SoftBank reverses LatAm plan with Upload Ventures

SoftBank’s makeover is impossible to ignore, especially in the aftermath of COO Marcelo Claure’s resignation over a compensation dispute. One of Claure’s most famous donations – a $100 million growth fund for creators of colour – was transformed into an evergreen investment vehicle with new leadership last month.

It’s now taking a step that Claure apparently advocated for while remaining at the firm, but with which he initially disagreed with leadership.

The firm announced today that it is spinning out its Latin American investment arm into a new autonomous entity called Upload Ventures, which would invest $100 million per year in early-stage companies in the region.

As previously stated, Claure reportedly pushed for the Latin American branch to be spun off and battled with SoftBank executives six months ago. There was “no discussion of spinning out SoftBank’s Latin American Fund,” SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son told Bloomberg at the time.

Upload Ventures was founded by SoftBank Managing Partners Rodrigo Baer, Marco Camhaji, and Norberto Giangrande, according to the company.