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Lydia Jett (born 1980) is an American venture capitalist, Independent Board Director, a Founding Partner of Softbank Investment Advisors and formerly Managing Partner and Head of Consumer Internet Sector at Softbank Vision Fund.
Jett has also held executive positions at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Securities, Inc. and M/C Partners, a growth equity firm.
Jett graduated from Smith College and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Jett graduated from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. [1]
Jett worked as an investment banking analyst at JPMorgan in New York. Subsequently, Jett worked at Goldman Sachs in the Principal Investment Area and invested in growth stage companies at M/C Partners.
In 2015, Jett joined Softbank Group International to help launch their growth equity efforts. In 2017, Jett was a founding member of the Softbank Vision Fund, where she rose to Managing Partner and Head of the Consumer Internet Sector. Jett was the first woman named to Investing Managing Partner, [2] and Investing Partner [3] at Softbank Vision Fund.
Jett led investments in and represented Softbank on the Board of Directors of the firm’s global eCommerce investments including: [4] Coupang, [5] Fanatics, [6] Flipkart [7] and GoTo, [8] collectively the top returning portfolio for Softbank Vision Fund I. [9]
Additionally, Jett and her team led investments into and represented SBIA [10] on the Board of Directors several companies including: Andela, Embark, Klook, [11] LTK, [12] mmhmm, Pacaso, Weee!, [13] Bytedance, [14] ezCater, [15] Aleo, [16] and Quantstamp [17] amongst other investments. Bloomberg reported Jett was departing Softbank in 2024. [18]
Prior to launching SBIA, Jett was a senior member of the investment team at Softbank Group Corporation International (SBGI) where she helped lead SBGI’s Series D investments in Guardant Health, [19] 10x Genomics [20] and Series A investment into Fetch Robotics [21] (sold to Zebra). [22]
Jett served as an Independent Board Member on the Board of Directors of Coupang, Fanatics [23] and Ozon.
Jett has been recognized by Forbes as “generating one of the largest cash generating returns ever for a start-up investor, [24] published work in Fast Company, [25] been recognized as one of Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women. [26]
SoftBank Group Corp. is a Japanese multinational investment holding company headquartered in Minato, Tokyo which focuses on investment management. The group primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services to customers in a multitude of markets and industries ranging from the internet to automation. With over $100 billion in capital at its onset, SoftBank's Vision Fund is the world's largest technology-focused venture capital fund. Fund investors included sovereign wealth funds from countries in the Middle East.
Sequoia Capital is an American venture capital firm headquartered in Menlo Park, California which specializes in seed stage, early stage, and growth stage investments in private companies across technology sectors. As of 2022, the firm had approximately US$85 billion in assets under management.
Masayoshi Son is a Japanese billionaire technology entrepreneur, investor and philanthropist. A third-generation Zainichi Korean, he naturalized as a Japanese citizen in 1990. He is the founder, representative director, corporate officer, chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group Corp. (SBG), a strategic technology-focused investment holding company, as well as chairman of UK-based Arm Holdings.
SoftBank Capital is a venture capital group in the United States, focusing on technology and telecom early stage businesses. It was founded by SoftBank. Since 2015 it does not actively make investments, but it continues to oversee its prior portfolio.
Zazzle is an American online marketplace that allows designers and customers to create their own products with independent manufacturers, as well as use images from participating companies. Zazzle has partnered with many brands to amass a collection of digital images from companies like Disney, Warner Brothers and NCAA sports teams. Zazzle claims to have over 300 million unique products listed on the site. It now one of the most popular platforms for customizing apparel in the USA.
Insight Partners is a global venture capital and private equity firm that invests in high-growth technology, software, and Internet businesses. The company is headquartered in New York City, with offices in London, Tel Aviv, and Palo Alto.
Lux Capital is a venture capital firm based in New York City. It was founded in 2000, and focuses on investments in emerging technologies.
Michael Gary Rubin is an American businessman and philanthropist. He is the founder and CEO of Fanatics, a global digital sports platform that consists of several businesses, including licensed sports merchandise, trading cards and collectibles, sports betting and iGaming, special events, and live commerce. He is also a board member of Rue Gilt Groupe, which includes RueLaLa.com, Gilt.com, and ShopPremiumOutlets.com. He previously founded GSI Commerce in 1998, selling it to eBay in 2011 for $2.4 billion.
Fanatics, Inc. is an American manufacturer and online retailer of licensed sportswear for the MLB, MLS, NBA, NFL, NHL, NASCAR, Formula 1, WWE and NPB. They sell sports collectibles, NFTs, trading cards, and sports merchandise, as well as sports betting and iGaming. The company began as an American online retailer of licensed sportswear and merchandise, which operates the e-commerce businesses of major professional sports leagues and media brands, as well as hundreds of collegiate and professional team properties.
Sapphire Ventures is a venture capital firm with offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, Austin, and London. The firm is considered one of the world's premier venture capital firms.
Bolt is an Estonian mobility company that offers ride-hailing, micromobility rental, food and grocery delivery, and carsharing services. The company is headquartered in Tallinn and operates in over 500 cities in more than 45 countries in Europe, Africa, Western Asia and Latin America. The company has more than 150 million customers and more than 3 million driver and courier partners. The company has plans for an initial public offering in 2025.
Veem, formerly Align Commerce, is a San Francisco–based online global payments platform founded in 2014 by Marwan Forzley and Aldo Carrascoso. The company uses a payment routing method they refer to as "multi-rail technology," where transactions are routed through different methods, or "rails", such as credit cards, checks, or cryptocurrency.
Andela is an American global job placement network for software developers. Andela focuses on sustainable careers, connecting technologists with long-term engagements, access to international roles, competitive compensation, and career coaching through the Andela Learning Community.
Katerra was an American technology-driven off-site construction company. It was founded in 2015 by Michael Marks, former CEO of Flextronics and former Tesla interim CEO, along with Fritz Wolff, the executive chairman of The Wolff Co. Katerra was listed on LinkedIn's "Top Startup Companies" to work for in 2017.
Kim Beomseok, known professionally in the West as Bom Kim, is a Korean-American businessman and entrepreneur who is the founder and chief executive officer of Coupang, the largest e-commerce company in South Korea. In 2018, when SoftBank Vision Fund invested US$2 billion in Coupang, valuating the company at US$9 billion, Kim became the newest and second-youngest billionaire in South Korea at the age of 40. As of March 2023, Kim has a net worth of US$2.7 billion.
Coupang, Inc. is e-commerce company based in Seoul, South Korea and Seattle, WA and incorporated in Delaware, United States. Founded in 2010 by Bom Kim, the company expanded to become the largest online marketplace in South Korea. Its expansion led the company to video streaming distribution after the launch of Coupang Play service. Coupang is often referred to as the "Amazon of South Korea", due to its position and corporate size in the South Korean online market.
Akshay Naheta is an Indian-born British business executive. He is the Founder & CEO of Distributed Technologies Research (DTR), a decentralized finance startup focusing on stablecoin technology and other linked services.
Deven Parekh is an American venture capitalist, philanthropist, Democratic fundraiser and public servant. He is managing director at Insight Partners, a New York City venture capital and private equity firm. Parekh is a noted donor and fundraiser for Democratic politicians. He has served in multiple government advisory roles, and is currently a member of the board of directors for the Council on Foreign Relations and the US International Development Finance Corporation.
The SoftBank Vision Fund is a venture capital fund founded in 2017. It is managed by SoftBank Investment Advisers, a subsidiary of the SoftBank Group. With over $100 billion in capital, it is the world's largest technology-focused investment fund. In 2019, SoftBank Vision Fund 2 was founded. The total fair value of both funds as of 31 March 2021 was $154 billion.