The 500 Startups Japan crew is going independent. The VC firm announced a $30 million fund in 2015, and now the follow up is a new $45 million fund called Coral Capital. Helmed by James Riney and Yohei Sawayama, just like 500 Startups Japan, Coral will essentially continue the work the U.S. firm made in Japan, […]
View More 500 Startups Japan becomes Coral Capital with a new $45M fundCategory: Masayoshi Son
Vision Fund startups Fanatics and Coupang unite to sell US sports merch in Korea
SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son has repeatedly described the Vision Fund as a club for the world’s most exciting startups and, while even the fund’s own LP seem to disagree with some of its investment thesis, its portfolio companies do frequently come together. The latest Vision Fund partnership pairs two e-commerce firms in opposite corners of […]
View More Vision Fund startups Fanatics and Coupang unite to sell US sports merch in KoreaWith $90 million in funding, the Ginkgo spinoff Motif joins the fight for the future of food
Continuing its quest to become the Amazon Web Services for biomanufacturing, Ginkgo Bioworks has launched a new spinoff called Motif Ingredients with $90 million in funding to develop proteins that can serve as meat and dairy replacements. It’s the second spinout for Ginkgo since late 2017 when the company partnered with Bayer to launch Joyn […]
View More With $90 million in funding, the Ginkgo spinoff Motif joins the fight for the future of foodOil and gas giants Chevron and Occidental are backing tech to combat carbon emissions
Carbon Engineering, a Canadian company developing technology to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and process it for use in enhanced oil recovery or in the creation of new synthetic fuels, has locked in financing from two big industry backers — Chevron and Occidental Petroleum — to bring its products to market. The undisclosed amount […]
View More Oil and gas giants Chevron and Occidental are backing tech to combat carbon emissionsWeWork rebranding won’t work
The company formerly known as WeWork has rebranded as the We Company — although a better name for its network of on-demand office spaces for the newly incorporated and nominally employed; co-living spaces for the same Easyjet-set; and educational and coding services could be “House of Cards”. News of the rebranding (first reported via Fast Company) comes […]
View More WeWork rebranding won’t workFor SoftBank, no majority stake in WeWork as it scales down talks from a new $16 billion investment to $2 billion
Several weeks after it was reported by the WSJ that two of the biggest investors in SoftBank’s massive Vision Fund vehicle were cool on its planned $16 billion investment in the coworking company WeWork, those plans have changed radically, says the Financial Times. According to its sources — and confirmed by our own — SoftBank […]
View More For SoftBank, no majority stake in WeWork as it scales down talks from a new $16 billion investment to $2 billionWith today’s IPO sinking, a year of highs and lows for SoftBank
If there was a word that dominated startup and tech news coverage this year, it was SoftBank. The Japanese telecom conglomerate’s Vision Fund pushed out a prodigious amount of capital this year — quite literally billions of dollars — into companies as diverse as a molecular manufacturer (Zymergen) and a robotic pizza delivery business (Zume Pizza). […]
View More With today’s IPO sinking, a year of highs and lows for SoftBankIndonesia e-commerce leader Tokopedia raises $1.1B from Alibaba and SoftBank’s Vision Fund
Indonesia-based e-commerce firm Tokopedia is the latest startup to enter the Vision Fund after it raised $1.1 billion Series G round led by the SoftBank megafund and Alibaba. SoftBank and Alibaba are existing investors in the business — the Chinese e-commerce giant led a $1.1 billion round last year, while SoftBank recently transitioned its shareholding […]
View More Indonesia e-commerce leader Tokopedia raises $1.1B from Alibaba and SoftBank’s Vision FundEx-Facebook exec Kirthiga Reddy becomes first female investor at SoftBank’s Vision Fund
Following speculation that SoftBank is hiring a China-based team, so the Japanese investment giant has brought on a first venture partner (and first female) for its $100 billion Vision Fund. Kirthiga Reddy, a former executive with Facebook, has taken the role and, in doing so, she becomes the first female member of SoftBank’s Vision Fund […]
View More Ex-Facebook exec Kirthiga Reddy becomes first female investor at SoftBank’s Vision FundThe trust dilemma of continuous background checks
First, background checks at startups, then Huawei’s finance chief is arrested, SoftBank’s IPO is subscribed, and I am about to record our next edition of TechCrunch Equity. It’s Thursday, December 6, 2018. TechCrunch is experimenting with new content forms. This is a rough draft of something new – provide your feedback directly to the author […]
View More The trust dilemma of continuous background checksKorean e-commerce firm Coupang raises $2 billion from SoftBank’s Vision Fund
Just days after a CIA report concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, SoftBank’s Vision Fund — the gargantuan investment vehicle anchored by a $45 billion investment from Saudi Arabia’s PIF sovereign fund — is back in check-writing action. Coupang, Korea’s largest e-commerce firm, revealed today that it has […]
View More Korean e-commerce firm Coupang raises $2 billion from SoftBank’s Vision FundJapan is cracking down on SoftBank’s revenue
First, a couple of quick follow-ups to our coverage of Form Ds yesterday, and then a deeper dive into the challenges SoftBank is facing with regards to its revenue in Japan. Finally, some notes on recent articles we have read. We are experimenting with new content forms at TechCrunch. This is a rough draft of […]
View More Japan is cracking down on SoftBank’s revenue