TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SoftBank Group Corp. (“SoftBank” or “SBG”) today announced the launch of the SoftBank Latin America Fund II (“Fund II”), its second dedicated private investment fund focused on technology companies in the Latin American market with an initial US$3 billion commitment. Fund II will explore options to raise additional capital.
Fund II builds on the success of the US$5 billion SoftBank Latin America Fund, which was announced in March 2019, and has made significant progress, including:
- Generated a gross local currency IRR of 103%, gross USD IRR of 90% and net USD IRR of 85%1, having invested US$3.5 billion in 48 companies with a fair value of US$6.9 billion as of June 30, 2021.
- Invested in 15 out of 25 LatAm unicorns2, including QuintoAndar, Rappi, Mercado Bitcoin, Gympass and MadeiraMadeira, as of September 14, 2021.
- Participated in significant value uplift for portfolio companies in USD, including 4.4x for Kavak, 4.4x for VTEX, 2.6x for QuintoAndar and 3.5x for Banco Inter, as of June 30, 2021.
- Diversified the Fund with investments throughout Latin America, including in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Argentina and Ecuador.
Marcelo Claure, Corporate Officer, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of SoftBank Group Corp. and Chief Executive Officer of SoftBank Group International, leads the SoftBank Latin America Funds, with an investment team – run by Managing Partners Shu Nyatta and Paulo Passoni – and an operations team led by Alex Szapiro, Operating Partner and Head of Brazil. The investment and operations teams operate out of Miami, São Paulo and Mexico City, with a total of more than 60 people. Fund II intends to invest in technology-enabled companies across countries and industries at every stage of their development, from seed to public, throughout the rapidly developing region, identifying prospective investments that are utilizing emerging technologies and AI to define and reshape new industries, with a focus on e-commerce, digital financial services, healthcare, education, blockchain, and enterprise software, among others.
Masayoshi Son, Representative Director, Corporate Officer, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of SoftBank Group Corp., said, “Latin America is one of the most important economic regions in the world, and SoftBank will continue to drive technology adoption that will benefit hundreds of millions of people in this part of the world. There is so much innovation and disruption taking place in Latin America, and I believe the business opportunities there have never been stronger. Latin America is a critical part of our strategy – this is why we are expanding our presence and doubling down on our commitment with Marcelo at the helm.”
Marcelo Claure said, “Over the past two years, we have seen tremendous success and returns from the SoftBank Latin America Fund that far exceeded our expectations. The amazing work and vision that Latin America’s entrepreneurs have demonstrated in the region gives us confidence that its digital transformation will continue to accelerate – in fact, we expect that 2022 will be the biggest IPO year in Latin America’s history. Now is the time for us to double down on our commitment to the region. We will continue to support the growth of technology companies across nearly three dozen countries and are proud to be the most active technology investor in the region.”
About SoftBank Group
The SoftBank Group invests in breakthrough technology to improve the quality of life for people around the world. The SoftBank Group is comprised of SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO: 9984), an investment holding company that includes stakes in telecommunications, internet services, AI, smart robotics, IoT and clean energy technology providers; the SoftBank Vision Funds, which are investing more than US$135 billion to help extraordinary entrepreneurs transform industries and shape new ones; the US$5 billion SoftBank Latin America Fund, the largest venture fund in that region; the newly-launched US$3 billion SoftBank Latin America Fund II; and the SB Opportunity Fund, a US$100 million fund dedicated to investing in enterprises founded by entrepreneurs of color in the U.S. To learn more, please visit https://group.softbank/en.
1 Gross IRRs are based on the investment cash flows at the Fund level and without considering certain operating expenses and performance fees of the Fund starting from the date of warehouse asset transfer of November 11, 2019. Net USD IRR is net of expenses and performance fee costs and include the benefit due to debt/lending; the IRR takes into account capital contributions and distributions starting on the first capital contribution at the Fund’s formation. Net Equity USD IRR as of June 30, 2021 is 104%; is Net USD IRR but modified to reflect the additional impact or benefit of performance fee accrual as of June 30, 2021. The information included herein is provided for illustrative purposes only to reflect Fund performance and is subject to various assumptions. Although SoftBank believes such calculations to be reasonable they are based on criteria that are inherently subjective and rely on assumptions that may ultimately prove incorrect. There can be no assurance that historical trends will continue throughout the life of the SoftBank Latin America Fund I or any future strategy managed by SBLA Advisers Corp. (“SBLA”). Nothing herein should be construed to imply that the SoftBank Latin America Fund I or any future strategy managed by SBLA will be profitable or successful or that SBLA will be successful in executing on the strategy of SoftBank Latin America Fund I or any future fund. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Nothing herein constitutes an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy investment interests in the Fund, any future strategy managed by SBLA or the securities of SoftBank Group Corp. The portfolio investments listed herein represent a subset of the portfolio investments currently held by SoftBank Latin America Fund I. A full list of investments is available upon request to SBLAA-compliance@softbank.com
2 Note: Unicorn defined as at least $1B post-money valuation in latest private round; includes companies that have recently gone public but received +$1B valuation in latest private round. The list does not include companies that were already publicly listed and valued over $1B in 2019