Cyanogen, the US-based developer of a mobile operating system, revealed yesterday that contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn was among the investors in the $80m series C round it closed in March.
The round was led by investment firm Premji Invest and included internet portal Tencent, semiconductor technology producer Qualcomm, microblogging platform Twitter, telecommunications companies Telefónica and Smartfren Telecom, and conglomerate Access Industries.
Non-corporate investors in the round included Index Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, Redpoint Ventures, Rupert Murdoch and Vivi Nevo.
Cyanogen’s operating system, CyanogenOS, operates as an alternative to the Android system, which is owned by internet company Google. It also runs open source community distribution hub CyanogenMod.
Foxconn’s strategic interest in the company is partly due to its ownership of FIH Mobile, a contract manufacturer for handset and wireless communications companies.
Cyanogen has raised $110m since it was founded, with Tencent, Andreessen Horowitz and Benchmark Capital all backing the company at series B stage.