Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath backs Nothing smartphone with $21 mn investment

Kamath said that the investment was guided by Nothing's design, utility, affordability, revenue & growth margins, and innovation capability

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Indian brokerage platform Zerodha's co-founder Nikhil Kamath on Thursday announced that he has invested $21 million in British smartphone brand Nothing.

 

The investment, he said, was a part of the recent $200 million fundraising by the smartphone company. "So I recently invested $21 million in Nothing's Series C round at a $1.3 billion valuation. Thrilled to back a brand shaping the future of consumer tech," Kamath said in a post on X.

 

Nothing was founded by Chinese-Swedish entrepreneur Carl Pei in 2020. He was also a co-founder of the Chinese smartphone brand OnePlus.

 

"What Carl and the team are building with Nothing goes beyond hardware," Kamath said, adding that the investment was guided by Nothing's design, utility, affordability, revenue & growth margins, and innovation capability.

 

"Founded in 2020, Nothing had already become India's fastest scaling smartphone brand by 2024, with an impressive 577 per cent year-on-year growth. By Q2 2025, it held the title for six quarters in a row, far outpacing its rivals," Kamath said. 

 

Reacting to the partnership, Pei said that Nikhil represents a new generation of Indian entrepreneurs and his collaboration is a strong signal of confidence in what we're building with Nothing and CMF, reported PTI. CMF is a sub-brand of Nothing launched in 2023.

 

Nothing has also recently signed a joint venture with Indian mobile phone manufacturer Optiemus Infracom to expand manufacturing in India.

 

"Our recent $100 million manufacturing joint venture with Optiemus, along with our ambition to build CMF into India's first truly global smartphone brand, we've got big plans ahead. Having Nikhil as part of this journey will only accelerate that momentum," Pei told PTI.

 

Nothing's push on AI

 

Kamath's announcement comes a few days after Nothing revealed the investment, stating that the funds will be used to build an AI-native platform where hardware and software converge into a single intelligent system.

 

"For AI to reach its full potential, consumer hardware must reinvent itself alongside it. This is the opportunity we see for Nothing...Each system will know its user deeply, and be hyper-personalised to each individual... The system will handle the non-essential for us, allowing us to focus on what truly matters, which will be different for every person," Pei said in a statement last month.

 

Apart from Nikhil Kamath, Qualcomm Ventures was another new investor. The funding round was led by American investment firm Tiger Global, with participation from existing shareholders, including GV, Highland Europe, and EQT, the company said.