Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer best known for being a supplier for Apple’s devices has made a strategic investment in Cyanogen, a forked version of Google’s Android operating system for smartphones.
Back in March this year, the company raised $80 million in Series C round of funding from number of investors, including Premji Invest, Twitter Ventures, Qualcomm Incorporated, Telefónica Ventures, Smartfren Telecom, Index Ventures, Access Industries and Santander Innoventures.
Cyanogen will use the money to accelerate talent hiring and the development of its open OS platform. It will create more open-level playing field for third party developers, enabling seamlessly integrated experiences within the OS.
The company was founded in 2013 by Kirt McMaster, Steve Kondik and Kaushik Dutta with an aim to reimagine mobile computing to give power to the people to customize their mobile device and content experiences. Till now, the company raised $110 million in three funding rounds from thirteen investors.
Kirt McMaster, CEO of Cyanogen Inc., said,
“We’re evolving Android and creating an open computing platform that will change the way consumers interact with their mobile devices. Foxconn and our diverse group of strategic investors and partners reflect the mobile value chain, from device manufacturers and mobile network operators to chipset makers and 3rd party developers. They see the great potential of what we’re doing in creating the next major paradigm shift in mobile computing.”
Foxconn is also diversifying its activities. It recently started working with Nokia to manufacture, sale and service its latest tablet – Nokia N1 under license. It also set up an incubator for hardware acceleration in China.
