SOFTBANK Europe Ventures

The European portfolio has produced notable exits and severe write-downs. Publicly disclosed successes include the IPO of Auto1 Group in 2021 and fintech stakes in Klarna and Revolut, both of which achieved high private-market valuations before markdowns in the 2022-2023 reset. Distressed outcomes include Greensill Capital's insolvency in 2021 and Wirecard's collapse in 2020, both major Vision Fund positions. The overall Vision Fund 1 returned a cumulative gain of $14.6 billion as of March 2023, recovering from a prior year's deep loss (per SoftBank Group annual report, 2023).

The Vision Fund platform overwhelmingly executes direct investments and does not operate a material fund-of-funds or LP commitment program in Europe. The strategy centers on taking large minority or control positions directly in growth-stage technology companies. SoftBank has occasionally acquired GP stakes, but this is conducted at the corporate level and is not attributed to a European venture-specific mandate.

Capital for SoftBank's European venture bets is drawn from the Vision Fund vehicles. The original $100 billion Vision Fund 1 sourced approximately $45 billion from Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund and $15 billion from Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment Company, with the rest from SoftBank Group and other limited partners. Vision Fund 2 is funded entirely by SoftBank Group itself, using proceeds from asset sales and balance sheet debt. No dedicated European capital vehicle is publicly known.