Nothing

Nothing is a startup founded in 2020 in London by Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus, known for its consumer hardware products — smartphones and wireless earbuds — characterised by a transparent, minimalist design that shows off internal components, sharply diverging from the opaque, uniform aesthetic of most consumer electronics. After debuting with the Ear (1) earbuds, the company built a full range including Phone (2), Ear (2), Phone (3), and Ear (3), plus the more accessible Phone (4a) and Phone (4a) Pro variants launched in 2026. September 2025 brought a significant funding round: Nothing raised $200 million in a Series C led by Tiger Global, with participation from GV, EQT, Latitude, Tapestry, Highland Europe, Qualcomm Ventures, and Indian entrepreneur Nikhil Kamath, reaching a valuation of approximately $1.3 billion. The capital is earmarked for developing a new generation of "AI-native" devices, expected during 2026. CEO Carl Pei also announced plans to develop a proprietary operating system for the company's smartphones and future AI devices, reducing reliance on standard Android. On the product front, Pei confirmed that the Phone (3) remains the flagship model for 2026, clarifying that the company does not intend to launch a new flagship every year "just for the sake of it" — a positioning choice favouring product cycle coherence over market pressure for annual updates. Nothing has surpassed $1 billion in lifetime sales and built a community of over 11,000 retail investors through crowdfunding rounds, a distinctive element of its branding strategy based on directly involving its fanbase in the company's growth.