OnePlus co-founder's 'Nothing' brand will launch wireless earbuds this summer

After parting ways with OnePlus, Carl Pei has revealed that his new startup, Nothing, will unveil a pair of wireless earphones sometime this summer. It will be the first device from the London-based firm, with more set to arrive later in 2021, according to Bloomberg. The company is being backed by Alphabet’s venture capital division, GV (formerly Google Ventures), which led a $15 million funding round.

“We’re building an ecosystem of smart devices,” Pei told Bloomberg in an interview. “We’ll start with simpler products, wireless earbuds. We’re going to have multiple products throughout the year, not just audio products, and eventually we want to build it so these devices talk to each other.”

Its first product will compete with the OnePlus Buds, among other products, and backers like GV no doubt hope that Nothing will enjoy a similar level of success. “We have high confidence that with Carl’s global mindset, the Nothing team will have a meaningful impact on the market for consumer technology,” said GV general partner Tom Hulme.

Nothing launched last month with some fanfare, counting investors like former Apple exec Tony Fadell, YouTuber Casey Neistat, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman and Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin. Until now, it wasn’t known exactly what the company would produce. Now, it seems that Pei will compete with his former company, with an emphasis on multiple-device connectivity. Wireless earphones are a relatively safe way to start, so it will be more interesting to see what the company plans to reveal next.