London-based smartphone startup Nothing has raised $200 million in a new funding round led by Tiger Global. With this, the company is now valued at $1.3 billion. The funding also saw participation from Qualcomm Ventures, Nikhil Kamath, and existing investors such as GV, Highland Europe, EQT, Latitude, I2BF, and Tapestry.
The company was founded in 2020 by Carl Pei, who earlier co-founded OnePlus. Nothing entered the smartphone market in 2022 with its first device. Since then, it has launched earbuds, two more smartphones, and crossed $1 billion in total sales. The recently launched Nothing Phone (3) was only the company’s second device to get wide distribution in the U.S., highlighting its growing ambition outside Asia.
Nothing currently has less than 1% global market share, but in India, which is its largest market, it holds about 2% share. According to IDC, the company has shipped 5.1 million devices so far, with over a million units shipped in the last quarter alone.
Carl Pei believes that the future of Nothing lies in AI-powered hardware. He said that consumer devices must evolve alongside AI to reach their full potential. For now, Nothing is focusing on smartphones, earbuds, and smartwatches, but Pei hinted that in the future its operating system could expand into smart glasses, humanoid robots, and even EVs.
To lead its AI efforts, the company has hired Sélim Benayat, a former Linktree executive and founder of Bento. The company has already started experimenting with features like Essential Search, which helps users find information across their devices.
Nothing’s design-first approach has already made it stand out in a crowded market. With this new funding, the company now has the resources to push deeper into AI hardware and expand its presence globally.
