Japan’s Softbank has furnished Mudabala with close to half of the cash needed for its new $400 million funds investing in European start-up.
The Abu Dhabi’s state investor Mubadala which has committed to invest $15 billion in SoftBank’s Vision Fund, last week announced that Mubadala Ventures was planning to launch a $400 million technology-focused European fund this year.
However, neither Softbank nor Mubadala has commented on the news first reported by the Financial Times earlier on Monday.
Softbank Group’s Softbank Vision Fund raised more than $93 billion from investors including the Abu Dhabi investor, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Apple Inc, Foxconn, Qualcomm, Sharp Corp, and SoftBank Group Corp.
According to the Financial Times, Mubadala first announced the fund last June, saying SoftBank was a “strategic investor”, but did not reveal the extent of its involvement or that it was the principle outside backer. People with direct knowledge of the fund said it had already made a “few” undisclosed investments.
Mubadala’s European venture fund will be run out of a new office in London, which is expected to open this spring, the people with direct knowledge of the fund said. Until then, Mubadala’s teams are working out of SoftBank’s offices in London.
