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Despite gaining $22 million in series B funding last year, Cyanogen Inc’s has yet to generate any sizable revenue. Sure they’re partnered up with Oppo and the folks at OnePlus to launch a few devices with their custom Android OS pre-installed, but other than that what have the one time Android modders been up to? Well, we know they were said to be in talks with some of the biggest firms in tech, companies like Microsoft and Yahoo looking to take the startup under their wing.
Now, as we approach the eve of their series C funding, it appears Cyanogen Inc could be seeking a breathtaking valuation, hitting upwards of a $1 billion. We know what you’re thinking: just how the heck did they arrive at that number? According to The Information, potential investors recently learned from Cyanogen’s chief executive that the Seattle-based software company recently met up with Sundar Pichai — the man in charge of Google’s Android division — for acquisition talks, but walked away.
Even with talks of a Google buyout, that number is almost dumbfounding. That’s not to diminish the talented team at Cyanogen or the amazing work they’ve produced throughout the years. Some would argue Android wouldn’t be where it’s at with all the features Cyanogen and their team added to the OS over the years (only to be later replicated in official Android builds).
Once again, we should warn you. Reports out The Information can sometimes be hit or miss, so take it with a grain of salt. This is still very much a rumor. As an Android fan who has followed CyanogenMod since its humble beginnings, I’d have to say it’s inspiring to see men (and women) who once worked from their basements gaining the level of success they have in such a short amount of time.
To help you visualize a billion dollars, here’s what it would look like if stacked onto wood pallets.
I’m actually disappointed by this. Cyanogenmod Features baked into stock android out of the box would have been a dream come true
Google can implement CM’s features at any time.
Exactly, and they have in almost every new Android release.
Coulda been what Google had in mind for the Android Silver program……….
I hope so
I would love to see Cyanogen and HTC hootk up. Because HTC hardware is great, but I hate Sense UI.
Nothing beats stock for me but sense is easily my favorite skin, it’s lightweight and helps keep the general spirit of stock android.
Sony’s skin isnt bad either. Every OS should have stamina mode.
Maybe they could get rid of HTC Sense’s spooky contacts. When it magically loaded my contacts on my HTC Rezound, dead relatives appeared on the list. Seeing my grandparents who were dead over 25 years freaked me out. I didn’t have the heart to delete them. How Sense found them? I don’t know.
Hey i got my shareable oneplus one invites I have 3 left and they only last a few more days if you message me your email i’ll send you an invite [email protected]
I wish I was still interested :( #Nexus 6
Email sent, if one is still available. Thank you
Too late… 3-4 months ago I’d have jumped at the chance.
I don’t even see how they could be worth 11 million.
Do you really believe that Google wanted to buy Cyanogen? Or could it be a ploy by Cyanogen to get more money in funding?
Not that Cyanogen makes a good OS, but I think it would hurt Google to buy them since Google now can always point to Cyanogen when they say they have an open operating system. I can only imagine it won’t be too soon til the EU goes after Android and try to regulate it.
I’m sure Google wouldn’t mind having Cyanogen’s excellent developers on their team.
Didn’t they have kouch a job and he turned it down? Maybe he was looking for more money/autonomy?
Koush doesn’t work for Cyanogen any more. He left in March. http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/04/18/interview-koushik-koush-dutta-on-leaving-cyanogen-inc-and-his-return-to-clockworkmod/
What makes you think the EU would even consider doing so and why?
Android is the dominant smart phone OS in Europe and Google is an American company. In the EU, that is enough to regulate.
I have nothing but respect for the Cyanogenmod engineers but their software as always been as buggy as Alzheimer’s in my experience
You must have Alzheimers because you clearly forgot how great Cyanogenmod is to use.
Was.. Even on my nexus 5 I found it too buggy. Running stock android with Exposed is way better. Gives you STABILITY and more tweaks than CM.
CM is feature rich, sure, but it’s still buggy as hell. All those features don’t mean much when stuff doesn’t work properly.
Congrats!! :)
I like this.
Nice visual
Think the title to this article should of read “Rumor: Cyanogen Inc looking for $1 billion valuation after receiving acquisition offer from Google” instead of what it is now.
Is there any proof to any of this? Has Google confirmed this happened? Has Steve Kondik or anyone at Cyanogen Inc confirmed this?
I haven’t seen not one article show proof but just rewrite the same thing and give their opinion on what supposedly went down or should of gone down…..
Yay for more vastly inflated numbers in the tech world. It seems people haven’t learnt anything.
Listen, I like Cyanogem Mod and I like Steve but if this is true I think it’s a stupid move on their part. The primary reason I say this is because I don’t think they’ll get close to as much money as they could have from Google and under the right terms, their work doesn’t necessarily have to change. It would stop being a “custom ROM”, sure but I’d rather have those features vanilla anyway.
Other than that, I’ve yet to see anything commercially produced by CM and their partners that justify a $1B valuation. I mean, best of luck to them but I appreciate their work so much, I’d hate to see them end up loosing out in the end having turned this down. I mean, it’s happened in the past and now we laugh about those bad decisions.
makes more sense for a company that actually makes something to be valued that high when every little online picture or video service is getting that kind of money thrown at them…and with no revenue stream to talk about