There have been a lot of moves by telecoms sector corporate investors over the past 12 month, many of them involving rotation at SoftBank and its Vision Fund. The latter is still aiming to substantially reduce operating cost. The downturn for tech has taken its toll on the Vision Fund, which registered paper losses of $49bn, likely foreshadowing further staff cuts.
US-based venture capital firm General Catalyst hired Dipchand ‘Deep’ Nishar, previously an Americas-focused senior managing partner at SoftBank’s fund management subsidiary, SoftBank Investment Advisers (SBIA). Nishar announced his intention to depart from SoftBank in September 2021, having joined SBIA in 2015 to invest in enterprise software, healthcare and frontier technology developers on behalf of the corporate’s Vision Funds. During his time working with the Vision Funds, Nishar led investments in portfolio companies including artificial intelligence software developer SambaNova, gene therapy developer ElevateBio, messaging platform developer Slack and biomanufacturer Zymergen.
Teddy Himler left his vice-president role at SoftBank and joined Singapore-headquartered venture capital firm Antler. Antler has appointed Himler a US-based global partner of investments in its later-stage investment team. The appoinment was disclosed as the firm raised $300m in capital from investors including insurer Phoenix Group, asset manager Schroders and the Danish government-backed Vækstfonden. SoftBank Group International (SBGI) hired Himler in 2018 and tasked him with conducting investments, mergers and acquisitions transactions and fundraising efforts. Before SBIG, Himler had been a principal for more than two years from 2016 at Comcast Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of mass media group Comcast.
Rajeev Misra, who helped turn SoftBank into one of the world’s biggest technology investors, is stepping back from some of his roles at the Japanese group to launch a new $6bn fund that will pursue investment strategies beyond startups. The new fund, reported by the Financial Times, is backed by United Arab Emirates-based Royal Group, a conglomerate involved in a variety of sectors including real estate, technology, education and healthcare. Emirati sovereign wealth fund Mubadala and Abu Dhabi investment firm ADQ also provided funding. Misra will continue to be involved with SoftBank at a senior level, as he will remain chief executive of SoftBank Investment Advisers UK, a subsidiary that manages the Japanese company’s Vision Funds.
Marcelo Claure, chief operating officer at SoftBank Group and the driving force behind its Latin America corporate venturing funds, left after a reported clash over compensation with founder Masayoshi Son. Michel Combes took over Claure’s responsibility for SoftBank Group International (SBGI) and now oversees its operating and investment portfolio. Claure, a GCV Powerlist 2021 award winner, had pressed for more money – as much as $1bn – and authority in recognition of his work, according to newswire Bloomberg, which broke the story.
Shu Nyatta and Paulo Passoni, two of the three managing partners at Japan-listed SoftBank’s Latin America-focused corporate venturing fund, reportedly left their positions. SoftBank promoted the Latin America fund’s third managing partner, Alex Szapiro, to a more senior position following their departure, according to newswire Bloomberg. Juan Franck, a fund investor in Mexico City, was also promoted. SoftBank is also planning to commit up to $2bn to the region, the newswire added.
In the full telecoms report:
- 5G starts to pull telecoms sector out of investment doldrums (free to read)
- Web3 is a ‘game changer’ for telecoms says Telefónica Ventures (free to read)
- Singtel on the hunt for new 5G tech with extra $100m (free to read)
For subscribers: - What is strategic investing for a telecoms company in 2022?
- Investments in telecoms startups halved in value last year
- Telecoms incumbents part of $50bn worth of exits in 2021
- A resurgence in telecoms funds?
- Fundraising by university telecoms spinouts picks up
- SoftBank creates ripple of job moves in telecoms sector
Michel Combes left his post as chief executive of SoftBank’s international subsidiary after five months, as turmoil continued to surround the company’s investment activities. SoftBank promoted Combes from president to CEO of SoftBank Group International (SBGI) in January 2022, when he replaced the departing Marcelo Claure. He took over management of the company’s international activities and oversaw its $5bn Latin America Fund.
In addition to the Latin America Fund, which has backed a string of unicorns including Digital Currency Group, Sorare and Rappi, the role also involves managing stakes in some of SoftBank’s larger portfolio companies, such as robotics manufacturer Boston Dynamics and online financial services provider SoFi.
It wasn’t all SoftBank moves, though. A number of other telecoms company venturing units saw changes of personnel.
Rich Osborn, head of Canada-listed telecoms firm Telus’ corporate venturing unit, left to rejoin venture capital firm RecapHealth Ventures as managing partner. Before joining Telus Ventures in 2016, Osborn was the founder and managing partner of RecapHealth Ventures, a Canada-based investor in North American healthcare companies. Prior to founding it, he was a partner at private equity firm Second City Capital Partners, acquiring majority ownership positions in mid-market companies.
Faraz Hoodbhoy (pictured), head of the startups platform at US-headquartered telecoms firm AT&T, has joined Parc, Xerox’s famed innovation centre in California, as vice-president of commercialisation and operations. Hoodbhoy, a GCV Rising Stars 2018 award winner, had been in charge of AT&T’s Innovation ecosystem outreach programme as well as its Palo Alto, California foundry, and was responsible for evaluating and delivering 120-plus commercial deals per year worth about $1.6bn (8% of AT&T’s capital expenditure budget).
Vishal Gupta departed from a director role at SBIA. Growth equity firm TA Associates hired Gupta as a director, a position which will involve him focusing on the Indian ecosystem from its office in Mumbai. Gupta joined SBIA in 2019 to target consumer, education and financial technology developers. He has held board positions at portfolio companies including payment software developer Juspay, banking technology provider Zeta and Eruditus, which provides remote adult education.
Rob Peets, director at Telus Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of Canada-listed phone operator Telus, left the unit. Peets had managed Telus’ $400m investment portfolio and led more than 50 transactions in venture-backed companies; deploying over $150m in investment capital in Canada, US, UK, Israel, China and Australia. In addition, he had been board representative to more than 20 companies and championed diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) certification to become the first corporate VC in North America to achieve Diversity VC Level II Standard.
Christian Noske joined Finland-based tech company Nokia’s corporate venturing unit as a partner to set up its German office. He will run NGP Capital in Berlin having previously moved to a partner position at Germany-based venture capital firm Target Global in December 2020. Noske had initially moved back to Europe after a decade in the United States to become head of Alliance Ventures, the $1bn investment vehicle formed by carmakers Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi, in September 2019, having joined the fund in California at the start of 2018.
Verizon Ventures, the corporate venturing subsidiary of Verizon,hired Alex Kaufman as a principal. Kaufman has been a founding general partner of APA Venture Partners, a venture capital firm which has so far invested in eight companies including air taxi developer Joby Aviation and fraud protection software provider Shape Security, both of which it has exited, since 2020. Prior to helping to form the firm, Kaufman had spent three years as a principal at air carrier JetBlue’s strategic investment arm, JetBlue Technology Ventures.
Peter Ibbotson was promoted to partner at Swisscom Ventures, the corporate venturing unit of Switzerland-based phone operator Swisscom. Since joining in 2017, he has been responsible for investor relations and fund administration of Swisscom’s two external funds, Digital Transformation Fund I and II, in addition to his investment activity.
Margaret Sheyindemi is reportedly set to depart from Wayra UK, the regional corporate venture capital and innovation hub of Spain-headquartered telecommunications company Telefónica. Sheyindemi had spent nearly four years at Wayra UK, first as an investment and partnerships associate for a year and a half from 2018, before moving up to an investor relations manager role two years later. In February 2022, Global Corporate Venturing named Sheyindemi a Rising Star.
