In a bid to improve diversity, SoftBank will create a $100m fund that will only invest in companies led by founders and entrepreneurs of colour, COO Marcelo Claure announced in a letter to employees early on 3 June.

Although the initial size of the new fund, named the “Opportunity Growth Fund”, is much smaller than SoftBank’s well-known $100bn Vision Fund, it marks one of the first of its kind, and the biggest, according to SoftBank, that is dedicated to backing businesses owned and operated by black Americans and people of colour.