This is Why Silicon Valley Needs to Look East

Posted on 10/20/2016

Silicon Valley startups are taking a second look at Asia and the Middle East when it comes to securing long-term patient capital. According to data from SWFI’s Sovereign Wealth Fund Transaction Database, there has been some resurgence in the amount of deals in the technology startup space being backed by sovereign funds. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has been engaged with Japanese telecommunications group SoftBank on building this new technology fund called the SoftBank Vision Fund. In October, the two parties signed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to create the fund. The SoftBank Vision Fund looks to raise a total of US$ 100 billion in assets. SoftBank and PIF are looking for some US$ 30 billion in commitments for the fund. Softbank plans to commit US$ 25 billion, while the PIF looks to commit US$ 45 billion over a 5-year span to the fund.

In recent news, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has expressed a level of interest in possibly committing to the SoftBank Vision Fund.

Goldman Sachs has been hired as an advisor to help structure the new fund.

Keywords: SoftBank Group Corporation.

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