Carl Pei’s Nothing reportedly acquires the Essential

OnePlus’ former co-founder Carl Pei has announced his new company Nothing, last month. The new London-based consumer technology firm has raised $7 million in funding back in December 2020. Along with Carl, there are other investors for the new firm. They include a six-member team comprising — Tony Fadell, Casey Neistat, Kevin Lin, Steve Huffman, and Josh Buckley. During the announcement, Nothing stated that its first smart devices would be releasing later this year. Likely, in the first half of 2021.

Also read: OnePlus former co-founder Carl Pei raises $7 Million for his next venture slated to launch in 2021

And not long ago, Nothing has further raised $15 million in a Series A round, which is led by GV (formerly known as Google Ventures). The company states that the newly raised funding will be utilised to expand its current team, operations. And, also to invest in Research and Development for upcoming products set to debut later this year. This makes a total of $22 million funds raised, which is a significant amount for a new company to kick start its operations.

Nothing buys Essential

And, now, Nothing has reportedly bought Essential, a one-time smartphone brand, according to a recent report from 9to5Google. Recent reports were emerging about Nothing debuting is its first product. They indicated an array of wireless earbuds, and this acquisition comes as a surprise. The report implies the filings at the UK’s Intellectual Property Office, which suggests that Carl Pei’s Nothing is now the new owner of the Essential brand. For those unaware, Andy Rubin, creator of Android, was the founder of the Essential . The brand made only one smartphone called the Essential PH-1. The phone discontinued later due to its poor sales and less reach.

That said, the new filings also imply that the acquisition process indeed completed on January 6, 2021, according to 9to5Google’s report. It further denotes that this acquisition might not exactly determine the plans of Nothing like launching a smartphone in the near future, for instance. But it shouldn’t be a surprise if it intends to do so. Also, at this point, it is still unclear what will happen to the existing patents developed by Essential, whether Nothing accepts or scraps it completely, the report suggests.

Well, considering the recent wireless earbuds launch reports and this afresh Essential acquisition, it suffices to say that Nothing — isn’t nothing any more.

Via