The archive · Consumer Apps · Strategic decision · 2009–2013
Cyanogen raises $7M to turn CyanogenMod into the third mobile OS
The Android ROM with 8M+ users takes Benchmark and Redpoint money to chase Windows Phone as the third mobile platform.
Cyanogen Inc.
What the business is
Cyanogen ships CyanogenMod, a free open-source replacement Android firmware that strips carrier bloatware, updates phones carriers abandoned, and adds themes, a camera app and secure messaging; the company raised $7M to push that hobbyist ROM mainstream.
Starting capital：$7M from Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures; the round closed around April 2013 and was announced on September 18, 2013.
How it started
Steve Kondik began building CyanogenMod in 2009 as a one-person side project while working as a developer in Pittsburgh, then spent 19 months as a Samsung software engineer before quitting in March 2013. The ROM brought the latest Android to phones carriers had abandoned, stripped out carrier bloatware in favor of near-stock Android, and added themes, a camera app and more secure messaging — benefits millions accepted a brutal install process to reach.
What happened
On 2013-09-18 Cyanogen said it had raised $7M from Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures, a round closed around April, and had hired a team of 17 split between Seattle and Palo Alto. CEO Kirt McMaster, previously a Boost Mobile co-founder, set the goal of vaulting past BlackBerry and Windows Phone to become the third-most-popular mobile OS, and the company was building a one-click Windows installer and a hardware-manufacturer partnership, with a possible consumer-friendly rebrand the following year. CyanogenMod would stay free; McMaster's answer on revenue was that a default OS with 50M users would find ways to make money, while Kondik framed today's phones as "mobile cash registers" Cyanogen would turn into productivity and privacy tools. The Verge noted the open risks: Google certification for core apps and carriers who prefer locked devices.
No ending yet — it is still running.
Background
CyanogenMod began in 2009 as Steve Kondik's one-person side project: a replacement firmware that brought the latest Android to phones carriers had abandoned, stripped out bloatware, and added themes, a camera app and secure messaging. Users had to wade through a 23-step install that could damage the phone and void its warranty, yet millions did, because the alternative was a carrier-loaded Android that stopped getting updates.
On September 18, 2013 the company behind the ROM said it had raised $7 million from Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures, a round that had closed around April, and had grown to a 17-person team split between Seattle and Palo Alto. CEO Kirt McMaster — previously a Boost Mobile co-founder — framed the goal as vaulting past BlackBerry and Windows Phone to become the third-most-popular mobile operating system, arguing CyanogenMod's true user base of 8 million-plus data-sharing users (two to three times that by his estimate) was already comparable to Windows Phone.
The money was earmarked for widening reach: a one-click Windows installer for less technical users and a hardware-manufacturer partnership the company said it would announce within weeks, with a possible consumer-friendly rebrand the following year. The firmware would remain free, and the founders declined to detail revenue plans, with McMaster saying a default OS with 50 million users would find many ways to make money.
The open questions were structural: core Google apps like Gmail and Maps require Google certification, carriers prefer closed devices, and the article noted Google had not commented publicly on Cyanogen's bid. Kondik's own framing was that phones had become "mobile cash registers" — co-opted by carriers and device makers — leaving room for a version of Android built around what users actually wanted.
What has to be true
- Kondik proved demand first: millions adopted a ROM that required a brutal, warranty-voiding install, showing users would move for a cleaner, current Android.
- Cyanogen's pitch was product-led: bringing updates to abandoned phones and stripping bloatware addressed what carriers and OEMs would not.
- McMaster aimed at a measurable prize — third place behind Android and iOS — and used Windows Phone's small but real share as the benchmark to beat.
- The revenue bet was deferred and explicit: keep the OS free, reach default-OS scale, then monetize through services users could not get elsewhere.
What can be applied
A volunteer ROM can outgrow its ecosystem, but going mainstream means fixing installation, winning hardware partners and showing how a free OS makes money — scale proves demand, not a model.
Aftermath
As of 2013-09-18 Cyanogen had just announced its $7M round from Benchmark Capital and Redpoint Ventures, with a 17-person team in Seattle and Palo Alto, and was finishing a one-click Windows installer while preparing a hardware-manufacturer partnership due within the week. CyanogenMod had more than 8M users who shared data, per CEO Kirt McMaster, who estimated the true base at two to three times that and set the goal of becoming the third-most-popular mobile OS behind Android and iOS. The article records no later milestones, so the case stops at the funding announcement.
Sources
- Fork in the road: Cyanogen raises $7 million to build a better version of Android
- Cyanogen raises $7 million to build a better version of Android
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