SoftBank

SoftBank Group Corp. is a multinational telecommunications and internet corporation based in Tokyo, Japan. Established in 1981, it provides a wide range of services including mobile and fixed-line communications, broadband, and digital television. The company operates through several segments, including the SoftBank Vision Fund, which focuses on investing in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence, robotics, and fintech. Additionally, SoftBank manufactures and distributes mobile devices and offers services in e-commerce, internet advertising, and IT solutions. The firm also engages in renewable energy by generating and supplying electricity. Beyond telecommunications, SoftBank has interests in various sectors, including media, professional sports, and fashion through platforms like ZOZOTOWN. With a global presence, SoftBank actively invests in growth-stage companies, aiming to foster innovation and technological advancement across diverse industries.

Kentaro Matsui

Managing Partner, Asia

Justin Wilson

Partner, Americas

Past deals in Los Angeles, CA

Spotter

Series D in 2022
Spotter, Inc. specializes in providing financial solutions tailored for independent content creators across various digital platforms. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, the company offers liquidity solutions that empower prosumer content creators to expand their channels and enhance their content while maintaining their independence. Spotter aims to support creators by delivering essential capital, enabling them to grow their presence in the competitive digital landscape.

Soul Machines

Series B in 2022
Soul Machines Limited develops emotionally responsive avatars that augment and enrich the user experience for artificial intelligence (AI) platforms. The company’s products include Digital DNA Studio, which allows user to build custom digital people for customer care, sales and marketing, brand and influencer, product, wellbeing, people and performance, training and education, and digital innovation purposes. The company was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand with additional offices in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California; New York, New York; London, United Kingdom; Tokyo, Japan; and Melbourne, Australia.

Zum

Series D in 2021
Zum Services, Inc. specializes in providing safe and reliable transportation for children and youth, catering to both school districts and busy families. The company offers a range of services, including scheduled and on-demand rides, carpool options, and on-site childcare, ensuring consistent drivers for pickups and drop-offs related to school, sports, and other activities. Zum leverages a network of highly vetted drivers along with advanced scheduling and tracking technology to enhance efficiency and safety. Founded in 2014 and headquartered in Redwood City, California, Zum operates in key regions such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego, focusing on delivering flexible transportation solutions that save time for parents and reduce costs for schools.

Pacaso

Series C in 2021
Pacaso modernizes the generations-old practice of co-owning a second home, creating a marketplace that makes buying and selling easy, and adding professional management and technology to make scheduling dates and owning the home seamless and simple. Buyers considering a second home can tell Pacaso where they want to buy, how much they want to spend and how much time they expect to spend in the house. Pacaso and its real estate agent partners will help them find the perfect home and set up a professionally managed LLC uniquely designed for co-ownership. The buyer will purchase their desired share — for example, half of the home, which will guarantee them access to the home for half the year — and Pacaso will briefly purchase the remainder of the home, before reselling the remaining portion to vetted buyers. Pacaso will manage the property, and owners will use Pacaso’s mobile app to make scheduling easy and equitable.

PlayVS

Series C in 2020
PlayVS is an operator of an eSports platform used to organize competitions in eSports on behalf of high school. Its platform offers to organize online tournaments and wagers for cash and prizes and helps to play and stay up-to-date on high school e-sports programs that enable teen gamers to form teams at their high schools to compete with players from other schools and the battle for titles at state championships.

Nextbite

Series C in 2020
Nextbite is a pioneer in the virtual restaurant sector, focusing on generating additional revenue for under-utilized kitchens through its portfolio of virtual-only restaurant brands. Founded in 2017 and based in Los Angeles, California, Nextbite operates as a subsidiary of Ordermark, which provides an online ordering management system designed to streamline the process for restaurants. By aggregating mobile orders from various online ordering services into a single dashboard, Ordermark enhances the efficiency of restaurant operations and helps increase profitability. Nextbite's innovative approach allows restaurants to capitalize on their existing kitchen resources, facilitating growth in a competitive market.

Valence Community

Series A in 2020
Valence Enterprises, Inc. operates an online community platform that connects, showcases, and empowers the global black professional community. It offers Valence, a platform that helps users to establish connections with companies and capital to create career opportunities and new ventures. The company’s platform also provides a mentor option that allows members to volunteer as a coach for other Valence users. Valence Enterprises, Inc. was founded in 2019 and is based in Santa Monica, California.

Coupang

Private Equity Round in 2018
Coupang Corp. operates an online retail platform that offers a wide range of products, including baby goods, fashion, beauty products, electronics, and home decor, along with daily discounted deals on various goods and services. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, the company emphasizes a customer-centric approach, aiming to provide competitive prices and a personalized shopping experience through its mobile application. Coupang leverages innovative technology to enhance operations, focusing on improving the end-to-end customer experience, particularly in areas like last-mile delivery and product discovery. With additional offices in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Los Angeles, and Seattle, Coupang has established itself as a significant player in the global e-commerce market.

Digital Domain

Post in 2016
Digital Domain Holdings Corporation operates as a visual effects and animation company. The company was formerly known as Wyndcrest DD Florida, Inc., and changed its name to Digital Domain Holdings Corporation in March, 2010.

Coupang

Private Equity Round in 2015
Coupang Corp. operates an online retail platform that offers a wide range of products, including baby goods, fashion, beauty products, electronics, and home decor, along with daily discounted deals on various goods and services. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, the company emphasizes a customer-centric approach, aiming to provide competitive prices and a personalized shopping experience through its mobile application. Coupang leverages innovative technology to enhance operations, focusing on improving the end-to-end customer experience, particularly in areas like last-mile delivery and product discovery. With additional offices in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Los Angeles, and Seattle, Coupang has established itself as a significant player in the global e-commerce market.

Coupang

Venture Round in 2014
Coupang Corp. operates an online retail platform that offers a wide range of products, including baby goods, fashion, beauty products, electronics, and home decor, along with daily discounted deals on various goods and services. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, the company emphasizes a customer-centric approach, aiming to provide competitive prices and a personalized shopping experience through its mobile application. Coupang leverages innovative technology to enhance operations, focusing on improving the end-to-end customer experience, particularly in areas like last-mile delivery and product discovery. With additional offices in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Los Angeles, and Seattle, Coupang has established itself as a significant player in the global e-commerce market.

iLumin Software

Venture Round in 2004
Founded in 1996, iLumin is headquartered in Reston, Virginia with offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London. iLumin provides enterprise message management tools that deliver a comprehensive solution to address the ever-growing challenges of today's corporate message systems. iLumin's flagship product, Assentor Enterprise, delivers archiving, regulatory compliance, corporate supervision, mailbox management, discovery and litigation support solutions for commercial industry and government organizations. iLumin is a leading provider of intelligent content solutions that maximize the business value of corporate messaging systems, provide an immediate ROI by lowering total cost of ownership and effectively manage the risks inherent with these systems. iLumin also has a stable of secure messaging, storage, and electronic signatures products, that can be used in concert with Assentor Enterprise or separately. iLumin is directed by an experienced management team and backed by some of the industry's most solid and respected investment and financial services firms, which include DB Capital Venture Partners, MidOcean Partners, Rock Creek Capital, Softbank and Wachovia Strategic Ventures.

Dineronet.com

Venture Round in 2000
Dineronet.com (www.dineronet.com) is the first independent network of personal finance portals enabling Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking users worldwide to make the best financial decisions for their individual needs. Dineronet.com offers financial information organized in different sections, expert guidance, interactive tools, key market information, and access to online transactions for a wide range of financial products and services from various institutions. Its management team is composed of industry experts who provide users with the most reliable personal finance information in the market. Dineronet.com has formed strategic partnerships with leading online financial institutions and service providers. In addition to its office in Miami, the company has plans to open offices in New York and Los Angeles in order to better customize its offerings to the US Hispanic market.

Inpama

Venture Round in 2000
The Patent & License Exchange ("pl-x.com") is the first e-business marketplace for intellectual property rights - patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and know how. By applying financial market technology and discipline to the intellectual property market, pl-x.com is bringing the 200-year-old system of intellectual property exchange into the 21st century and creating the safest marketplace in the world.

Spin Media LLC

Venture Round in 1999
Spin Media LLC operates as a rock music magazine in the United States. It also operates music and music culture Web site, SPIN.com, which combines the concepts of the magazine with original content, photos, audio clips, downloads, news, and other features. Spin Media LLC was formerly known as Spin Magazine and changed its name in February 2006. The company was founded in 1985 and is based in New York, New York. As of January 16, 2020, Spin Media LLC operates as a subsidiary of Next Management Partners.