At the end of September, it became known that SoftBank would cut 30% of the employees of the Vision Fund, the Japanese firm’s main fund, and the world’s largest technology-focused VC. The cutbacks are due to its losses in the second quarter of the year, which amounted to 23 billion dollars due to two factors: the tech rout and Yen’s weakness.
In Latin America, according to Bloomberg Linea, at least ten layoffs in the Vision Fund’s regional team took place this Wednesday, which represents 18% of its Latin American staff.
According to this media, a source close to SoftBank who requested anonymity revealed that the layoffs mainly affected the junior investment and operations team, not the senior management. The same source said that the layoffs in LatAm would have been made following the commands of the global firm, but that unlike what is happening in other markets, the Latin American fund would be bullish and with great returns.
SoftBank established itself in the region in 2019 with the US$5 billion Latin America Fund I. It followed it with Fund II last year with US$3 billion.
Some of its iconic regional investments include Rappi, Kavak, Bitso, Clip, and Konfío. Its LatAm offices are in Miami, Mexico City, and São Paulo.
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