Nothing raises over £5.3 million in rapid community funding round

Consumer technology brand Nothing, founded by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, has raised over £5.3 million from thousands of retail backers in its latest community funding round, underscoring growing investor interest in founder-led hardware startups that prioritise direct engagement with users.

The crowdfunding round, which closed on Tuesday after running for less than a week, attracted 4,643 investors, according to disclosures on crowdfunding platform Crowdcube. The initiative marked Nothing’s third community investment round and was opened at the same valuation as its previous institutional fundraising.

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Announcing the launch of the round earlier this month, Akis Evangelidis, co-founder and president for India, said the company had crossed its initial $5 million allocation on the first day itself, signalling strong early demand. The round was priced at £2.7972 per share, with participation open to global retail investors, including those from India, with a minimum investment threshold of $50.

The funding was raised at a pre-money valuation of £976.56 million (around $1.3 billion), matching the valuation of Nothing’s $200 million Series C round, which included backing from investors such as Nikhil Kamath and Tiger Global.

With this latest raise, Nothing’s broader funding round has reached approximately £150.24 million, according to platform data. The company had previously secured close to $8 million through its first two community rounds, which together drew more than 8,000 investors.

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Industry observers note that community funding has become a strategic tool for consumer-facing startups. Rather than serving purely as a capital-raising exercise, such rounds allow companies to cultivate a base of engaged brand advocates while testing market sentiment. Compared with traditional venture capital funding, crowdfunding also enables founders to retain tighter control over ownership and decision-making.

Nothing’s approach mirrors a wider trend among product-led startups exploring alternative funding models, particularly as platforms such as Crowdcube and Wefunder expand their reach into emerging markets, including India.