Here's what Nikhil Kamath says after investing $21 million in Carl Pei’s Nothing

Zerodha co-founder and investor Nikhil Kamath has announced a $21 million investment in Nothing’s Series C round, valuing the UK-based consumer technology company at $1.3 billion. Kamath said the decision followed months of research and conversations with Nothing’s founder Carl Pei, who he believes is building a design-first brand that reflects the next phase of India’s global tech evolution.

Kamath revealed that his interest in the brand began after meeting Pei during a discussion about the consumer electronics industry. “That’s when I got interested in his brand Nothing and started researching a bit about it,” Kamath wrote in a detailed post.

Reflecting on his personal connection to technology, Kamath said being born in the 1980s made wired telephones a core childhood memory, and the transition from wired phones to Nokias, BlackBerrys, and today’s smartphones felt seismic. But now, he added, smartphone innovation has slowed: “Every new smartphone feels like the same rectangle with a louder poster. Upgrades now are more incremental, less groundbreaking.”
Kamath’s research revealed that 67–83% of flagship smartphone specifications remain the same across model generations, and people now replace phones every 3.5 years instead of two, as per GSMA data. With the global smartphone market exceeding $500 billion, he said the opportunity now lies in “solving for taste.”

Legacy brands like Samsung (19.7%) and Apple (15.7%) dominate, while Xiaomi, Vivo, and Transsion share most of the rest. “The last credible challenger to break into the leaderboard was over a decade ago,” Kamath noted, adding that Nothing stood out as a fresh contender.

In India, the smartphone market grew 18% year-on-year in value in Q2 2025, driven by mid-premium and premium devices. Kamath believes this trend, combined with rising EMI affordability, is pushing consumers toward aspirational purchases—an area where Nothing’s design and community-first strategy gives it an advantage.
Kamath described Pei’s authenticity and design conviction as key motivators. Founded in 2020, Nothing became India’s fastest-scaling smartphone brand by 2024, growing 577% year-on-year and maintaining that pace for six straight quarters.