Essential Products Inc, a smartphone maker founded by Andy Rubin, the creator of Google's Android system, on Wednesday unveiled its investor list including China's Internet giant Tencent Holdings, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The start-up has secured a new 300 million U.S. dollar fundraising from Tencent, Amazon Inc's Alexa Fund and other investors, as it prepares to compete with Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Inc with a new phone at roughly the same time as the two smartphone giants are expected to launch their new products in September, the report said.
Essential was set earlier this year to raise 100 million U.S. dollar from SoftBank Group Corp, but the Japanese investor scrapped the deal partly because of its close relationship with Apple, the Wall Street Journal previously reported.
Tencent could not be reached for comment as of press time.
(Source: Global Times)
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