Nothing closes $ 200 million Series C under the direction of Tiger Global, Plant AI-First Device Launch | Techcrunch

Smartphone Startup has not announced anything today that it has closed its $ 200 million series C round, which was led by the investment firm Tiger Global. With this round, the Consumer Electronics Company is now appreciated at $ 1.3 billion.

Other investors in the round were existing backers such as company Outfits GV, Highland Europe, EQT, Latitude, I2BF and Tapestry. The company, founded by Carl Pei-Die, previously co-founder of the Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus, known for high-performance devices at competitive prices depleting also new strategic support from Nikhil Kamath and Qualcomm Ventures. The new financing has nothing to do with the total financing of more than $ 450 million.

“Carl and the team for nothing can be seen reform hardware and software with an AI overlay to position their products for the next era of personal technology. We are delighted to work together with this exceptional team while they pioneer AI-Native experiences,” said Matt Watcher, a partner at Tiger Global, in a statement to Techcrunch.

The company has so far devoted to design differentiation and it has served the startup well. Nothing says that earlier this year it clocked more than $ 1 billion in total turnover. An early investor in the startup told Techcrunch that they are happy with the growth process of the company and the way to profitability.

The startup said it has spent time so far on building a supply chain and infrastructure to launch a product within a few months and to send it worldwide. It is striking that the recently launched telephone (3) – which shows the characteristic transparent design -esthetic and unique user interface of the company – was only the second -hand set to receive general distribution in the US

Pei has said that he wants to focus his brand on the next generation of users who may look for alternatives that go beyond established operators.

“The way we have distinguished our brand and have differentiated our products is really resonating with our group of consumers. We focus on the next generation. They are interested in technology. They are interested in creativity and design, and we have really found resonance among that consumer group,” he told Techcrunch during the launch of the phone (3) in July.

Highland Europe partner Tony Zappalà, an existing investor in the company, said that the company has realized its promises and has room to grow in this enormous industry. He said that nothing is now a recognized name in the industry, which has its own benefits in attracting talent and building supply chain relationships.

AI Vision

The company wants to build an operating system with AI and personalization functions that may go beyond smartphones. At the moment we have only seen a few Glimpen of AI in the operating system with functions such as essential search, a smart search function that helps users find information on their device. The startup has adopted Sélim Benayat, a former director of Linktree and founder of Bento (a platform that creates personalized destination pages for social media profiles) to lead his AI services efforts.

Zappalà said that the challenge when building such an operating system is both a customer experience and a trust problem.

“I think the challenge of building up an effective AI-first experience is not unique for nothing. This is more than a technical challenge; AI functions must reach a stage in which users do not double check the output,” he said.

Companies like Apple have difficulty integrating AI functions effectively into their control systems. For nothing is the difficulty finding the right balance between novelty and helpfulness while performing AI functions.

Pei believes that smartphones remain the best way to deliver AI, and they will “be the dominant form factor for all AI applications of the consumer” for at least three to five years, he said during the conversation with Techcrunch in July.

With this fundraising announcement, the company said that it is planning to launch an AI-first device next year. However, there have not been many success stories in the AI ​​hardware degree. AI Hardware Startup Humane was sold to HP after wrestling with its AI PIN device, and AI Assistant Company Rabbit has worked to improve its R1 device, so that a New software update Recently after the company was not satisfied with the first iteration.