Cyanogen Closing in on Funding for Forked Version of Android

cyanogen modMobile startup Cyanogen which is developing a forked version of Android is reportedly near to closing a funding round that will see it raise $110m (£74.3m), placing the firms value at $500m.

According to Bloomberg, investing will be led by PremjiInvest, the investment vehicle of Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro. There were rumours that Microsoft were planning on a commercial deal with Cyanogen in order to get its software placed on the platform, but it appears as though the computing giant has now chosen not to invest.

Cyanogens Android-based interface enables users to customise their devices and content, and is already in use in phones made by OnePlus and other companies. Existing investors include Benchmark, Andreessen Horowitz and Redpoint Ventures, and Amazon, Yahoo and Samsung have all been rumoured to be interesting in partnering with the firm.