Cyanogen to open an office in India this summer

India’s fast growing smartphone market has attracted a lot of attention over the past year, with local talent and foreign brands all looking to grab a share. Cyanogen has also sensed the opportunity and is preparing to set-up a dedicated base of operations in the country over the next three months.

The Indian team will be located in either Bengaluru or Delhi and will consist of some 50 members, adding a third to the company’s existing employee headcount. Once setup, the group will be working on adding local flavors to its custom Android operating system, possibly in the form of some local apps and features that Cyanogen talked about before. Quality testing and assurance in the country will also be done from the new base.

“India is very attractive. It is one of the hyper-growth markets for mobile today, … Premji Invest is a big investor…and that was a deliberate decision, as India a big market for us,” – Vikram Natarajan, senior vice-president of global partnerships and distribution at Cyanogen

The costs are being covered by part of the recent $80 million round of funding and could also be used to acquire some small local companies to help get things moving. Premji Invest, an investment firm based in India, was one of the largest backers in the last round of funding.

Of course, Cyanogen is no stranger to India. The company has done a deal with Micromax to exclusively install its Cyanogen OS onto the company’s handsets. We’ll have to see how Cyanogen’s expansion plans play out and whether it will continue to partner up with local brands or if it has something more ambitious in store for India.