SoftBank Group Corp. started a $100 million (¥10.9 billion) fund that will exclusively invest in companies led by people of color, a group that’s historically been underrepresented in the venture capital industry.
Marcelo Claure, SoftBank’s chief operating officer, will lead the fund alongside Shu Nyatta, a managing partner who works on the company’s Innovation Fund, according to a statement from the company on Wednesday. The fund will specifically look to support founders from communities that face "systemic disadvantages in building and scaling their businesses,” it said.
The effort by SoftBank stems from a reaction to protests sweeping the U.S. this week after George Floyd, an unarmed black man, died after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes.