Optiemus to do CMF’s full-stack smartphone R&D

Day after Nothing’s CEO Carl Pei said that CMF will be a standalone Indian entity , the Noida-based Optiemus Group has said to join Nothing’s upcoming Series A investment round for the CMF.

“This partnership is designed to go beyond ownership and manufacturing, with the ambition of building CMF into India’s first smartphone brand with full-stack, end-to-end R&D capabilities,” the companies said.

Formally, the expanded partnership takes forward the manufacturing joint venture (JV) that Nothing and Optiemus announced in September 2025, which will make products for Nothing and CMF.

The JV will now move into a deeper, more comprehensive partnership that will do manufacturing, ownership, and R&D under a single Indian entity with CMF.

“CMF’s investment in local R&D and engineering is intended to build on that foundation, taking India’s role in the smartphone value chain from manufacturing towards technology development and global exports.”