OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei secures $7 million fund for new undisclosed venture from investors and friends

Carl Pei, the co-founder of OnePlus who left the company two months ago, has raised $7 million from a roster of investors including iPod inventor Tony Fadell, who is currently serving as a principal at investment and advisory firm Future Shape. Among other investors participating in the round were Twitch cofounder Kevin Lin, Reddit chief executive Steve Huffman, PCH founder and chief executive Liam Casey, prominent YouTuber Casey Neistat, Product Hunt chief executive Josh Buckley, Web Summit founder Paddy Cosgrave and a group of former and current Stockholm-headquartered Truecaller employees, Kim Fai Kok, Nick Dahl and Zakaria Hersi. [caption id=“attachment_9098101” align=“alignnone” width=“1280”]  Carl Pei[/caption] Pei remains tight-lipped on what this new venture would be about, or what it is even called, but said he would talk more about it early 2021. There are rumours that suggest it is audio and hardware related. The seed investment will be used to set up a head office in London, hire talent, and fund product research and development efforts.

Grateful for the past, excited for the future. 🙏https://t.co/EV8irakFOi

— Carl Pei (@getpeid) December 9, 2020

When asked about his departure from OnePlus and co-founder Lau, Pei told Wired, “It was an amicable departure and we’re still in touch,” he says. “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.”