Essential, a US-based mobile electronics product developer that counts internet group Tencent and contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn as backers, has raised $300m from undisclosed investors, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.
The round valued Essential at between $900m and $1bn, Bloomberg reported, citing an analysis by Equidate, the operator of a stock market for private companies.
Essential’s lead product is a smartphone that includes features such as an ultra-strong titanium casing and a camera it claims is the world’s smallest 360° personal camera.
The phone, for which Essential is currently taking orders, also allows any accessories to snap on to the phone using magnetism.
The company was formed through Playground Global, the incubator established by Andy Rubin, who had previously been in charge of the Android mobile operating system subsidiary of internet technology group Alphabet, in 2014.
Playground Global and venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures had provided $30m of funding for Essential in 2016.
The participants in the latest round have not been disclosed, but according to Essential’s website its investors include Tencent, Foxconn and Access Technology Ventures, a subsidiary of conglomerate Access Industries, as well as investment firms VY Capital and Altimeter Capital.
Telecommunications and internet firm SoftBank was reportedly also lined up as an investor, but pulled out of any deal once electronics producer Apple became a limited partner in its Vision Fund.
– Image courtesy of Essential