Google Ventures kicked in maybe $200K from all of the research I've done, which, while no means is chump change, is chump change for Google.
I wouldn't follow that as any source for a trustworthy platform.
The thing about all of the coins, not just ripple is that the creators mine enough coins for thenselves. By enough, I mean a lot. How much is one ripple worth? Also now that its "open source" are you able to mine it?
Ripple or XRP? an XRP is worth approximately .04 cents. Ripple, the protocol and currency exchange, doesn't have a measurable 'value'. It is open source.
You cannot mine XRP. An XRP is required to conduct a transaction on the Ripple payment system/currency exchange. By charging a fraction of an XRP for each transaction it prevents denial of service attacks from spamming. That's why they made a ridiculous number of them .... 100 Billion. The greater the quantity of transactions in a short period of time, the increased cost to the sender. Thus, the system can't be crippled like other internet protocols HTTPS or FTP.
XRP are like ball bearing to the Ripple system. They are not the center of it. Dollars, Bitcoins, Euros, Litecoin, Yen, Sterling....those are the currencies.