SoftBank Group Corp. will continue to invest in India’s digital companies, undeterred by Patym’s recent plunge.
The Japanese firm that has so far invested a reported $14 billion in India expects the digital market to keep booming on strong retail demand, according to Manoj Kohli, country head of SoftBank India.
Quote: “There’s no market in the world that can massify tech as India is doing,” Kohli told Bloomberg. “That’s why our founder Masa believes in the Indian market and would invest in Indian growth,” he said, referring to Masayoshi Son.
SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son said the Japanese firm is the biggest foreign investor in India, we reported earlier this month.
SoftBank is among the most bullish investors in Indian startups having backed large startups like Paytm, Ola, Grofers, Oyo, and others. In 2021, the company re-invested in e-commerce major Flipkart besides birthing new unicorns like Zeta, Meesho, OfBusiness, among others.
Paytm’s slide continues: Shares in SoftBank-backed fintech giant Paytm plunged to a three-week low on Thursday after a lock-up period for anchor investors expired, following its $2.5 billion share sale. For Kohli, this is a short-term issue as India’s digital markets get tested for the first time.
“I am sure in the long-term it’ll be a very large digital market,” he said. Bank bets on Indian fintech again: Payments technology startup Juspay raised $60 million in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund II, we reported last week.
