Sprint parent company to invest $50B in U.S. startups
December 7, 2016 | Bobby Burch
The billionaire behind Sprint’s parent company plans to unload some serious investment capital in American startups.
After a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son announced that he plans to invest $50 billion in U.S. startups that will create tens of thousands of jobs in the next four years, according to the Associated Press. SoftBank purchased a majority of Overland Park-based Sprint in 2013 for $22 billion.
“We are going to invest $50 billion in the U.S. and commit to create 50,000 new jobs,” Son said. “We (will) invest into the new startup companies in the United States.”
While Trump appeared to take credit for the announcement, the prospective capital derives from a previously announced $100 billion fund. SoftBank in October announced that it partnered with a Saudi Arabian wealth fund to launch a $100 billion tech fund. The Wall Street Journal reports that SoftBank has poured more than $45 billion into tech investments alongside co-investors over the past two years. SoftBank owns more than 235 companies and more than 100 affiliates.
Son’s meeting with Trump sets the stage for what could be another attempt by SoftBank to acquire T-Mobile and merge it with Sprint. U.S. regulators thwarted that attempt in 2015, however, a Trump administration may be more open to the idea.
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Events Preview: Global Entrepreneurship Week Continues
There are a boatload of entrepreneurial events hosted in Kansas City on a weekly basis. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, supporter or curious Kansas Citian, we’d recommend these upcoming events for you. WEEKLY EVENT PREVIEW GEW is packed full of events for entrepreneurs of every stripe. We’ve hand-selected the events geared towards tech, early-stage businesses, education and…
The ‘world’s biggest coworking studio’ is coming to Kansas City
Hoping to capitalize on a homegrown, entrepreneurial Renaissance, the new Westport Commons project will soon house what’s being billed as the largest coworking studio on earth. Kansas City Sustainable Development Partners has partnered with Lenexa-based coworking studio Plexpod to redevelop the 160,000 square-foot Westport Middle School into a coworking space. The school — located on the…
Blooom wins Kauffman Foundation pitch bout, $10K
Can anything stop Blooom? Continuing its streak of wins and successes, the financial tech firm on Wednesday morning won a national pitch contest at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Leawood-based Blooom beat out four other finalists in the inaugural One in a Million pitch contest, which initially drew more than 350 applicants. Blooom survived several…
And then there was one: Blooom the sole local firm left in national pitch contest
Financial tech startup Blooom is the lone Kansas City-area company to advance in the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s “One in a Million” pitch competition Out of an initial field of more than 350 companies, the Leawood-based firm advanced to the final round of five in the foundation’s pitch contest. The competition, which will conclude the…