Asian Tech Press (Apr. 18) -- SoftBank Group Corp's Latin America Fund lost two of its three managing partners, suffering from a major management shakeup.

Shu Nyatta and Paulo Passoni, two of the three managing partners at the SoftBank's Latin America Fund, said they are leaving to start their own venture business focused on late-stage startups in the region.

This week, SoftBank will promote Alex Szapiro, the Latin America Fund's third managing partner, who currently holds an operating role, to a more senior position, a person familiar with the matter said.

SoftBank is also considering investing another large sum in the fund, possibly as much as $2 billion, the person said.

The departures come three months after SoftBank Chief Operating Officer Marcelo Claure, who founded and oversaw the Latin America Fund, left the company after clashing with founder Masayoshi Son over compensation and responsibilities.

With Claure's departure, the Latin America Fund's managing partners reported directly to Rajeev Misra, CEO of SoftBank Vision Fund, and a possible next step might be to incorporate it into the Vision Fund.

Miami-based Nyatta, who worked at JPMorgan Chase & Co. before joining SoftBank in 2015, was also a singer and songwriter.

Passoni, based in New York, formerly worked at hedge fund Third Point LLC. over seven years. He joined SoftBank Group in 2019.

Last week, SoftBank announced that it was spinning off the Latin America Fund's early-stage investments into a new autonomous entity, dubbed Upload Ventures.

Although smaller than the other divisions, the Latin America Fund has been performing well. In results for the nine months ending Dec. 31, 2021, its investments showed a 9% return.