This is how Nikesh Arora led Softbank invested in India
SoftBank's investment bucket includes India's e-commerce majors like Snapdeal, OYO Rooms, Housing.com, PayTm and many more.
Japanese conglomerate Softbank's President Nikesh Arora on Tuesday decided to step down from his post, effective from today but will stay in advisory role for a year.
Arora, who was responsible for global operations, has led Softbank to focus on Indian startups for investments.
Under his leadership, Softbank's investment in India crossed $1 billion (Rs 6652.75 crore) mark in 2014 and has recently stated that its investment in country will cross $10 billion (Rs 66527.5 crore) in coming years.
SoftBank's investment bucket includes India's e-commerce majors like Snapdeal, OYO Rooms, Housing.com, PayTm and many more. In fact, after recent Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's visit to Japan in May end, the company will be investing in solar power projects.
In June last year, Softbank along with contract manufacturing giant Foxconn, had partnered with Bharti Enterprises with plans to invest $20 billion in solar power projects in India.
In August 2015, while speaking to NDTV, Arora had said, "India's time has come. There will be a huge amount of growth in the next 10 years in India. Start-ups will create a new kind of consumerism in India."
Arora had joined Softbank as its Vice-Chairman and CEO of SB Group US -- previously Softbank Internet and Media Inc -- in September 2014 from search giant Google.
Soon after he joined the Board, the company announced investment in taxi-hailing app Ola worth $210 million (Rs 1300 crore approx.). Along with Ola, the company also invested in Snapdeal worth $627 million (Rs 4100 crore approx.), as reported by Business Standard.
Since then, Softbank became "angel" for the start-ups.
Other start-ups are:
Ola-- After receiving first round of investment in 2014, the company received its second round in April 2015 by Softbank. Along with other investment firms, Softbank put in $400 million in the company.
On Tuesday, when contacted Bhavish Aggarwal Ola Cabs Co-Founder & CEO, to talk about Arora's exit, he said, "Nikesh is such a great friend, guide and mentor to me personally. I am sure he will continue to be a source of support and inspiration to the Indian startup ecosystem. Softbank as an investor has played a key role in Ola's growth story and we will continue to leverage the vast network and expertise that they bring to us as partners."
Housing.com-- Realty based portal Housing.com received investment worth $100 million by Softbank in November 2014. After that, the company again invested $14.7 million in January this year.
Rahul Yadav, Former CEO of Housing.com, yesterday told CNBC TV 18, "SoftBank's investments are currently not doing well and thus the bank should have given more time to Arora".
Snapdeal-- While competing with Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal received $500 million in the second round of investment by Softbank in August 2015.
Kunal Behl, Co-founder of Snapdeal, yesterday, while talking about Arora's exit, said, "Nikesh has been a great supporter and mentor to our business and we look forward to the same continuing going forward as well. Softbank will continue to provide financial and strategic support to our company and the transition at Softbank will have no impact on our business".
OYO Rooms--After Snapdeal, in the same month, Softbank invested $100 million along with other shareholders. The company received its second round of investment in April 2016.
Grofers-- In November 2015, e-grocery app, Grofers received $120 million by Softbank through Series-C-Fund, along with Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital, said a BS report.
06:09 PM IST