OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei’s new start-up Nothing secured backing from Google-parent Alphabet’s venture capital division, as it reportedly prepares to unveil its first device later this year.

On its Twitter feed, Nothing confirmed Alphabet’s GV (formerly Google Ventures) had led a $15 million funding round, joining backers including co-creator of the iPhone Tony Fadell, Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin and Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, among others.

GV’s general partner Tom Hulm commented: “We have high confidence that with Carl’s global mindset, the Nothing team will have a meaningful impact on the market for consumer technology.”

Earphones first
After the brand was unveiled last month, it was unclear exactly what smart consumer devices Nothing would launch first.

Pei ended speculation, telling Bloomberg it would unveil a pair of wireless earphones, igniting competition with OnePlus Buds and Apple AirPods, among others.

He added Nothing was building an ecosystem of smart devices and would start with simpler products like the earbuds.

“We’re going to have multiple products throughout the year, not just audio products, and eventually we want to build it so these devices talk to each other,” he said.