Razer acquires cloud-focused smartphone manufacturer Nextbit

Hardware manufacturer Razer has acquired smartphone manufacturer Nextbit for an undisclosed sum.

Nextbit is a San Francisco-based manufacturer founded in 2013 and released its first smartphone, the Robin, in 2015.

The Robin is an Android phone with cloud functionality built into the Android OS to automatically backup all files and apps. It also incorporates machine learning to track how users interact with the phone and free up space based on what users make use of the least.

More disruption

"Nextbit is one of the most exciting companies in the mobile space," said Razer Co-Founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan.

"With the talent that Nextbit brings to Razer, we look forward to unleashing more disruption and growing our business in new areas."

Razer set up a $30 million investment arm called zVentures in September 2016. The aim of the fund is to invest in new technologies such as AR, VR, eSports and so on.