Cyanogen Raises $80 Million With Backing From Twitter, Telefonica and Rupert Murdoch
After months of passing around the hat, open Android startup Cyanogen said Monday it has closed an $80 million funding round that includes backing from a number of strategic investors.
Context & Ripple Effects
The round Cyanogen just closed is smaller than the one it was shopping: Bloomberg had it near an $110M raise at a $500M-plus valuation, and January's reporting had Microsoft as a minority investor — but Microsoft sat out, and the final check is $80M. The money arrives weeks after Cyanogen used MWC 2015 to announce a Qualcomm partnership and rebrand, positioning itself as the OS layer between handset makers and Google.
The strategic mix matters more than the total: Telefonica gives carrier distribution leverage, while Twitter and Murdoch signal media-industry interest in an Android variant where Cyanogen, not Google, controls default apps and services. Forbes' same-day piece lays out the wedge — an upcoming Blu phone shipping Cyanogen OS without any Google apps.
First-order effects
- Cyanogen gets runway to push its no-Google-apps strategy, starting with the Blu handset it has already lined up, while new backers Telefonica, Twitter and Murdoch gain influence over a mobile OS stack outside Google's control.
Second-order effects
- Google now faces a funded alternative for OEMs chafing at its terms, and Cyanogen's own roadmap — bigger Chinese vendors after it ends the OnePlus partnership — means the contest is for the fastest-growing Android markets rather than Western flagships.
Third-order effects
- The pattern this fits: well-funded open-Android challengers keep hitting Google's grip on app distribution and services — the endpoint visible in coverage is Cyngn's pivot out of consumer Android entirely into self-driving technology, suggesting the fork-the-platform window narrows unless a challenger secures both carriers and top-tier OEMs.
The trend: Strategic capital keeps trying to fund a de-Googled Android distribution layer, with carrier and media investors betting they can buy the leverage Google holds through apps and services.