Andy Rubin’s Essential is now valued at over a billion dollars without shipping a single phone

Essential, the new phone startup from Android founder Andy Rubin, is now a

unicorn, according to reports from Bloomberg columnist Tim Culpan over the weekend. If you’re not up to date on the parlance of Silicon Valley, a unicorn is a company that’s valued at over $1 billion dollars, which is no small feat in today’s market. This title is even more impressive, given that Essential has yet to ship a single device to consumers. IT’S IMPRESSIVE, GIVEN THAT ESSENTIAL HAS YET TO SHIP A SINGLE PHONE According to Culpan, Foxconn's FIH Mobile filing for a $3 million investment in Essential for around 0.25 percent of the fledgling phone company revealed Essential’s new unicorn status with a valuation of around $1.2 billion. Earlier estimates from July had previously pegged Essential’s worth at approximately $997 million, so crossing the $1 billion mark was likely only a matter of time at that point. This is good news for Essential, particularly as the company approaches the launch of its first product.                                                                                            https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2017/8/14/16142772/andy-rubin-essential-phone-valuation-billion-dollars-unicorn-value