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Softbank group, which is one of the largest Japanese tech giant venture capital firms, has now been rebranded themselves as the Softbank Venture Asia, and will now focus more on the investment in the Southeastern part of China and Asia.
Softbank Ventures Asia is one of the early stage investment vehicles of the Softbank Group and will now act as a bridge to the Softbank ecosystem by simply funding and sourcing the best entrepreneurs and startups.
As of now, it is currently working in the Seoul, Beijing, Tel Aviv, San Francisco. Softbank Ventures Asia is as of now looking to expand much more its presence by opening offices and hiring some of the more investment professionals in the Shanghai and Singapore.
“I am excited by the opportunity to enhance our presence in the early stage and look forward to backing passionate entrepreneurs with the boldest, most life-changing ideas. Our vision is to support promising young entrepreneurs by offering unparalleled access to SoftBank’s community, resources, and network,” said JP Lee, CEO and Managing Partner of SoftBank Ventures Asia. “SoftBank Ventures Asia invests to accelerate the Information Revolution and is increasingly interested in the application of artificial intelligence across different industries.”
Softbank Ventures Asia is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Softbank Group Corp and was established as Softbank Ventures Korea in the year 2000. While on the other hand initially focused on the Korean market only, which is starting in 2011 it has expanded to make much more investment in the startups across the globe. With more than $1.1 Billion under management, Softbank Venture Asia has as of now invested in more than 250 companies across the 10 countries with a focus on the Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence and robotics startups.