OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei will announce his new brand next week

Former OnePlus executive Carl Pei has a new company focused on audio.
The venture has already gained $7 million from seed investors.
The new brand will be announced on January 27.

Update: January 19, 2020 (1:01 AM ET): Carl Pei has shared an update about his new venture — a mysterious audio-related company — saying that it’ll be announced next week on January 27. Pei didn’t go into any details so we’ll just have to wait a few more days to find out what he’s been up to after leaving OnePlus.

Credit:

Carl Pei/Twitter

Original article: December 9, 2020 (6:40 AM ET): OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei was the public face of the smartphone brand from the get-go, but he departed the firm earlier this year to start a new company. Now, a few more details surrounding the venture have emerged.

Pei told Wired that the new company is audio-related and that multiple hardware products are coming next year. The former OnePlus executive claimed that the new venture would focus on more than just headphones, while not actually confirming whether headphones were in the works. Pei added that the new company would be headquartered in London.

The OnePlus co-founder revealed that his new company has accrued $7 million from seed investors. Prominent investors include former Apple vice-president Tony Fadell, reddit co-founder Steve Huffman, YouTuber Casey Neistat, and Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin.

Pei also posted several job listings for the new company on his Twitter account, with job openings in India and the UK. While the listings don’t shed a ton of light on what’s coming next, a listing for a software UI designer reveals that an Android app also forms part of these plans. Check out a screenshot below.

carl pei job listing android app

Credit: Carl Pei

The executive also touched on his reasons for leaving OnePlus in the first place.

“OnePlus is a really large company, compared to where we were when we were just started. And once the company is larger, you’re kind of set in your strategy,” Pei explained. “So, by turning a blank page, I can be a lot more creative with what I choose to spend my time on.”

We’ll just have to wait for more details to figure out whether Pei’s new venture will make a similar impact as OnePlus. But the consumer audio space is pretty crowded already, so any new entrant will need to stand out.

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