SoftBank eyes investments in more Indian startups

Japan's SoftBank, which recently announced its plans to make heavy investments in India’s e-commerce market, has invited three Indian startups to Tokyo later this month seeking to negotiate deals that could lead to a round of funding. The companies include online furniture retailer Urban Ladder, fashion portal Yepme and low-cost tablet maker Swipe.

Japanese telecom and internet giant SoftBank has announced its interest to make huge investments of about 10 billion dollars (around Rs 60,000 crores) in India over the next few years. The first phase of investment round is expected to commence when Masayoshi Son, the Chairman and Founder of 92 billion dollars (over Rs 5,64,600 crores) conglomerate visits India. Interestingly, Japan’s richest man is eyeing an entry into India’s ecommerce and technology companies.

Son had invested 20 million dollars (over Rs 122 crores) in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba in 2000, and has now announced an investment of 650 million dollars (over Rs 3,988 crores) in Delhi-based e-commerce player Snapdeal along with 180 million dollars (Rs 1,104 crores) in taxi hailing startup Olacabs. Softbank has a joint venture partnership with Indian telecom major Bharti (Bharti Softbank) and has invested in Bangalore-based mobile advertising network InMobi.

Fifty-seven-year-old Son with an estimated net worth of 20 billion dollars (Rs over Rs 1, 22,750 crores) has surpassed Tadashi Yanai, Chairman of Fast Retailing which runs Uniqlo, post Alibaba's IPO. SoftBank is the single largest shareholder in the Chinese e-commerce giant with a 34 percent stake.