 | |
Type of site | Technology News |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Owner | Rest of World Media Inc. |
| Founder | Sophie Schmidt |
| Editor | Anup Kaphle (Editor in Chief) |
| Key people |
|
| Employees | 30 |
| URL | restofworld |
| Advertising | No |
| Commercial | No |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | 2020 (5 years ago) (2020) |
| Current status | Active |
Rest of World is an American nonprofit publication covering technology stories outside western countries.[1][2][3] Launched in 2020 bySophie Schmidt,Rest of World focuses on the impact of technology in "glossed over"emerging consumer marketsoutside the developed West.[4][5] The publication is primarily funded by theSchmidt Family Foundation.[4]
Rest of World was first announced in May 2019 bySophie Schmidt, daughter of formerGoogle CEO,Eric Schmidt, andWendy Schmidt, as a publication about the impact of technology on the non-Western world, particularly inAfrica,Asia, andLatin America. The news website is operated by Rest of World Media Inc., an Americanprivate operating foundation established in April 2019.[6] The organization's operations are funded through multiple sources, including grants from foundations such as theSchmidt Family Foundation, donations and sponsorships.[7]
Rest of World was launched in May 2020.[8] That year,Anup Kaphle, a journalist who previously worked forThe Washington Post,BuzzFeed News andThe Kathmandu Post, joinedRest of World as its founding executive editor.[4] As of September 2020,Rest of World had 30 employees, with about 20 being full-time staffers.[2]
In January 2025, Maryam Saleh, previously an editor forThe Intercept,[9] joinedRest of World as its first Investigations Editor.[10]
Rest of World's office is located inNew York City, while most of its reporters are inBerlin,Hong Kong,Bangalore and other international locations.[8] They also rely on a network offreelancejournalists from around the globe.
Rest of World Media, Inc. is a501(c)(3) private operating foundation established in April 2019 and incorporated in the state ofDelaware as a nonprofit, charitable corporation. The foundation has one subsidiary, Rest of World Media International,LLC, formed in January 2020 and registered inKenya as a foreign company. Its purpose is to employ editorial staff.[6]
Rest of World has received numerous grants from notable organizations such as theSchmidt Family Foundation,Ford Foundation,Henry Luce Foundation, andLuminate – an entity operated by theOmidyar Group.
Sophie Schmidt said in September 2020 that she would be spending $60 million onRest of World over the next decade, with no plans to sell advertising or to use a subscription model. She said she might bring in another investor.[2]
Schmidt said in September 2020, "There are three or four billion people who live in markets that are deemed not important enough to address, so there is just a huge gap in understanding what is going on in the rest of the world."[2] Kaphle said in November 2021, "We believe there's a significant gap in how the story of technology is told today — how many thousands of tech companies, apps and experiences with tech go unreported in Western press — so our goal is to fill that gap with compelling, immersive, and high-quality journalism."[1]
Rest of World maintains partnerships with international news outlets such as India'sThe Caravan and Mexico'sAnimal Político [es].[1] It has extensively covered theelectric vehicle revolution, thegig economy, Chinese technology companies, andartificial intelligence in global markets.[11][12][13][14]
The publication won a 2024National Magazine Award in the design category, for articles on innovative non-western companies, Chinese shopping platforms, and how AI stereotypes different nationalities.[15][16][17][18] That year,Rest of World launched an AI Elections Tracker to examine the role AI plays in elections worldwide.[19]