SoftBank invests additional $3 b in shared-office startup WeWork

Reuters: WeWork Cos said last week it received an additional $3 billion investment from Japan’s SoftBank Group and its Vision Fund, helping the shared-office startup ramp up its expansion globally.

SoftBank’s investment will be through new shares and the acquisition of existing shares of the startup’s parent company, WeWork said in a statement

New York-based WeWork said SoftBank’s Director and Vice Chairman Ronald Fisher and External Director Mark Schwartz will join the company’s board. SoftBank has already made a $1.4 billion investment in the company to fund the group’s expansion in China, Japan, South Korea and elsewhere in southeast Asia.

Vision Fund, which has raised over $93 billion to invest in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics, is backed by Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank and Saudi Arabia’s main sovereign wealth fund.

WeWork leases office space and rents it out to individuals and small companies, namely startups.