SoftBank to invest US$2 billion in Latin America in 2020

Contxto – Luis Moreno, the President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) recently sat down with Marcelo Claure, CEO at SoftBank Group International, to talk about the future of innovation in Latin America in a post-pandemic world.

And during their conversation broadcasted as part of the Council of the Americas event, Claure offered a status update as to SoftBank’s plans for 2020 which leaves a lot of room for savory speculation on my end.

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Putting the pieces together

“This year alone we plan to invest, I think we will reach, US$2 billion invested in 20 incredible companies. We invested in Mexico, Brazil, [and] Argentina,” said Claure during the event.

A lot can be picked up from these statements.

For one, who was the Argentine startup to close funding with ‘em? Because thus far into 2020, it’s disclosed its participation in four rounds, none of which are for companies from Lionel Messi’s homeland (am I the only one who’s bummed he isn’t leaving the Barça?!).

Don’t forget that SoftBank has a designated US$5 billion fund exclusively for the Latin American region. But judging from Claure’s commentary, it appears that the plan is to disperse nearly half of it before the year’s over.

I don’t doubt the VC always has a healthy deal flow. And the fact that Claure said SoftBank already has 20 startups in mind sounds like it already has them on its radar (or took place already).

Now it’s just a matter of letting the world know.

SoftBank and Latin America

The Japanese VC’s latest project was the launch a joint company in Latam alongside Indian hospitality startup, Oyo Rooms to oversee operations in the region.

But for those of you with a Dory-the-fish-type memory, here’s a quick recap of the Japanese VC’s other 2020 investments: