SoftBank would cut startup funding by half this year as losses cross $13 billion
- ByStartupStory | May 13, 2022
Japanese investment giant SoftBank on Thursday reported a huge net loss of 1.708 trillion yen ($13.14 billion), saying that it would be forced to cut startup funding by more than half this year.
The conglomerate also reported the largest quarterly net loss of 2.1 trillion Yen ($ 16.2 billion) in the January-March quarter, Nikkei Asia reports.
SoftBank also reported a historic loss of $ 27 billion for the full year due to significant losses from investments in technology companies such as Coupang and Didi Global.
SoftBank invested $ 2.5 billion in the January-March quarter, down significantly from $ 10.4 billion in the previous quarter. When it comes to startups, SoftBank has invested more than $ 46 billion in startups over the past year.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said that compared to last year, “the amount of new investments (in startups) will be half or could be as small as a quarter”.
“Other poor performers included Singaporean ride-hailing company Grab, US food delivery firm DoorDash and Indian payments group Paytm, which together lost close to $5 billion over the quarter, according to Redex Research analyst Kirk Boodry’s estimates,” reported the Financial Times.
“The investment environment remains challenging, dominated by fast-rising inflation, increasingly complex geopolitical risk and a global energy shock,” SoftBank said.
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