Carl Pei, former co-founder of OnePlus, is raising funds for his next adventure

Carl Pei, known primarily for his spell at OnePlus - a company he co-founded - has announced this morning that his next venture has completed a $7 million seed financing round and he's going to set up shop in London, UK. 

Look down the list of investors and you might see some familiar names. Among friends and family were people like Tony Fadell (known in the industry as the godfather of the iPod and founder of Nest), Casey Neistat (yes, that YouTube guy), Kevin Lin (Twitch cofounder) and Steve Huffman (Reddit CEO), and a handful more industry heavyweights. 

Pei didn't announce in the press release exactly what his company will be building but an interview elsewhere reveals it will be audio-focused. The new venture will be unveiled in 2021 with a head office in London. 

For those unaware, Carl Pei recently left OnePlus having spent nearly seven years at the company he helped to start way back in 2013. 

To those early OnePlus fans, he was seen as the drive and energy behind the brand's ethos of bringing highly competitive but affordable phones to the market with specs that tech enthusiasts appreciate. They also had that sense of limited availability and intrigue to build hype in those early days. 

Recent shifts in strategy for the now major smartphone maker seemed to be at odds with Pei's early vision, and to many watching it seemed to make sense that Pei no longer fit at the company he helped to build from the ground up. 

Speaking to Wired, Pei says the new company will be music-focussed with headphones and other music-related hardware in the pipeline. But there's more to it than that. Exactly what that means, however, is yet to be revealed. 

Currently - according to that report - there are fewer than ten people working for the new venture, and his hope is that the company isn't just a "flash in the pan", but one that's sustainable and works long-term. 

Like everyone who has followed OnePlus over the years, we're all keen to hear what's coming to market next. 

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