[1][2][3] Launched in 2020 by Sophie Schmidt, Rest of World focuses on the impact of technology in "glossed over" emerging consumer markets outside the developed West.

Rest of World Media, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation established in April 2019 and incorporated in the state of Delaware as a nonprofit, charitable corporation.

[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.

[1] It has extensively covered the electric vehicle revolution, the gig economy, Chinese technology companies, and artificial intelligence in global markets.

[20][3] Prior to founding Rest of World in 2019, Schmidt held international technology and policy roles across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, including positions at Afghanistan's Moby Media Group and Xiaomi in Beijing, China.

[2][21] Schmidt has maintained that Rest of World represents her "life's project," emphasizing its mission to understand technology's impact in markets typically deemed "not important enough to address.