Nothing establishes CMF as separate subsidiary, announces ₹887 crore JV with Optiemus Infracom

London-based Nothing Technology has announced that its former sub-brand CMF will now operate as a subsidiary based out of India. CEO Carl Pei revealed Thursday that the subsidiary will form a joint venture with Optiemus Infracom, with both companies committing a combined investment of $100 million over the next 3 years. The investment is expected to generate more than 1,800 jobs, both directly and indirectly.

Pei, who was on his third visit to India this year, held a closed-door meeting with Union Electronics and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw last night to submit the signed MoU for the JV.

In a post on X, Pei described CMF as India’s first “truly global consumer tech” brand. Yet, the decision to set up a facility in India appears to stem less from its global ambitions and more from the fact that India is already CMF’s largest market by revenue, driven by value-conscious middle-class consumers.

“Had the honour of meeting Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw - the driving force behind Make in India and the country’s thriving tech ecosystem. There is no doubt; India will play a key role in shaping the future of the global smartphone industry. We discussed our journey with Nothing and our plans to establish CMF as a subsidiary headquartered in India - building it into the country’s first truly global consumer tech brand. Built from India, to the world. With our end-to-end capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to bring this vision to life,” Pei shared on X.

“As part of this, I’m excited to announce our new manufacturing joint venture with Optiemus, one of India’s leading technology manufacturers - a key milestone in making this vision a reality. Through this JV, we plan to invest over $100M and create more than 1,800 jobs in India over the next three years,” he added.

The entire CMF lineup will be manufactured at the production facility, expected to be finalised next month, a source close to Nothing told Fortune India. Initially however, the CMF phones are expected to be manufactured from this facility. Currently, Optiemus Infracom has three manufacturing facilities with two focussed on handset manufacturing. Two of these facilities are located in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

“This will somewhat be like a contract manufacturing facility with Optiemus Infracom owning the plant. The Nothing phones will continue to be manufactured at the BYD plant in Chennai, this will be exclusively for its subsidiary CMF,” the source revealed.

Optiemus Infracom recently announced the manufacturing of RhinoTech tempered glass in collaboration with Corning Inc. The source said that RhinoTech may be used in the handset manufacturing under this JV with CMF.

The source did not reveal if the two companies are contributing equally to the $100 million (around ₹887 crore) investment. However, it is speculated that the investment by Nothing’s CMF will be made by the company’s recent Series-C funding round of $200 million at a valuation of $1.3 billion from institutional and angel investors, including Nikhil Kamath.

In a post on X, Akis Evangelidis, co-founder and president, Nothing Tech, wrote, “Built from India, to the world. Exciting times ahead for CMF!”

In another post, subsidiary chief Himanshu Tandon wrote, “Thrilled about our partnership with Optiemus — a big step towards building CMF into India’s first truly global consumer tech brand. Built from India, to the world. From design to manufacturing, India will be at the heart of our story.” Tandon was recently appointed as vice-president, CMF at Nothing. He was previously the country head for Poco.