is planning a fresh round of layoffs at its Vision Fund investment arm. The layoffs, which could be announced in the next two weeks, is expected to impact up to 30% of its staff at the unit, including employees in the United States, said a report by Reuters.
The latest development could lead to the elimination of about 150 jobs globally at the investing arm and SoftBank Group International in September.
SoftBank has not yet commented on the report.
The Japanese investment holding company reported a record loss of $32 billion (4.3 trillion Japanese yen) across SoftBank Vision Fund I and SoftBank Vision Fund II, wider than the earlier loss of 2.55 trillion Japanese yen.
SoftBank, an investor in tech companies such as fintech giant Klarna and TikTok owner ByteDance, has seen the valuation of its portfolio companies drop amid sharp interest rate hikes and rising US-China tensions.
The group reported an annual net loss of 970 billion yen ($7.2 billion) for the year ended March 31. It cushioned the investment loss at the Vision Fund unit by selling down its stake in Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK).
Vision Fund II’s portfolio was worth $31 billion at March-end compared to an acquisition cost of $49.9 billion.
A research note from Bank of America (BofA) stated, “94% of SVF investees already had cash runways of at least 12 months at end-March 2023.”
SoftBank’s investments in Indian startups are channelled through its two main vehicles—SoftBank Vision Fund (SVF) I and II.
According to the report, around 94% of the Indian startups backed by SoftBank have cash reserves stretching up to a year as most of them have undertaken cost-cutting measures, given the tight funding environment.
