File image of SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son
Masayoshi Son has invited CEOs and founders from start-ups with his SoftBank investments for a meet-up during his day-long visit to New Delhi on March 7.
Son is expected to fly in by private jet at 11 am to attend Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal’s wedding ceremony at the Taj Palace and leave by 7 pm, Business Standard has reported. The ceremony is expected to see a heavy presence of corporate as well as political leaders.
Son will likely meet FirstCry CEO Supam Maheshwari, Flipkart’s CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, Lenskart CEO Peyush Bansal, OfBusiness founders Asish Mohapatra and Ruchi Kalra, Ola founder Bhavish Aggarwal, and Paytm CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, sources told Business Standard.
The report added that participants are unconfirmed as the meeting was not planned. The 65-year-old Son will restrict his movements to the reception venue and follow strict COVID-19 protocol, sources said. A bio bubble is being created for Son, and those who meet him must undergo RT-PCR tests. The billionaire has increasingly preferred Zoom calls instead of in-person meetings.
Moneycontrol, which had reported about his visit, could not independently verify the details.
Speculation that Son will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi is untrue, as the PM won’t be in the national capital on March 7.
This is Son’s first visit to India since 2018. It was earlier speculated that Son may make the trip for Agarwal’s wedding and meet Modi at the reception.
SoftBank did not respond to queries.
The Japanese tech conglomerate has invested around $ 15 billion in Indian companies so far, of which $ 11 billion have been in the last six years. Its portfolio in the country has 28 companies including the likes of Paytm, PolicyBazaar, Delhivery, Swiggy, Meesho, OYO, FirstCry, OfBusiness and Unacademy among others.
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Going slow
SoftBank, however, has not made any investments in India in 2023 amid a tech funding winter. It cut new investments in the country by more than 84 percent in 2022 from a year earlier, as it turned selective in capital deployment amid macroeconomic headwinds.
SoftBank has backed nearly a fifth of India’s over 100 unicorns but invested about $ 500 million into Indian start-ups last year, down from over $ 3.2 billion in the whole of 2021, data compiled by Moneycontrol shows. It also participated in only about six deals last year, compared to 17 in 2021.
Its average cheque size has also dropped to $ 83.3 million in the first 11 months of 2022, compared to over $ 185 million in the whole of 2021, the data showed.
SoftBank has invested more than $ 11.2 billion in Indian companies since 2017 with its Vision Fund investment units. In 2017 itself, it invested more than $ 4.1 billion, and that too, across just three deals.
