Ralf Wenzel Joins SoftBank's
Latin American Tech Hub Incubator
With Goal of 50 Joint Ventures in 5 Years
SoftBank Group Corp. today named serial entrepreneur Ralf Wenzel as CEO at its Latin American Tech Hub, an incubator for startups, joint ventures, and strategic partnerships across Latin America.
The Tech Hub, which will partner with SoftBank-backed companies to expand their operations to Latin America, intends to create 50 joint ventures in the next five years. To date, the Tech Hub has initiated discussions with multiple companies in the SoftBank ecosystem to explore expansions in the region.
Ralf built three companies including foodpanda, one of the world's most successful food delivery businesses across 40 countries, which he later merged with Delivery Hero and led through an initial public offering. He also built Skrill, the first e-wallet company in Europe and now part of publicly traded Paysafe Group, one of the world's most popular payments platforms. He also founded Tocororo Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, and helped build and scale mobile content service Jamba into a global company which was sold to News Corp. Ralf operated his businesses with a focus on emerging markets, especially in Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America.
“Ralf has a proven record of success in building companies from scratch, taking them into new countries, and developing products used by millions of people around the world,” said Marcelo Claure, CEO of SoftBank Group International. “The Tech Hub is hitting the ground running and working with a variety of SoftBank-backed companies to reach more people across Latin America.”
“We're thrilled to help our Vision Fund portfolio companies enter Latin America,” said Rajeev Misra, CEO, SoftBank Investment Advisers. “The Tech Hub will give our companies access to exciting growth opportunities in this fast-growing region.”
“I am excited to join the SoftBank ecosystem and work with its global portfolio to bring innovative business models to Latin America,” said Ralf Wenzel, CEO of the Tech Hub. “Latin America presents untapped potential with several sectors on the verge of disruption.”
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