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SoftBank is selling one of it<\/span>s venture capital arms, South Korea-based SoftBank Ventures Asia<\/a> (SBVA), to The Edgeof, a Singaporean investment firm, according to the <\/span>two companies<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The deal\u2019s financial terms have not been disclosed, but the Singaporean VC firm aims to complete the acquisition this year.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Last month, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son\u2019s younger brother Taizo Son<\/a> and Atsushi Taira<\/a>, managing director of Mistletoe<\/a>, founded The Edgeof \u201cwith an aim to transform the startup ecosystem across Asia by creating a supportive environment for \u03b1Startups.\u201d They define so-called \u201c\u03b1Startups\u201d as startups that have a mission to address fundamental problems in the world with advanced technology, according to the company\u2019s statement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The acquisition comes after SoftBank and its Vision Fund posted massive losses amid the tech slump and macroeconomic slowdown. In February, SoftBank said its investment vehicles posted <\/span>a loss of nearly $6 billion\u00a0<\/span><\/a>in the quarter that ended in December, marking its fourth consecutive quarterly loss. Last May, the Japanese tech giant said<\/a> in an earnings call that it would cut startup investments by 50-75% through March 2023.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n SoftBank Ventures Asia has about $2 billion in assets under management (AUM) and has invested in a host of portfolios across Asia, including South Korea\u2019s home interior app OHouse<\/a>, Japan\u2019s sneaker reselling platform SODA<\/a>, Indonesia\u2019s cloud kitchen startup Yummy<\/a> and hyper-local social commerce company Super<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Some of the portfolio companies the Seoul-based VC firm invested in led to more considerable investments by SoftBank\u2019s Vision Fund a few years later. <\/span>These include Tokopedia, an Indonesia-based e-commerce platform that received funding from <\/span>SBVA in 2014<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and SoftBank\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Vision Fund in 2018<\/span><\/a>; Iyuno, a provider of translated subtitles and other media localization services, which raised funding from SBVA and <\/span>Vision Fund<\/span><\/a> in 2018 and 2021, respectively; and Singapore\u2019s cross-selling startup Carro, which also has picked up from <\/span>SBVA<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>Vision Fund<\/span><\/a>. Nigerian fintech Opay is another example that bagged capital from both SBVA and <\/span>Vision Fund<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are excited to commence this new journey with The Edgeof,\u201d JP Lee, CEO of SoftBank Ventures Asia, said in a statement. \u201cBy joining forces, SBVA will be able to leverage its expertise, insights, and network to support visionary entrepreneurs in their endeavours and enable them to make a lasting global impact that transcends Asia.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The two founders, Son and Taira, already established their venture capital firm, Mistletoe, in 2014, which invested in 250 startups worldwide. The existing VC firm will collaborate with The Edgeof to help discover \u201cgame-changing\u201d startups, it says. The Edgeof will unveil a fresh brand identity once the acquisition deal is closed, according to the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are confident that our collective strengths and resources will ignite a new era of revolutionary technologies and solutions, establishing us as a prominent influence in developing and expanding \u03b1Startups worldwide,\u201d Son said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n