SoftBank Group has agreed to invest $1 billion in OneWeb Ltd, which is building a constellation of satellites to improve global broadband access, the Japanese Internet conglomerate and the U.S. startup firm said on Monday.
The investment is part of a $1.2 billion fundraising by OneWeb, with the remaining $200 million funded by its current investors.
The announcement comes after SoftBank’s founder billionaire businessman Masayoshi Son pledged a $50 billion investment in the United States in a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump this month.
OneWeb, established in 2012, aims to provide affordable Internet access “to billions of people around the world,” the company said in a statement.
Existing investors in OneWeb include Qualcomm and Airbus Group.