Nothing gets $200m to drive AI-enabled consumer hardware revolution

• For AI to reach its full potential, consumer hardware must reinvent itself alongside it, Founder Carl Pei says.
• Key backers from previous rounds—GV, Highland Europe, EQT, Latitude, I2BF, and Tapestry—also joined this latest fundraise.

London-based smartphone innovator Nothing has just secured a hefty $200 million investment round, led by Tiger Global, raising the company’s valuation to a striking $1.3 billion.

The infusion of capital comes as Nothing sets its sights on fusing artificial intelligence with consumer hardware in bold new ways.

While behemoths like Apple and Samsung still dominate the global smartphone scene, Nothing is carving out its own niche among a select group of European disruptors, joining companies like Fairphone and HMD Global in aiming to shake up the established order.

Founded by Swedish entrepreneur Carl Pei in 2020 after his stint at OnePlus, Nothing quickly made a name for itself. Its first smartphone debuted in 2022, since followed by innovative earbuds and an unbroken streak of fast growth.

To date, Nothing has shipped millions of devices and surpassed $1 billion in cumulative sales—no small feat in such a fiercely competitive landscape.

Carl Pei envisions a future where hardware and AI evolve together. “For AI to reach its full potential, consumer hardware must reinvent itself alongside it,” he remarked following the news. The company’s ambitions extend from current staples like smartphones, earbuds, and wearables to the next frontier—smart glasses, humanoid robotics, electric vehicles, and other emerging categories woven together by a cohesive operating system.

Key backers from previous rounds—GV, Highland Europe, EQT, Latitude, I2BF, and Tapestry—also joined this latest fundraise. The newest investment nearly doubles the almost $100 million Nothing raised in 2023, spotlighting the market’s confidence in its ambition and future growth.

As the race for AI-powered hardware accelerates, Nothing seems poised not just to compete, but to help redefine what the future of consumer technology can look like.