OnePlus Co-Founder Carl Pei Raises $7 Million Fund for His New Audio Startup
Dec. 9, 2020Reports regarding OnePlus co-founderCarl Pei’s departure from the companystarted emerging in October second week andgot officially confirmedsoon after. While it was rumored that Carl Pei left OnePlus to start a new venture, we’ve now got official word from the horse’s mouth. Pei has today revealed a few specifics about his new company in aninterview withWired.
As per the interview, Carl Pei’s companywill focus on audio-related products. While Pei doesn’t reveal the exact product lineup, his new company is said to have a“broader focus than just headphones.”
The new company currently has less than 10 employees and Pei seems to beactively recruitingat the moment. Moreover, the company willhave its headquarters in London. “London’s a good place. It’s got a lot of good talent, especially within the fields of design and user experience,”Pei toldWired.
This comes right afterPei’s firm raised a $7 million seed fund. Early investors include Tony Fadell (the inventor of iPod), YouTuber Casey Neistat, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, and Product Hunt CEO Josh Buckley, among others.
Putting an end to speculations that suggested Carl Pei had internal leadership issue with Pete Lau, Pei said,“It was an amicable departure and we’re still in touch. We text each other once every couple of weeks. I told him [I was leaving] face to face at a cafe. I don’t think he saw it coming, but I very calmly laid out my gratitude and what I wanted to do next. We talked a couple of times [after that] and in the end he agreed and is supporting me.”
Subin writes about consumer tech, software, and security. He secretly misses the headphone jack while pretending he’s better off with the wireless freedom.
