CRED's Kunal Shah invests in OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei's upcoming audio startup

CRED founder Kunal Shah has backed OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei's unnamed upcoming venture. Pei, who was almost synonymous with the Chinese smartphone brand, resigned from OnePlus in October 2020 to launch his own startup.

While its name stands unknown, reports indicate Pei is cooking up something in the music and audio products space, and has already raised $7 million in seed funding.

His backers include "friends and private investors" like Tony Fadell (Principal at Future Shape & 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).

Kunal Shah, who's an active angel investor with 80-odd startups in his portfolio, joins this illustrious list with an undisclosed investment.

“Carl is working on a new consumer electronics company that I am sure will be a disruptor in the tech industry. I am excited to be part of this journey,” the CRED founder said in a statement.

ALSO READ

[Jobs Roundup] Work with Kunal Shah's $806M startup CRED with these job openings

Pei's upcoming venture would be headquartered in London. He announced in a recent tweet that the "new brand" will be revealed on January 27.

After leaving OnePlus in October — a move that sent ripples across the tech world — Pei announced his new venture in December, following which he's been raising funds.

On Shah's investment, Pei said in a statement,

“Kunal is one of the sharpest people I know. I am proud and glad to have him as a friend, advisor, and now also an investor. We are in advanced stages of our vision and are excited to introduce it to the world soon.”

Pei, who founded OnePlus in 2013 along with Pete Lau, is credited with making the smartphone brand the giant it is today. The last device launched under his tenure was the OnePlus Nord in August 2020.

Swedish by birth, Pei grew up in Stockholm, and studied at the Stockholm School of Economics. He dropped out before finishing his degree. Before launching OnePlus, Pei also worked at smartphone manufacturers Meizu, OPPO, and Nokia.