AAA SoftBank secures more corporates for $100bn Vision Fund

SoftBank secures more corporates for $100bn Vision Fund

Mobile semiconductor producer Qualcomm has agreed to invest in the $100bn Vision Fund being raised by telecommunications and internet group SoftBank, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.

News of Qualcomm’s commitment, which it has moved closer to sealing in the past few days according to people familiar with the matter, emerged on the same day as computing product manufacturer Apple confirmed it will invest $1bn in the fund.

Contract electronics manufacturer Foxconn is also investing in the fund, as is the family office of Larry Ellison, co-founder of computing technology provider Oracle, according to SoftBank.

The contributions have taken Vision Fund above the $100bn mark, people familiar with the matter told the WSJ, adding that it will officially launch in the next few weeks.

SoftBank announced the fund in October 2016, disclosing that it would invest $25bn of its own money in the unit, which will make late-stage investments in companies developing next-generation technology such as artificial intelligence and robotics.

Another key focus could be internet-of-things technology, which would combine the hardware expertise of Apple and the chip technology of Qualcomm with some of the internet technology SoftBank is targeting. Apple is also working on autonomous car tech.

Industrial proeuct and appliance maker Siemens is pursuing a similar strategy, having announced a $1.1bn fund called Next47 in June 2016 with the aim of backing disruptive technology.

In addition to the latest investors, the Saudi Arabia state-owned Public Investment Fund is reportedly set to provide $45bn for Vision Fund, while Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Development Company and another sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority, have been in talks to invest.

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