SoftBank, which reported a net loss of 1.708 trillion yen ($13.14 billion) for fiscal year ending March 31, said it would cut startup VC funding by more than half this year.
SoftBank also reported its biggest-ever quarterly net loss of 2.1 trillion yen ($16.2 billion) for the January-March quarter.
SoftBank also reported a historic $27 billion loss to its Vision Funds for the full year, owing to heavy loss in investments in tech companies like Coupang and Didi Global.
SoftBank invested $2.5 billion in the January-March quarter, considerably lower than $10.4 billion it spent in the previous quarter.
Softbank invested more than $46 billion in startups last fiscal year.
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son said the amount of new investments in startups will be half or could be as small as a quarter compared to last year.
Poor performers included Singaporean ride-hailing company Grab, US food delivery firm DoorDash and Indian payments group Paytm, which together lost close to $5 billion over the quarter, according to Redex Research analyst Kirk Boodry’s estimates, reported the Financial Times.
SoftBank’s $100 billion Vision Fund was launched in 2017 and is backed by Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi.
