Japan-based telecommunications and internet group SoftBank has begun discussions on raising a successor fund to its $93bn Vision Fund, Recode reported yesterday, citing multiple sources.
Vision Fund reached its $93bn first close in May 2017, having provided $28bn in cash and assets, with capital being supplied by limited partners including the United Arab Emirates’ Mubadala Investment Company and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and corporates Apple, Sharp, Foxconn and Qualcomm.
SoftBank reportedly expects to achieve a $100bn second close of Vision Fund in the upcoming weeks, but SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son would like to raise a supplementary fund to also make technology investments, the sources said.
The LPs for the prospective vehicle, which could be larger than Vision Fund could include backers of that fund, though no details have been disclosed about the parties with which SoftBank is in talks.
The second fund could form part of a $300bn asset management arm for SoftBank that Bloomberg reported earlier this month is under consideration.
Vision Fund has so far invested in about 15 companies including Flipkart, Slack, WeWork and OneWeb, most recently leading a $164m series C round for location services provider Mapbox last week. It is also closing in on a considerable investment in ride hailing service Uber.