Gaming product maker Razer has acquired US-based smartphone developer Nextbit for an undisclosed amount, giving exits to marketing firm Dentsu and internet technology conglomerate Alphabet, TechCrunch reported yesterday.
Nextbit is the creator of a smartphone called Robin that gives users unlimited storage by integrating the cloud into an Android operating system, meaning their data is stored and intelligently archived on the cloud. Users are also free to customise the device without their warranty being affected.
Although the companies have not revealed the purchase price, TechCrunch reported that sources hinted “there was a decent equity portion to it”.
Nextbit’s 30-strong team will join Razer, and it will continue to develop its own products independently, though the Robin phone will be discontinued.
Min-Liang Tan, co-founder and CEO of Razer, told TechCrunch: “We have been huge fans of what Nexbit has been doing, both the work on the phone technology and on the cloud-based storage side of things. There is a lot of potential and talent.”
Nextbit raised $18m in a 2014 series A round featuring GV, the Alphabet subsidiary then known as Google Ventures, and venture capital firm Accel.
Dentsu’s corporate venturing unit, Dentsu Ventures, invested an undisclosed amount in the company in September 2015, a month before it raised almost $1.4m in a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.
– Photo courtesy of Nextbit