Author: ricardofrancois

On March 11, mysterious The startup announced that it raised $67 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion and reached $263 million in sales in 2023. Did you guess that this startup is Liquid Death, a bottled water company? Liquid Death has now raised more than $267 million in venture funding despite being in a category that doesn't interest many investors. Beverages are a difficult industry for venture capital to invest in because they are capital intensive; Requires talent in selecting companies that will sell well on retail shelves or other direct-to-consumer methods; It inspires repeat customers instead of just…

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A major exchange-traded fund provider delves into two popular plays: big tech and weight-loss drug stocks.In healthcare, Roundhill Investments is preparing to launch a fund focused on companies that produce GLP-1 drugs. Dave Mazza, the company's chief strategy officer, expects to have more information about the fund's debut in May.“It's going to be important to kind of monitor this space,” Mazza told CNBC's “ETF Edge” this week. “We're going to see some rapid progress in pharmaceuticals. We're already seeing rapid progress of these leaders launching new medicines and new opportunities to market.”This won't be Roundhill's first new product this year.…

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Photography by Nico Di Pasquale moment | Getty ImagesSo-called connected cars, vehicles equipped with Internet access, are becoming the norm, and their proliferation is raising alarm bells for consumer data privacy advocates.By 2030, more than 95% of passenger vehicles sold will likely have built-in connectivity, according to Counterpoint Technology Market Research. This allows vehicle manufacturers to offer functionality related to safety, security, predictive maintenance, and forecasting. But it also opens the door for companies to collect, share or sell data about driving habits and other personal information that people may not want to share.Most automakers provide options to opt out…

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The Bahamas has more than 700 islands and cays; Remote workers and students can live in 16 of them, including Eleuthera (shown here).Sylvain Sonnet | Photo Bank | Getty ImagesWord that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce had been spotted mooring on this tiny (5 square mile) spot of the island for vacation was met with awe by tourists who had gathered to watch the bar's stunning sunset, and with dismay by locals, concerned that their little spot of paradise Theirs will turn into the next St. Barts.“I heard she lives right down the street,” a woman sitting alone at the…

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One in four American households has a member who suffers from migraines, according to the Migraine Foundation of America.“I get asked all the time about a migraine diet,” she says. [and] “There's no one true migraine diet” that can prevent symptoms, says Dr. Fred Cohen, a headache specialist and assistant professor of medicine and neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.But some foods can cause… [migraine]“And it makes symptoms worse,” Cohen adds.Here are some foods cited by migraine sufferers, people who frequently get migraines, as triggers for migraine attacks.12 foods that may cause headaches and migrainesCohen and…

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Stay informed with free updatesSimply subscribe to myFT Digest for Real Estate – delivered straight to your inbox.Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster's property company, is launching a £900m lending business focused on residential development, as property investors choose debt investments over the risk of buying assets with fragile valuations. The group, which owns large swathes of London's Mayfair and Belgravia areas, wants to expand its investments to include different types of residential properties across the country, including homes for sale as well as rental, student and retirement accommodation. Grosvenor said the money for the lending business would come from “organic…

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Bankers believe a string of companies could follow Reddit into the US stock market in the coming months, after the social media group's shares jumped 48 per cent on its debut. A steady and sustained rise in activity would breathe life into the IPO market, which has been largely shut down since 2021.This week, the Reddit company sold $748 million worth of shares priced at the top of its suggested range, and its shares rose on the New York Stock Exchange as trading opened. A day earlier, shares of artificial intelligence infrastructure group Astera Labs rose 72 percent in their…

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Zhimin Qian dreamed that the Dalai Lama would anoint her as an incarnate goddess and become Queen of Liberland, an unrecognized microstate located on the Danube River, where she would build the largest Buddhist temple in Europe.Qian was on the run from Beijing authorities, and she had the money to believe such crazy dreams could become a reality: huge sums of Bitcoin from a £5bn investment scam she allegedly ran in China, defrauding more than 128,000 people.Qian, 45, was at the center of a money laundering trial in London, which ended this week with the conviction of her “carer and…

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Big oil companies used an industry conference this week to argue against a rapid shift to green energy, with fossil fuel companies emboldened by rising demand and record profits despite growing concern about climate change.Executives attending the annual CERAWeek meeting in Houston expressed confidence that fossil fuel consumption will continue to grow, just months after world leaders pledged at the COP28 climate summit to begin a “transition away from fossil fuels” and triple the use of renewable energy sources by 2030.“The environment right now is very positive for the oil and gas industry,” Alan Armstrong, CEO of Williams, the largest…

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Lilybird | E+ | Getty ImagesSeparating in old age can be costly, especially for women.The rate of “gray divorce” — a term that describes divorce at age 50 and older — doubled from 1990 to 2019, according to a 2022 study in the Journal of Gerontology. It has tripled for adults over 65.In 1970, about 8% of divorced Americans were 50 or older. The study found that by 2019, this percentage had jumped to a “staggering” 36%.About 1 in 10 people — 9% — who broke up in 2019 were at least 65 years old.Meanwhile, divorce rates have declined among…

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