Nothing products and products from other world-leading brands.
As per the company, Nothing OS captures the best features of pure Android, distilling the operating system to just the essentials, where every byte has a purpose. It is designed to deliver a fast, smooth and personal experience. A coherent interface, the hardware seamlessly integrates with software through bespoke fonts, colours, graphical elements and sounds.
The first preview of Nothing OS will be available via its launcher that will be available to download on select smartphone models from April.
It remains to be seen if this smartphone will be a flagship killer that will beat the Apple and Samsung heavyweights. The company will reveal further details about phone (1) in the coming months.
Brainchild of OnePlus co-founder!
Nothing is the brainchild of the former OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei. He left the smartphone maker to launch his own venture in 2020. It envisions a world without barriers between people and technology. Nothing released its first product, ear (1), carbon-neutral true wireless earbuds in August 2021, shipping over 400,000 units.
The truly wireless earbuds combine refined design with precise engineering and active noise cancellation for a pure sound experience. It is the first device in the company’s line of connected tech products.
