Nothing, a young consumer tech company headquartered in London has announced that it has nabbed $70 million in the Series B funding round. The investment round was co-led by EQT Ventures (that invested in Dott and Wandelbots) and C Ventures. Also, it involves participation from follow-on investors GV and Tony Fadell’s Future Shape.
The new investment brings the total funding raised by Nothing to date to $144M. It includes the $1.5 million funding it secured from its first community investment round, which broke a record for the fastest $1 million raise. Prior to the fresh round, the company completed its Series A funding round by raising an extension of $50 million in October last year.
Funds utilisation
The proceeds of this round will be used towards scaling its product ecosystem and establishing its London Design Hub. The funding will be used to create new product categories in partnership with Qualcomm Technologies and its Snapdragon platform, and grow operations at its new London Design Hub, led by ex-Dyson Head of Design Adam Bates.
Further, Nothing made announcements about its 2022 roadmap, including a new community investment round that will be made at the Nothing (event): The Truth on March 23, 2022 at 2 PM GMT. The virtual event will let attendees based on RSVP.
“With this round of financing, we have the fuel to realise the next phase of our vision of a seamless digital future,” said Carl Pei, Nothing CEO and Co-founder. “I’m grateful for the support from our community and investors. Our first year was a warmup, and we can’t wait to reveal what we’re building at Nothing during the upcoming event. We’re delighted to be backing Nothing in this new funding round.”
“We are proud to back a young entrepreneur like Carl, who shares our vision of engaging next generation customers with an artistic approach,” said Adrian Cheng, C Ventures Founder and CEO of New World Development. “We are excited to support Nothing’s mission to break the hegemony of consumer tech giants and embark on an ambitious journey to challenge the status quo.”
Former OnePlus founder’s brainchild
Nothing is the brainchild of the former OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei. After seven years of being with OnePlus, Pei 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. It is the first step in a promised series of seamlessly connected products, defined by iconic design. 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.
While the company is yet to reveal what future products in might release, there are speculations that we can expect it to launch a new smartphone, laptops and more. Given that it has entered into a collaboration with Qualcomm, it might mean that Nothing will use Snapdragon chips in its future devices.
Now, after launching the first pair of transparent earbuds, Pei seems to be ready to return to the industry where he gained his name. Recently, it was hinted that the company is tipped to be working on a smartphone for over a year and it could be launched next month. The details about this smartphone are thin for now but it could share a similar design language as the Nothing Ear (1) by having elements of transparency.
