The Android community is excited about the Essential Phone because of many reasons. It’s Andy Rubin’s latest project. In case you didn’t know, he’s the guy responsible for creating Android. He left Google a few years ago to help a startup we now know as Essential Products. The company recently rolled out the Essential Phone with an almost bezel-less display and the Essential Home that is poised to rival Google Home and Amazon Echo.
Rubin and his team have been working on the new smartphone and we’ve been anticipating for its arrival. We said that phone will ship in 30 days but we’re not sure if we’d be happy after seeing the early sample photos and videos. Anyway, those are just first samples so we’ll still wait before get our hands on one and perform our own review.
For this project, the startup raised money to begin and finally bring the phone into production. We have no idea who gave their investments but we learned in March that SoftBank backed out of the multi-million dollar investment.
Now that the first Essential products have been introduced in the market, the company is now prepping for market release. According to a recent Bloomberg report, the startup has close to $1 billion in investment values. The amount of $300 million was recently added, rounding it up to about $900 million. Investors have not been disclosed according to Equidate.
The figures are high for a small startup but it’s understandable because Essential started from Playground Global–the company Rubin put up after leaving Google. Playground Global is believed to have bigger control over Essential Products now.
Looking at Essential’s website, some of the early investors include Foxconn Technology Group, Tencent Holdings Ltd., and Altimeter Capital. The SoftBank deal didn’t push through because Apple was believed to be joining the Japanese mobile carrier. Rubin didn’t want that.
At this point, Essential Phone and the Essential Home are anticipated to make significant changes in the industries they are entering. The Essential Phone also runs Android while Essential Home works with a number of products and services. The company is one of the newest players in gadget town so we’re looking forward to how well it will perform.
VIA: Bloomberg
