Softbank reportedly set to pledge $40bn to second Vision Fund

Japanese tech conglomerate SoftBank Group will invest $40bn in its second Vision Fund, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

SoftBank’s board will meet on Thursday to approve the commitment, sources told the WSJ.

The first, $100bn Vision Fund launched with $60bn in backing from the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.

The first Vision Fund has a general focus on global tech companies across industries including IoT, AI, robotics, mobile applications & computing, cloud technologies & software, consumer tech and fintech.

The second fund has secured investment from Goldman Sachs Group and Standard Chartered, WSJ said. It also aims to raise $100bn, SoftBank said in May.

SoftBank is reportedly in talks with Microsoft to invest in the fund under the condition that SoftBank encourage its portfolio companies to transition away from Amazon Web Services to Microsoft’s Azure, the company’s cloud platform.