Abu Dhabi-based investment company Mubadala has announced the launch of its new venture capital business in partnership with leading Japanese conglomerate SoftBank.

The venture capital initiative will sit within the group's financial investment arm, Mubadala Capital, said the company in a statement.

A dedicated ventures investment team will be based in San Francisco, the first Mubadala office in the US, it added.

"Mubadala's venture capital business intends to become an active member of the ventures community, leveraging Mubadala's global scale and power," remarked Ibrahim Ajami, head of the ventures unit.

"Our differentiators include a long-term partnership mindset, access to Mubadala's portfolio of global assets across 13 sectors, and our strategic partnership with SoftBank," he added.

The ventures investment team in the US will initially oversee three main business areas:
*Mubadala Ventures Fund I - A $400 million early growth venture capital fund with two main investors, Mubadala and SoftBank. The fund plans to invest in exceptional founder-led companies creating scalable technologies and businesses. Investments will focus on Series A and beyond, with the goal of building a portfolio of 25 companies in North America and Europe. The fund will have a broad enterprise technology focus.
*A $200 million ventures Fund of Funds that will invest in both established and emerging fund managers. Under this program, Mubadala intends to invest $50 million to $70 million per year in US and European-based venture capital funds.
*Overseeing and managing Mubadala's $15 billion commitment to the SoftBank Vision Fund, working in close partnership with SoftBank executives in California.

''We are excited to partner with Mubadala and invest in their first venture capital fund," remarked Rajeev Misra, CEO of the SoftBank Vision Fund.

"Mubadala is a strategic partner to SoftBank, and this initiative will be an important part of the Vision Fund's ecosystem of companies and entrepreneurs. Mubadala's approach to venture capital and their San Francisco office indicates a long-term commitment to the technology community," he added.

The venture capital initiative builds on a decade of investments Mubadala has made in the technology sector, beginning in 2007 with a significant stake in Advanced Micro Devices, said the statement from Mubadala.

In addition to its stake in AMD, Mubadala owns GlobalFoundries, the world's second-largest pure-play semiconductor manufacturer; Al Yah Satellite Company (Yahsat), which has two satellites in orbit with a third launch planned for 2018; Cognit, a joint venture with IBM to bring Watson in Arabic language to the Middle East; Injazat Data Systems, a cloud computing provider in the Middle East; and Khazna, a data center company located in the UAE.

Mubadala also has a significant stake in Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company, known as du.  

"We are looking at companies that will transform major industries around the globe. In line with our company's values and our portfolio strategy, we want to be a real partner to entrepreneurs and founders as they grow their companies globally," explained Ajami.

Mubadala Capital, which focuses on the management of alternative assets, invests globally across a range of asset classes, including equity and credit, public and private securities, direct and third-party managed funds, while also managing a number of sovereign investment partnerships. Mubadala Capital manages more than $10 billion of assets across its portfolio.-TradeArabia News Service