SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son To Visit India Next Week, May Meet Portfolio Companies’ Founders

Tech investor SoftBank’s founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Masayoshi Son will reportedly land in India next week, after a gap of more than four years. This will be Son’s one of the first trips outside of Japan since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Sources told the Economic Times that the tech investor will meet founders and chief executive officers (CEOs) of SoftBank’s portfolio companies during his day-long visit. The cofounders of the investment firm’s Indian portfolio including those of Paytm, Firstcry and OfBusiness will join Son for a business roundtable. 

Meetings have also been scheduled with multiple government officials as part of his itinerary. He is also expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of a Japanese business delegation.

People familiar with the development told Moneycontrol that Son will maintain all Covid-19  protocols strictly and will likely be in a bio-bubble. Besides, the investment mogul will also meet many of the cofounders for the first time, as a good chunk of investments took place post-2019, sources privy to the development said. Son is said to have asked for Covid-negative test results from all persons he is meeting, added a source.

The tech billionaire’s visit to India coincides with the wedding of Ritesh Agarwal, the cofounder and CEO of one of SoftBank’s portfolio companies, OYO, on March 7. While some reports say that Son will likely give the reception a miss and will meet Agarwal in the later leg of his visit, other reports say that Son will indeed greet the couple but in a non-public setting later.

“While Masa may not attend Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal’s wedding reception on March 7, he might want to take the opportunity and greet him personally later during the visit… It is expected to be a very short visit,” said a person familiar with the development.

SoftBank is one of the major foreign investors in the country and has so far deployed more than $15 Bn worth of investments in Indian startups. From dabbling with big names at the outset such as Flipkart, Ola and Oyo to newer bets such as Delhivery, OfBusiness, Firstcry and Meesho, SoftBank has come a long way in India. 

A Tricky Pitch For SoftBank

The visit comes nearly a month after SoftBank posted its quarterly financial results for the quarter that ended December 2022, reporting a net loss of $5.9 Bn during the period. 

Not just this, SoftBank’s India portfolio has lost much of its sheen since the emergence of the funding winter last year. The situation has especially been worse for its Vision Fund 1 startups. 

At the end of September 2022, SoftBank saw the value of its stakes in Paytm and Zomato come down to $900 Mn and $200 Mn, respectively. The number remained the same at the end of December 2022 quarter.   

Earlier this month, the Japanese conglomerate dumped 2.8 Cr shares of Delhivery worth INR 954.2 Cr via multiple block deals. It has also been scouting for investors to sell a part of its stake in fintech major Paytm.

In November last year, Softbank sold 4.5% of its stake in Paytm in a $200 Mn deal. Further, the investor sold more than 5% stake in PB Fintech via block deals in December.

Besides, Softbank has been scaling down its investments in the Indian startup ecosystem. Despite backing 25% of the country’s 100 unicorns, it invested just $500 Mn in Indian startups in 2022, a steep decline from the $3.2 Bn it pumped in 2021.

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