OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei’s start-up raises $15 mn from Alphabet’s GV

Carl Pei’s consumer technology start-up ‘Nothing’ on Tuesday announced it has raised $15 million in Series A funding led by GV, a venture capital arm of Google’s parent Alphabet. The brand says it will use the funds to expand its team and operations, besides investing in research and development.

With GV’s investment in the kitty, Nothing has raised over $22 million to date. Pei had raised $7 million in a seed financing round for his new venture from friends and private investors, including Tony Fadell (Principal at Future Shape and inventor of the iPod), Casey Neistat (YouTuber), Kevin Lin (co-founder of Twitch). The other investors include Steve Huffman (CEO of Reddit), Liam Casey (founder and CEO, PCH), Paddy Cosgrave (founder of Web Summit) and Josh Buckley (CEO of Product Hunt).

Indian entrepreneur Kunal Shah has also invested in Carl Pei’s Nothing.

Nothing will debut with the launch of pair of wireless headphones, slated for first half this year, followed by the launch of suite of smart consumer electronics later this year – according to Bloomberg.

“Nothing’s mission is to remove barriers between people and technology to create a seamless digital future. We believe that the best technology is beautiful, yet natural and intuitive to use. When sufficiently advanced, it should fade into the background and feel like nothing,” Pei had said in a statement announcing the brand name.

Carl Pei, the Swedish tech entrepreneur, co-founded OnePlus in 2013 at the age of 24. After nearly seven years, Pei made the “difficult decision” of leaving the company in October 2020. Business Standard