The smartphone startup today did not announce it closed the $200 million C Series C led by investment firm Tiger Global. In this round, consumer electronics companies are now worth $1.3 billion.
Other investors in the round include existing backers such as venture capitalists GV, European Highlands, eqt, Latitude, I2BF and Tapestry. The company was founded by Carl Pei, who previously co-founded OnePlus, a Chinese smartphone maker known for its high-performance devices at a competitive price, and has also received new strategic support from Nikhil Kamath and Qualcomm Ventures. New funds are needed No funds More than $450 million.
“Carl and the team have nothing to reimagine hardware and software through AI coverage to position their products as the next personal technology era. We are excited to work with this outstanding team as they pioneered the AI-NAINAGITE experience.”
The company has bet on design differentiation to date and has served the startup well. Earlier this year, nothing could say it had grossed over $1 billion in sales. Early investors at the startup told TechCrunch they were happy with the company’s growth trajectory and profitability.
So far, the startup said it has spent time building a supply chain and infrastructure to launch products within months and ship globally. It is worth noting that its recently launched phone (3) (demonstrating the company’s signature transparent design aesthetics and unique user interface) is just its second phone General distribution in the United States.
PEI said he wanted to target his brand to the next generation of users, who might look for alternatives outside of existing businesses.
“The way we differentiate and differentiate brands really resonates with our consumers. We are targeting the next generation. They are interested in technology. They are interested in creativity and design, and we do find resonance in that consumer group,” he told TechCrunch during this time. Release of phone number (3) In July.
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European Highlands partner Tony Zappalà, an existing investor in the company, said the company has delivered on its promise and has room for growth in this huge industry. He said nothing is now recognized as the industry and it has its own advantages in attracting talent and building supply chain relationships.
Vision of Artificial Intelligence
The company hopes to build an operating system with AI and personalized features that may exceed smartphones. Currently, we only see some glimpses of AI in the operating system Basic search and other functionsan intelligent search feature that helps users find information on their devices. The startup hired Sélim Benayat, the former executive of Linktree, the founder of Bento, a platform that creates personalized landing pages for social media profiles, to lead its AI services efforts.
Zappalà said the challenge of building such an operating system is both a customer experience and a matter of trust.
“I don’t think the challenge of building an effective AI-first experience is nothing. It’s not just a technical challenge; AI capabilities need to get to a stage where users don’t have a careful check of the output,” he said.
Companies like Apple Difficult to effectively integrate AI functions Enter their operating system. Nothing, the difficulty is finding the right balance between novelty and help when performing AI functions.
PEI believes that smartphones are still the best way to provide AI, and in a July conversation with TechCrunch said at least three to five years will be the main form of AI applications for all consumer.
With the fundraising announcement, the company said it plans to launch AI-first devices next year. However, there are not many successful cases in the AI hardware space. AI hardware startup Humane was sold to HP After struggling with AI PIN devices, AI assistant company Rabbit has been working to improve its R1 devices, freeing up New software updates Recently, after the company was dissatisfied with the first iteration.
