Softbank is a Japanese technology company that primarily invests in companies operating in technology that offer goods and services to customers. Softbank plans to invest from $75 million to $150 million per deal in Indian data centers and Robotics startups. The company is also eyeing investments in the Indian AI market to boost its AI bets. Here we are talking about To boost AI bets, SoftBank plans to invest up to $150 million in Indian data centers and Robotics startups.
Here we are talking about To boost AI bets, SoftBank plans to invest up to $150 million in Indian data centers and Robotics startups:
As of March 2024, SoftBank had already invested $5 billion in various growing sectors such as logistics, robotics, and more. The investment SoftBank is planning may involve a greenfield data center project by a manufacturing unit or large corporation. According to a report by Moneycontrol, a person close to developments told them that SoftBank is currently looking at AI cases with large opportunities. The company aims for two sectors in India, including industrial robotics and data centers.
Recent investments made by Softbank include a $1 billion investment in Wayve, a self-driving car startup. Mr. Kendall, the owner of Wayve, mentioned that the investment from SoftBank helped them to turn this idea of self-driving cars into marketable products. Green Box, a joint company with a robotics company to open its first automated warehouse in California, also had massive support from Softbank. Softbank’s India AI investment plan is to shift globally to AI and chips.
SoftBank said that after slowing speed in investments, they will start being more active, mainly focusing on AI. In October last year, Softbank’s CEO Masayoshi Son said that he believes artificial general intelligence, which has 10 times more intelligence in humans, will be built in the next 10 years. He also mentioned that in the next 20 years, we will see an artificial superintelligence that will be 10,000 times more powerful than human intelligence.
The company is rumored to resume its investments in Indian startups, with a strategy of $100 million per round. They will focus on growth-stage investments. According to a Japanese investor, the fair value of SoftBank India’s investment portfolio across Vision Fund I and II increased 9% as of December and stood at nearly $11 billion. The company aims to scout AI infrastructure startups in India and highlight a growing global sentiment of looking at India as a tech exporter rather than just a large
market audience. Softbank has previously invested in other Indian startups such as Zomato, Paytm, PB Fintech, Firstcry, Swiggy, and more, but now they are strictly focusing only on Artificial Intelligence startups. The investor also exited Zomato and Policybazzar last year.
Conclusion
Softbank is a Japanese technology company that primarily invests in companies operating in technology and offering goods and services to customers. It plans to invest $ 75 million to $150 million per deal in Indian data centers and robotics startups. Recent investments made by Softbank include a $1 billion investment in Wayve, a self-driving car startup. Softbank has already invested $5 billion in various growing sectors such as logistics, robotics, and more as of March 2024. The investment SoftBank is planning may involve a greenfield data center project by a manufacturing unit or large corporation. SoftBank is currently looking at ample opportunities for AI cases. The company aims for two sectors in India, including industrial robotics and data centers.
