Things changed for Cyanogen several months back. They announced the formation of Cyanogen Inc and with that came news of an initial round of funding as well as details of an installer app and partnership with OPPO. At the time many thought the funding was on the higher side at $7 million, however this latest steps up yet again coming in at $22 million.
Since that initial announcement and round of funding, several things have happened. For one, the Cyanogen Installer app arrived in the Play Store, only to be pulled not long after. The app remains available and is still able to be used, but the process now begins with downloading and sideloading an app. As opposed to installing an app directly from the Play Store. Either method of starting though, the process also requires the use of Windows.
Some of the talk that surfaced with word of this latest round of funding touched on that app. It seems Cyanogen Inc has not given up on the Play Store just yet. Details coming from Gigaom mention how the Cyanogen team maintains a “great relationship” with Google and how they are working on a version of the app that will be able to stay in the Play Store. No word as to how or when that may happen, but there was also some talk of future plans.
It seems this latest round of funding may take the Cyanogen team to China. Well, more specifically, allow them to open an office in Shenzhen, China. This would be in addition to their current setup and would also allow the team to hire an additional 50 members during the next few months. And for this curious, this means Cyanogen Inc (as a company) would be doubling in size.
There was also some talk of further expanding to a brand and service that would appeal more to the average consumer. It appears Cyanogen Inc wants to expand a bit beyond the geek roots. There wasn’t much in the way of specifics here, but it looks like this is being planned for sometime in late-2014 or early-2015.
SOURCE: Cyanogen
