Japan-headquartered internet and telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank disclosed yesterday it is converting its $100m SB Opportunity Fund to an evergreen vehicle to continue investing in underrepresented founders.
The fund was launched in June 2020 with $100m and has since invested in more than 70 technology companies founded by black, Latinx and Native American founders in the United States.
The vehicle will continue to invest as an uncapped evergreen fund, with new cohorts reaching beyond the US. Some 55% of its portfolio companies are founded by black entrepreneurs, 45% by Latinx entrepreneurs and the remaining 5% include founders who collectively come under both brackets.
Earlier this month, the fund invested in Web3 development tool provider DNABlock’s $7m seed round, two months after it participated in a $130m series B round valuing rental data software provider Esusu at $1bn.
SB Opportunity Fund’s portfolio also includes blockchain payment network developer Paystand, hair appointment booking service Squire and immigration support software provider Welcome Tech.
Catherine Lenson and Brett Rochkind, managing partners at SoftBank Investment Advisers, which manages Vision Fund, are joining SB Opportunity Fund.
Lenson, also an executive sponsor of Vision Fund’s Emerge programme, which aims to advance diversity in entrepreneurship, said: “The SB Opportunity Fund and Emerge are two core pillars of SoftBank Group’s ongoing effort to support a more equitable ecosystem within venture capital and technology, that should reflect the world in which we live.
“Through the Opportunity Fund and Emerge, SoftBank has invested in an incredible pool of companies and will continue to identify new ones, while focusing on creating value for the portfolio by leveraging the vast resources that SoftBank’s network has to offer.”
