Coinbase Co-Founder’s New VC Firm Paradigm Raises $2.5 Billion for Crypto Investments

Coinbase co-founder Fred Ehrsam and ex-Sequoia Capital Partner Matt Huang have raised $2.5 billion (roughly Rs. 18,598 crore) for a venture capital fund aimed at the “next generation of crypto companies and protocols” called Paradigm One, making it the biggest crypto VC fund. Paradigm One was launched in 2018 with an initial $400 million (roughly Rs. 2,976 crore), and the eventual amount raised is double the initial investment goal for the VC fund. The size of Paradigm’s fund highlights the anticipation of a major boom in the crypto industry among…

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Institutional investment in real estate drops 12% in FY20 at nearly $4.5 billion: Report

Institutional investment in Indian real estate fell 12 per cent to $4.48 billion (around Rs 33,800 crore) last fiscal year on lower economic growth and uncertainty over the coronavirus pandemic, US-based property consultant Vestian said. “The fiscal year 2020 saw a total institutional investment of $4,480 million. This depicted a decline of 12 percent when compared with the quantum of investment in the previous year fiscal year 2019,” Vestian said in the report. During the fourth quarter of the last fiscal, institutional investment in real estate dropped 44 percent to…

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Altria stock craters after $4.1 billion hit from Juul investment, blames growing legal risk

Altria stock cratered as much as 7% Thursday after the tobacco company posted a fourth-quarter loss and took a $4.1 billion hit on its investment in e-cigarette company Juul, which faces mounting litigation and scrutiny over a surge in teen vaping. The Richmond, Virginia-based Marlboro maker said the impairment charge was due to the increased number of legal cases against Juul and the expectation that litigation will grow. Since the end of October, there has been an 80% increase in the number of legal cases pending against Juul, Altria said. Its…

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There Are Black Friday Type Deals On Small Business Saturday: $17.8 Billion Spent In 2018

In the midst of Black Friday and Cyber Monday planning and shopping, there are two additional “shopping” days you may want to know about. Small Business Saturday and Giving Tuesday. Each one came about, partly as a counter-movement to the big box retailer pushes to get people to spend. Note: I explore where to find Saturday specials here and “GivingTuesday” in a separate post that I will publish this weekend. NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 25: Lin-Manuel Miranda lights the Empire State Building blue in … [+] GETTY IMAGES If…

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Babylon Health Gets $2 Billion Valuation With New Funding That Will Help It Expand In U.S.

Ali Parsa CEO and cofounder of Babylon Health. BABYLON HEALTH Babylon Health, a U.K.-based startup whose fast growth has been shadowed by concerns about the efficacy of its telemedicine apps, has raised $550 million in Series C funding, elevating the company to unicorn status. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which invest on behalf of the Saudi Arabian government, led the round that valued the company at $2 billion with a total of $635 million raised. The new capital will enable the company to expand into more markets including the…

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Virgin’s Branson halts talks on $1 billion Saudi investment in space ventures

British billionaire Richard Branson said on Thursday that his Virgin Group would suspend its discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund over a planned $1 billion investment in the group’s space ventures, in light of the disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. “What has reportedly happened in Turkey around the disappearance of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, if proved true, would clearly change the ability of any of us in the West to do business with the Saudi government,” Branson said in a statement. Branson also said he would suspend his directorship…

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