SoftBank plans second Vision Fund worth $108 bln

Japan-based SoftBank Group plans to launch a second Vision Fund with total investments worth $108 billion from investors including Microsoft, Apple, Standard Chartered and Kazakhstan’s sovereign fund, it said in a statement Friday.

SoftBank will put $38 billion of its own money in the new fund (compared to $28 billion invested in the first Vision Fund), expecting investments from other mega tech firms such as Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn, the statement added.  

The new fund will target “market-leading, tech-enabled growth companies” to facilitate “the continued acceleration of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) revolution”, said SoftBank.

It also stated that “major participants” from Taiwan had signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs), as well as seven Japanese financial groups including the top three banks — Mizuho, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and MUFG Bank — and Dai-ichi Life Insurance and Daiwa Securities. 

SoftBank Group launched its first Vision Fund in May 2017 in an attempt to transform the group from a telecom-centered conglomerate into a global investment powerhouse. 

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) signed an agreement in May 2017 to invest around $45 billion in Softbank Vision Fund over five years, Argaam previously reported.