AAA Kovacs to cover communications at Vision Fund

Kovacs to cover communications at Vision Fund

Andrew Kovacs has left venture capital firm Sequoia Capital to take the global head of communications position at Vision Fund, the venture capital fund run by telecommunications firm SoftBank.

Sequoia appointed Kovacs in 2012 to be its first communications and policy lead, assigning him responsibilities that included marketing services for the firm’s portfolio companies.

Kovacs previously spent five years working communications and public affairs as a senior manager at internet technology provider Google, now part of the Alphabet holding company.

SoftBank hired 10 team members for Vision Fund that were assigned to its London headquarters when the office opened at the end of 2016, but Kovacs will be based in San Francisco, alongside other recent hires.

Vision Fund reached a $97.7bn second close in November 2017, and according to SoftBank’s most recent quarterly financial report, which was published yesterday, Vision Fund and its companion Delta Fund have spent $27.5bn as of the start of 2018.

The $27.5bn figure did not however include the $7.67bn Vision Fund paid for primary and secondary shares in US-based ride hailing platform Uber, or the $4.58bn it invested in Uber’s China-based counterpart Didi Chuxing, which were listed by the firm as subsequent deals.

The fund’s recent deals include a $300m investment in dog-walking network Wag and a $565m stake purchase in Germany-based online used vehicle marketplace Auto1 Group last month.

SoftBank is reportedly preparing to raise a successor fund, having reportedly opened talks in October 2017 with potential investors including Vision Fund’s current limited partners.

Photo courtesy of LinkedIn.

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