By Dave Sebastian

SoftBank Group Corp. said it has started a second investment fund focused on technology companies in the Latin American market with an initial $3 billion commitment.

The fund brings SoftBank's total commitment to the region to $8 billion, the technology giant said Tuesday. The company said SoftBank Latin America Fund II will explore options to raise additional capital.

SoftBank said the fund plans to invest in technology-enabled companies across countries and industries at every stage of development, from seed to public. It said it will identify prospective investments that are using emerging technologies and artificial intelligence, with a focus on e-commerce, digital financial services, healthcare, education, blockchain, enterprise software and others.

"We expect that 2022 will be the biggest IPO year in Latin America's history," said Marcelo Claure, chief operating officer of SoftBank and chief executive of SoftBank Group International. "Now is the time for us to double down on our commitment to the region."

Mr. Claure leads the Latin America funds with an investment team run by managing partners Shu Nyatta and Paulo Passoni, SoftBank said. Leading the operations team is Alex Szapiro, operating partner and head of Brazil, the company added.

SoftBank said the investment and operations teams, comprising more than 60 people, are operating out of Miami, Sao Paulo and Mexico City.

The first, $5 billion fund that was announced in March 2019 has invested $3.5 billion in 48 companies with a fair value of $6.9 billion as of June 30, SoftBank said.

Write to Dave Sebastian at dave.sebastian@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-14-21 0643ET