Food delivery platform Swiggy, eyewear brand Lenskart, baby products retailer FirstCry, and B2B commerce startup OfBusiness, all part of SoftBank’s portfolio, are in various stages of preparing for their initial public offering.
SoftBank Vision Fund managing partner and chief financial officer Navneet Govil told The Economic Times in an interview that FirstCry is expected to file their IPO papers by 2023-end. SoftBank’s portfolio companies are cumulatively valued at $42 billion.
Govil told the news daily that 93 per cent of the Japanese group’s portfolio comprising 473 firms boast a positive cash runway of over 12 months. The vision fund will begin reinvesting again after a prolonged period of inactivity due to six consecutive quarters of losses, he said.
SoftBank has seen a lot of companies in its portfolio go bust or shut down. Govil said that companies that aren’t doing well have been identified and have been written down.
Once the portfolio companies go public, SoftBank would sell its shares to monetise at some point. Govil gave the example of Uber where they invested $7.7 billion but has now completely exited.
The Japanese group has sold stakes in both public and private entities in India – most recently in Lenskart. SoftBank will now bet on artificial intelligence-focused companies with high growth across India, Europe, Latin America and the US.
Govil said that the bar for investments will be high. He added that they don’t have targets specific to the regions but SoftBank has over $40 billion of cash on its balance sheet. In Vision Fund - II they have $60 billion of commitments, out of which they have invested $51.5 billion, leaving $8.5 billion available for further investments.
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