Cyanogen Raises $80 Mn From Premji Invest, Others

NEW DELHI: Mobile operating system firm Cyanogen has raised $80 million (about 498 crore) from investors, including India's Premji Invest and media czar Rupert Murdoch as the US-based firm looks to accelerate the development of its open platform.

The series C financing was led by Premji Invest and includes participation from new strategic investors Twitter Ventures, Qualcomm Incorporated, Telefnica Ventures, Smartfren Telecom, Index Ventures, Access Industries (the U.S.-based industrial group headed by Len Blavatnik), Rupert Murdoch, Vivi Nevo, and several yet to be announced partners.

Existing investors Benchmark, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures and Tencent Holdings also participated, Cyanogen said in a statement.

Founded in 2009 by Kirt McMaster, Steve Kondik and Koushik Dutta, the Cyanogen operating system is built on Android and is known for its personalisation features, intuitive interface, speed, improved battery life and enhanced security.

Till date, Cyanogen has received a total of $110 million in funding. We're committed to creating an open computing platform that fundamentally empowers the entire mobile ecosystem from developers to hardware makers, and most importantly, consumers around the world, said McMaster, CEO of Cyanogen.

Cyanogen is excited to have the backing of a diverse group of strategic investors who are supporting the company in building a truly open Android, he added.

We invested in Cyanogen because we're big proponents of what they're doing in opening up Android and supporting global and local ecosystem players, Premji Invest Technology Sector Lead Sandesh Patnam said. Cyanogen is well positioned to become the third leading mobile OS, and Premji Invest is excited to back them in growing their business on a global scale, he added.

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