REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
- One day after reports circulated about Microsoft’s involvement in SoftBank’s newest venture fund, the Japanese telecom giant confirmed it raised $108 billion for Vision Fund II.
- SoftBank’s second venture fund is backed by returning investors from its first fund, including Apple, Foxconn, in addition to new banking partners.
- Previous reports found that SoftBank was negotiating a deal with Microsoft that included promoting its cloud service Azure over Amazon’s Web Services for its portfolio.
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SoftBank has closed $108 billion for its second Vision Fund — a mega-sized fund that the Japanese giant intends to invest in startups.
Confirming previous reports, the Japanese telecom giant’s Vision Fund II counts Apple, Foxconn, and Microsoft as backers from the tech industry, in addition to several international banking partners.
SoftBank’s first Vision Fund backed some of the biggest names in tech, including Uber, Slack, and soon-to-be-public WeWork. Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son personally led the $100 billion first fund since its launch in 2017.
According to the release, Mizuho Bank, Sumitomo Mitsui, MUFG Bank, Dai-ichi, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust, SMBC Nikko, Daiwa, National Investment Corporation of National Bank of Kazakhstan, and Standard Chartered Bank are among the banking partners expected to back this new fund.
SoftBank itself will also commit $38 billion to the second fund, less than the expected $40 billion that was previously expected.
Goldman Sachs and Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, a sovereign wealth fund, were both backers of SoftBank’s first Vision Fund, but were not listed as confirmed backers for Vision Fund II. However, the release only includes companies that have signed on to the fund, and does not exclude others from joining the fund at a later date.
Previous reports indicated that SoftBank was negotiating a deal with Microsoft that included promoting its cloud service Azure over Amazon’s Web Services for its portfolio. It’s not clear if the finalized deal includes such a provision.
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Source: Business Insider – mhernbroth@businessinsider.com (Megan Hernbroth)