SoftBank Plans Second AI Venture Fund of More Than $55 Million

SoftBank Plans Second AI Venture Fund of More Than $55 Million
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SoftBank’s early-stage venture capital arm is setting up a second investment fund dedicated to unearthing promising startups in artificial intelligence, according to Bloomberg.

Deepcore is preparing to form a new AI investment fund in two to three years as it expands its core startup incubation business, CEO Katsumasa Niki said in an interview. The company aims to find promising companies and nurture the next generation of up-and-comers, enroute to addressing Japan’s deficit of global AI firms. Deepcore’s second fund will surpass the 6 billion yen ($55 million) raised for the first, Niki said.

The effort is separate from SoftBank’s much better-known Vision Fund, the $100 billion giant that has made large bets on industries from ride-hailing and autonomous driving to co-working spaces. Billionaire founder Son says what unifies those investments is the way they will use AI, redefining every industry and creating new ones. This month, the Japanese investment conglomerate named renowned AI expert and Deepcore-adviser Yutaka Matsuo to its board.

SoftBank began a startup incubation business in February 2018 by forming Deepcore, which went on to set up an AI fund that SoftBank, Yahoo Japan, Dentsu and soccer player Keisuke Honda invested in. That fund has since invested in 18 early-stage startups as of May, said Niki, who oversaw investment projects for SoftBank until 2016 and was instrumental in the acquisitions of Vodafone’s Japanese mobile unit and Sprint.