SoftBank Group’s SB Opportunity Fund to Continue Investing in Underrepresented Founders as an Evergreen Fund Following First $100M

• The SB Opportunity Fund will become an evergreen fund to allow for continued investment in U.S. Black, Latinx and Native American founders

• Investment Committee adds Catherine Lenson and Brett Rochkind of SoftBank Investment Advisers

• SoftBank Vision Fund’s Emerge program to extend 2022 cohort beyond Europe

-SoftBank Group Corp. (“SoftBank Group”) announced that the $100 million SB Opportunity Fund has been deployed in more than 70 companies founded by Black and Latinx founders in the U.S. – and will continue as an uncapped, evergreen fund as part of SoftBank Group’s ongoing commitment to invest in underrepresented founders.

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Launched with $100 million in June 2020, the Fund is investing in and building a community of technology companies founded by Black, Latinx and Native American entrepreneurs in the U.S. The initial $100 million was invested in a diverse array of technology companies that are expanding access to financial services, improving global hiring and payments, offering more inclusive health care, building blockchain infrastructure, and more.

Approximately 55% of the initial portfolio companies are Black-founded, 40% Latinx-founded and 5% Black/Latinx-founded, including 13% founded by women of color. The Fund includes four unicorn companies with a reported valuation of over $1 billion and has had two exits to date. Approximately 50% of the portfolio either raised, or is currently raising, another round of funding after the Fund’s initial investment, with many at multiplied valuations.

The SB Opportunity Fund launched in 24 hours as SoftBank Group made a commitment to invest in underrepresented founders in the wake of increased racial injustice. “Now SoftBank is doubling down by turning the initial investment into a lasting commitment,” said Shu Nyatta, Managing Partner at SoftBank Group International and leader of the Fund. “We are in this for the long haul.”

To support the Fund’s continued growth, SoftBank Investment Advisers (“SBIA”) Managing Partners Catherine Lenson and Brett Rochkind will join Investment Committee members Stacy Brown-Philpot (former TaskRabbit CEO) and entrepreneur and investor Paul Judge under Nyatta’s leadership.

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In addition to her new role with the SB Opportunity Fund, Lenson is the executive sponsor of the SoftBank Vision Fund Emerge program. Established in 2019, and working in parallel with the SB Opportunity Fund, Emerge aims to advance diversity in technology and entrepreneurship by providing founders across a spectrum of underrepresented backgrounds with the capital, tools, and network they need to scale their business. In addition to supporting European founders, the 2022 edition of Emerge will extend to applicants from underrepresented communities in a wider range of geographies, taking the program to new jurisdictions for the first time.

“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,” Lenson said. “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.”

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