OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei has announced that he will begin his next venture on 27 January. Pei said that he will be entering the audio segment with his new venture but did not give out any details about the new project.
Pei announced just a few months ago about his departure from OnePlus after 7 years at the company. After quitting OnePlus, the Swedish entrepreneur was busy rallying friends and investors to put money into his upcoming project.
Initial investors
The seed investment financing came from some of the top names in the industry including former Apple vice-president Tony Fadell, Casey Neistat (YouTuber), Kevin Lin (Co-founder of Twitch), Steve Huffman (CEO of Reddit), Liam Casey (Founder and CEO, PCH), Paddy Cosgrave (Founder of Web Summit) and Josh Buckley (CEO of Product Hunt).
Pei said that he had managed to acquire around $7 million (Rs 52 crore approx) for his new company.
“I am deeply grateful and tremendously excited to have friends of this calibre supporting us in building what’s next,” Pei said in a statement.
He also touched upon some of the reasons why he decided to move on from OnePlus.
“OnePlus is a really large company, compared to where we were when we were just started. And once the company is larger, you’re kind of set in your strategy,” Pei said. “So, by turning a blank page, I can be a lot more creative with what I choose to spend my time on.”
The seeding will support the creation of a head office in London as Pei has already posted a few job listings on Twitter for his new company with openings in India and UK.
What’s in store?
While the listings don’t tell a lot about the venture and what kind of products Pei is expected to work on, the listing for a software UI designer means there is an Android app in the making.
While we have to wait another couple for weeks for the announcement to be official, audiophiles are excited to see what Pei has to offer; The same man who gave the smartphone industry one of its most successful smartphone brand – OnePlus.
