SoftBank has outdone itself, announcing a mega-fund that tops its initial $100 billion Vision Fund at $108 billion gathered from a dozen investors. Vision Fund 2 will target the technology sector, with a focus on artificial intelligence. Of that $108 billion, nearly $40 billion will come from Masa Son’s own SoftBank Group.
The investors include Apple, Microsoft, and Kazakhstan’s sovereign wealth fund, according to SoftBank. With other investors including Goldman Sachs, the fund is expected to continue growing, Wall Street Journal reported.
Real estate companies that have received billions from the original Vision Fund include WeWork, Compass, Katerra and OpenDoor.
Questions still remain about when the fund will start operating — with some of the investors who were named in SoftBank’s press release saying they are waiting to see the fund’s term sheet before they decide how much they will invest. The minimum amount investors have to ante up is $100 million, and some firms voiced concerns over the fund’s transparency.
In the second iteration of the Vision Fund, SoftBank was able to keep two investors, Apple and Foxconn Technology Group, while attracting investors who are usually more skittish: pension firms, banks and insurance companies. Other Vision Fund investors who are likely to join Vision Fund 2 include Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund and the United Arab Emirates. [WSJ] – Georgia Kromrei