[Funding alert] OnePlus Co-founder Carl Pei raises $7M for new venture

OnePlus Co-founder Carl Pei has raised $7 million (about Rs 51.4 crore) in seed financing to start a new venture that will be unveiled early next year.

Pei had co-founded OnePlus, which now ranks among premium smartphone companies, in 2013. He quit OnePlus in October this year.

The Swedish tech entrepreneur has raised the $7 million seed financing from "friends and private investors" including Tony Fadell (Principal at Future Shape and inventor of the iPod), Casey Neistat (YouTuber), Kevin Lin (Co-founder of Twitch), Steve Huffman (CEO of Reddit), Liam Casey (Founder and CEO, PCH), Paddy Cosgrave (Founder of Web Summit), and Josh Buckley (CEO of Product Hunt), a statement said.

However, details of the new venture were not disclosed.

"I am deeply grateful and tremendously excited to have friends of this calibre supporting us in building what's next. We plan on moving aggressively against our vision, and can't wait to see how the market will react," Pei said.

The seed investment will support the creation of a head office in London, hiring of the team, and finance ongoing product research and development efforts, the statement said.

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"Carl spent the last decade making products that millions of people love. He deeply understands what consumers want, and I can't wait for the world to see what he has in store next," Josh Buckley, CEO of Product Hunt, said.

Earlier this year, OnePlus launched a range of affordable smart televisions and the company claims that this would cater to the under — Rs 20,000 price segment. The TVs aims to offer clean and refined design, stellar sound quality, high picture quality, and a powerful OS even at this price range.

The Chinese smartphone manufacturer had forayed into the TV segment in India last year with a premium range. The price of OnePlus TV Q1 and the OnePlus TV Q1 Pro started at Rs 69,900. The new range of OnePlus TVs will have 32-inch and 43-inch variants, starting from or even below Rs 20,000, which is almost one-third of the cost of the OnePlus TV Q1. 

(Disclaimer: Additional background information has been added to this PTI copy for context)