Japan's Softbank, IFC plan Internet growth fund

TOKYO -- High-flying Japanese software house Softbank Corp and World Bank division International Finance Corp are setting up a $500 million investment fund to help build the digital economy in developing countries. The investment venture aims to help start-up Internet companies in 100 developing countries and will be called Softbank Emerging Markets, the organisations said at the weekend. It will be based in California's Silicon Valley. Softbank is the majority investor in ZDNet's parent company. -- Reuters