SoftBank Capital Raises $53 Million Fund To Continue Investing In ...

Softbank Capital Jordan Levy, partner at SoftBank Capital

SoftBank Capital, a venture firm associated with Japan's SoftBank Corp, has raised a $53 million drop-down fund to continue investing in New York startups.

In the past few years, SoftBank Capital has backed successful companies such as The Huffington Post, which was acquired by AOL for more than $300 million, and Buddy Media, which was acquired by Salesforce for more than $680 million. This fund will only be investing in startups located throughout New York City and state.

Jordan Levy, who will oversee SoftBank's New York investments, says his firm is currently invested in 32 active companies in the area. SoftBank's strategy has been to partner with other funds and use years of relationship building to find series A and B investments.

"We've done a number of deals with Union Square Ventures, Spark Capital, RRE and Lerer Ventures," Levy says. "We don't have sharp elbows so we try to accommodate other funds. And we've been around a long time. We have relationships that go back many, many years."

Levy's team has also backed a number of entrepreneurs twice. Jonah Peretti is an example. Peretti co-founded The Huffington Post, and SoftBank Capital backed his following venture, Buzzfeed.

The fund's first investment has already been made. SoftBank Capital recently led a $10 million round in Work Market, a platform for managing freelancers, alongside Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/softbank-capital-raises-53-million-fund-to-continue-investing-in-new-york-startups-2013-5

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