BOOM! SoftBank launching $100M fund to invest in Miami startups

news3 years ago874

SoftBank Group is launching a $100 cardinal task superior money specifically for Miami startup investments, Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank Group International, announced this morning.

The announcement by the world’s largest tech capitalist brings planetary attraction to the Magic City, and could propulsion Miami up the ranks considerably among emerging tech hubs astatine a clip erstwhile the country is already experiencing an influx of tech transplants from Silicon Valley and the Big Apple.

Claure, a planetary enforcement with heavy roots successful Miami, made the announcement with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, connected Twitter of course, during 1 of the mayor’s now-famous #CafecitoChats. “Miami is incredibly adjacent to my heart,” Claure said. “What we’ve learned astatine Where there’s superior determination are astonishing entrepreneurs. We are launching the SoftBank Miami $100 cardinal Initiative.”

Marcelo Claure

Mayor Suarez said today’s quality is simply a momentous annoucement that concretizes each the ecosystem enactment that has travel up of it and volition make a cascade into the city.  

“Marcelo’s committedness to our metropolis successful the signifier of a $100 cardinal Miami fund, and SoftBank’s commitment, is archetypal of its kind,” Suarez told Refresh Miami. “The information that our partnership, and our relationship, has inspired this benignant of concern is thing that inspires maine to proceed to bash what I’ve been doing and what the full ecosystem of Miami Tech has been doing, which is to turn an ecosystem that we cognize tin supply truthful galore careers for truthful galore radical successful the future. This injection of superior into our metropolis is going to guarantee that this infinitesimal becomes a movement.”

SoftBank already has a Miami bureau successful Brickell and runs its Latin America money from there. For the caller fund, the tech investing elephantine is committing $100 cardinal from assorted SoftBank funds. It is funny successful backing venture-backed startups oregon maturation signifier exertion companies based successful Miami oregon relocating here. It’s unclear astatine this clip if it is unfastened lone to startups wrong the City of Miami oregon the greater region.

For its part, SoftBank says it’s  Miami’s time.

“Miami is connected the cusp of becoming a large exertion hub. The startup ecosystem is rapidly amassing endowment and resources, arsenic blue-chip exertion and concern firms proceed to denote their decisions to relocate to The Magic City,” SoftBank’s website states. “At SoftBank, Miami is adjacent to our hearts. Our $5 cardinal Latin America Fund was calved successful Miami and is headquartered here. We are excited to play a relation successful helping the metropolis go an epicenter of exertion and concern innovation for decades to come.”

This is what paying it guardant is and what legacies are built from.

Claure, an migrant from Bolivia, started BrightStar selling phones from the backmost of his motortruck successful the precocious ‘90s, and grew it to beryllium the world’s largest specialized tech distributors and 1 of  Miami’s largest tech employers erstwhile helium stepped down to caput up Sprint successful 2014.

Since then, Claure has been a spouse successful bringing Major League Soccer to Miami, and present arsenic CEO of SoftBank Group International, helium has been instrumental successful SoftBank’s motorboat of a $5 cardinal Latin America Fund successful 2019 arsenic good as the $100 cardinal SoftBank Opportunity Fund focused connected investing successful Black-led ventures past year. SoftBank’s Vision Fund is besides 1 of the largest investors in Miami’s REEF Technology, 1 of South Florida’s uncommon unicorns.

Now it is Miami’s crook for a task money of its own. The anticipation is that the determination volition spur different task capitalists to cheque retired Miami startups and perchance acceptable up store present arsenic well. 

That’s disconnected to a bully start. In caller weeks, drawn by Mayor Suarez’s viral run that commencement with tweets and determination onto cafecito invitiations, much than 200 VCs and founders from Silcon Valley and New York person been checking retired Miami arsenic a spot to unrecorded and work, portion riding retired the pandemic successful the sunshine. It’s apt not each volition stay, but a increasing number, including Keith Rabois, Jon Oringer, David Blumberg, David Goldberg, Kingsley Advani, David Fano, Harry Hurst and Michael Martocci, person signaled much imperishable arrangements, with caller offices, location purchases, HQ relocations, section tech hires, incubator plans and more, each successful their caller home. [Read much connected RefreshMiami.com/news astir these developments implicit the past 2 months].

Demian Bellumio, a section tech entrepreneur who has raised implicit $250 cardinal for Miami-based tech startups and projects implicit the past 2 decades, believes this volition beryllium a “game changer” that volition enactment the metropolis connected the planetary representation for tech arsenic good arsenic assistance Miami ‘s entrepreneurs rise hazard capital, agelong seen arsenic a spread successful the ecosystem by many.

“A Miami dedicated money sponsored by Softbank, arguably 1 of the astir globally recognizable and respected tech investors, volition surely summation the attractiveness of our metropolis for founders from astir the world,” said Bellumio, who started a Miami Tech Life radical to invited newcomers. “Who tin defy gathering a institution successful a metropolis that welcomes them with unfastened arms, has top-tier investors with plentifulness of capital, unmatched quality and lifestyle, and a palpable vigor that runs heavy crossed the city, unifying section leaders, investors and entrepreneurs?”

Venture-backed startups oregon maturation signifier exertion companies based successful Miami oregon relocating present are invited to use for backing connected SoftBank’s website.

This communicative volition beryllium updated. Follow @ndahlberg connected Twitter and email her astatine [email protected]

READ MORE: Black laminitis pipeline problem? Not a chance, says SoftBank’s Shu Nyatta

 

The station BOOM! SoftBank launching $100M money to put successful Miami startups appeared archetypal connected Refresh Miami.

Source: https://www.refreshmiami.com/boom-softbank-launching-100m-fund-to-invest-in-miami-startups/