Essential gets more funding to help bring its devices to market.
Essential, Android creator Andy Rubin’s smartphone startup, announced its phone earlier this year but has yet to say when it will actually become available. In the time since, the company has announced retail partners and exclusive carriers for each region, including Sprint in the U.S. and TELUS in Canada. Now, the company announced it secured investment funding from a few investment giants, including Amazon and Tencent Holdings.
The $ 300 million infusion was confirmed by Essential to the Wall Street Journal. Essential also announced that Amazon and Best Buy will be launch partners. This is in addition to Sprint being the exclusive carrier for the Essential Phone, though all versions will be unlocked and usable on all U.S. networks.
Still missing is an estimated release timeframe for the device. Essential originally teased a summer launch, but the device was set back by the certification process. Since this delay, the company has not provided a timeline on when to expect the phone to be available to consumers, but promises to do so next week.
The Essential Phone has been highly anticipated because it is coming from Android’s original creator, but the setbacks have started to wear on potential customers. Hopefully, the addition of this investment funding will help Essential get its house in order and get the device out to retail shelves.
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