Japanese investor SoftBank is in talks with about four to five Indian startups to invest, support and eventually help them grow into unicorns. Reportedly, the Masayoshi Son-led firm is planning to invest between $50 Mn to $100 Mn in each of the startups on its radar.
The VC behemoth is primarily focussing on startups operating in the B2C, enterprise, and media segments, reported Business Standard. Further, according to the report, these startups are within a valuation range of $400 Mn and $500 Mn.
SoftBank may also seek opportunities to invest in the businesses where existing investors are eyeing exit through a secondary sale; where such startups are deferring IPO.
Last year, SoftBank had invested about $500 Mn in Indian SaaS startups, much lower than the $3.2 Bn investment it made in 2021 across segments. As of now, SoftBank’s total investment in Indian startups stands at $15 Bn, where it already withdrew $7 Bn.
Market-wise, India is the third largest market for SoftBank after the US and China in terms of making investment deals.
