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Showing posts from November 14, 2018

Biotech holding company Roivant Sciences raised $200M in funding at a whopping $7B valuation

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Roivant Sciences  has had a bumpy couple of years, but that isn’t stopping investors from pouring more money into the four-year-old company, which aims to one day be a giant parent company for dozens of independent biopharmaceutical spinoffs — and is fulfilling that vision by creating one independent company at a time. Roivant’s newest financing event: a $200 million raise at a post-money valuation of $7 billion, led by NovaQuest Capital Management, which is an investor in two of Roivant’s companies; RTW Investments, an investment firm focused on biopharma; an unnamed “large U.S. insurance company;” and an unnamed “big U.S. investment firm,” according to a company spokesman. The round follows a  $1.1 billion round  led last year by SoftBank’s Vision Fund, which Roivant now says was closed at a post-money valuation of $5.6 million, though it didn’t necessarily look like money well spent at the time. To wit, r oughly one month after the financing ...

Essential enters dongle hell with a $149 audiophile-grade headphone adapter Share Tweet

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We know, you miss your headphone jack. Like other smartphones, the  Essential Phone  has done away with the feature, but the company has just launched its  long-touted  external headphone adapter and DAC, which magnetically snaps on to the back of your phone. To be fair, Essential's adapter doesn't claim to be  like the other plasticky dongles , which are a fraction of the price. Essential claims its titanium adapter "sports an audiophile-grade amp that can drive audiophile-grade headphones" thus providing "studio quality audio performance."  At the time of writing, the accessory has sold out, with stock to be replenished next week. It's a different outcome to Essential's first phone, the PH-1,  which sold poorly  following delays. Still, Essential is  reportedly working on a new phone  which will be controlled entirely by your voice, which it is looking to unveil next year at CES.  And it ain't cheap: The  Au...

Rare Royal Delight: Prince Charles is pictured with his entire dynasty to celebrate his 70th birthday

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Today, November 14th 2018 marks the 70th birthday of Prince Charles and to celebrate, he's  photographed for the first time ever with his entire dynasty including; two sons and their wives, three grandchildren, and another yet to be born.   The rare roayal photos were released moments ago to mark the future king’s milestone and according to the palace, the images were taken in the gardens of Clarence House in September. To further celebrate, Prince Charles will attend two meetings at Clarence House and this afternoon will attend a tea party with his wife and 70 inspirational people also marking their 70th birthdays, at Spencer House in London.   Guests will include volunteers for a number of charities such as The Prince’s Trust, The Silver Line and Barnardo’s. Later tonight, the Queen will host a private party at Buckingham Palace for more than 600 guests to celebrate her son’s milestone. In honour of the occasion, Char...