Andy Rubin’s Essential startup could already be worth $1 billion
Andy Rubin had no problem securing funding for Essential, his new startup hardware company aiming to attract all the dollars by offering unique products. One of those products is the Essential phone, as well as an upcoming smart home hub.
Most startups tend to struggle with funding and would be lucky to reach even $1 million from excited venture capitalists, but Andy Rubin was able to secure $300 million to date. Benefactors include companies like Tencent, Foxconn, and Rubin’s own VC firms.
According to Bloomberg, the company’s valuation is close to $1 billion, if not square on that mark already.
That’s a lot of money for an “unproven” startup, but you have to remember that startup is headed by Andy Rubin, the man responsible for nurturing the world’s number 1 mobile operating system that we know and love as Android. That’s not to mention his many other successful ventures, such as Danger, which was the juice behind the wildly popular T-Mobile Sidekick back in the day.
So yeah, $1 billion is a lot for a valuation on a company that hasn’t sold a single product yet, but with a track record like Andy Rubin’s it’s probably even less than some expected it would be. Now let’s see if they can actually deliver the products that’ll earn them that kind of money.