SoftBank’s second, $30bn Vision Fund reportedly plans to invest $100m in a new fund started by Jeffrey Housenbold, former managing partner at telecommunications and internet group SoftBank’s first, near-$100bn Vision Fund, according to the Financial Times.
Honor Ventures aims to raise between $500m and $600m for investments in consumer tech startups, according to a presentation viewed by the Financial Times. This would make it one of the largest first-time venture funds at its targeted size.
Honor would look to invest between $20m and $50m in each deal and accept no more than $1bn in capital, according to the presentation.
Housenbold, , a former GCV Rising Star award winner, left SoftBank in July to set up Honor after a string of deals for the fund, including DoorDash, OpenDoor, Compass, Rappi, Memphis Meats, Ordermark, Alto Pharmacy, Plenty, Whoop, Globality, Clutter, Get Your Guide, Katerra, Brandless, Wag, Heed and InMobi, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He remains an adviser to chief executive Masayoshi Son and the head of the Vision Fund, Rajeev Misra, the FT said.
Housenbold told the newspaper he planned to win deals by providing counsel to startup founders.
“The CEOs believe I can add more value than just capital,” Housenbold said in an interview. “If it is just a capital raise, there are plenty of people with much larger funds.”
Housenbold said he saw new opportunities in agriculture tech, digital health, food and several other consumer sectors.
