If you think Softbank Vision Fund is pouring money into start-ups, think again

That could mean swooping in to grab a piece of an undervalued technology company trading on the stock exchange or doing a large-scale private equity deal. That's because investing in technology start-ups is usually constrained by the sector's ability to absorb large sums, with $1 billion generally considered the very upper limit. In the parlance of finance, money does not scale. These bankers say that the fund -- which has $45 billion from Saudi Arabia, $25 billion from SoftBank and smaller contributions from Apple, Lawrence Ellison of Oracle and others -- will also be looking at smaller venture capital forays in artificial intelligence, robotics and financial technology. But given the fund's size, the major bets will be on large companies.