India's Smartphone Revolution: Optiemus & CMF Partner for Full-Stack R&D
India's Smartphone Revolution: Optiemus & CMF Partner for Full-Stack R&D
Optiemus and Nothing's CMF are deepening their partnership to build India's first full-stack smartphone R&D. Get ready for Made-in-India innovation! 🚀
In a significant move poised to redefine India's role in the global smartphone landscape, Noida-based Optiemus Group has announced its participation in Nothing’s upcoming Series A investment round for CMF. This expanded collaboration is set to transform the existing manufacturing joint venture between Nothing and Optiemus into a deeper, more comprehensive partnership.
The core ambition of this renewed alliance is to establish CMF as India's premier smartphone brand, boasting full-stack, end-to-end research and development (R&D) capabilities. This means the joint entity will not only handle manufacturing and ownership but also spearhead innovative R&D efforts under a single Indian umbrella.
Carl Pei, CEO of Nothing, emphasized the strategic importance of this venture, stating,
India has everything needed to become a global technology powerhouse: extraordinary engineering talent, a huge consumer market, increasingly strong manufacturing capabilities, and a government that has consistently supported the growth of India’s electronics and manufacturing ecosystem. That foundation now allows us to take the next step: building India’s first full-stack smartphone R&D capability through CMF.
Pei highlighted Nothing's proven blueprint of building an independent brand with its own design, software, and engineering capabilities, and aims to replicate this success in India through CMF.
Ashok Gupta, Executive Chairman of Optiemus, echoed this sentiment, adding,
Nothing has already shown what this looks like in practice: building its own design, software and engineering capabilities from scratch, and turning that into a genuine global brand shipping millions of products. CMF is uniquely placed to bring that same blueprint to India, backed by Optiemus’s manufacturing expertise and a policy environment that is increasingly enabling R&D and innovation at scale.
This partnership signifies a crucial shift for India's smartphone value chain, moving beyond mere manufacturing to encompass advanced technology development and fostering global exports. The initial manufacturing joint venture, announced in September 2025, focused on producing products for both Nothing and CMF. This latest development elevates the collaboration, aiming to cultivate a robust R&D ecosystem within India, for the world.
