The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia along with Softbank is planning to create an investment fund for tech startups worth $100 billion. The Arab state and the Japanese mobile carrier pledge to donate to the planned fund.
Saudi Arabia has already indicated that they will donate up to $45 billion to the investment fund while Japan's Softbank will donate $25 billion. The rest of the money to complete the $100 billion fund will come from other "large global investors" according to Softbank.
According to CNN, the move is expected to help the oil-rich nation to shift its economy from being dependent on oil to one that can maintain itself through technology and other means. This, according to Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is part of the country's 2030 vision.
Softbank is the right partner for this endeavor as Japan is one of the most technologically-advanced nations in the world. Softbank is known for its success in choosing the right investments according to Ace Research Institute analyst Hideki Yasuda. He also said in a report that the company is "looking for another Alibaba."
The company which was founded by Masayoshi Son has time and again proven that they are among the best in terms of investing. One of their first investments was Alibaba, the Chinese version of eBay. They have also sold "Clash of Clans" creator Supercell Oy to Tencent for $8.6 billion. Recently, Softbank has bankrolled $32 billion on ARM Holdings, a British company that designs iPhone chips. However, this last investment by the Japanese company was not met kindly by some of its stakeholders.
Saudi Arabia has already started investing In tech start-ups even before this partnership with Softbank. Uber, which has been operating in the country since 2014, received $3.5 billion from the nation's Public Investment Fund. Uber is the most valuable startup worldwide.
