SoftBank Group backed eight startups in Q4 2022, the firm's lowest quarterly funding round participation on record since the launch of Vision Fund, per Bloomberg.
In Q4 2022, the firm participated in funding rounds totaling $2.1B, which is nearly 15 times less than the $30B worth of funding rounds it participated in at its peak. The firm invested less than $350M in the quarter.
- SoftBank's founder Masayoshi Son had previously hinted at curbing investments until the market recovers.
- The drop in valuations of portfolio startups resulted in huge losses for the firm.
- SoftBank's Vision Fund lost $17B in Q2 2022, followed by $7.2B in the next quarter.
- In Q4, SoftBank made share buybacks worth $4B (532B yen), which helped its stock prices surge by 15% in the period.
- Investors are holding off on startup investments assuming that valuations will drop further.
- 80% of early-stage founders anticipate running out of money by the end of the year, while late-stage startups are looking to raise down rounds to ensure their company survives the downturn, according to a survey by January Ventures of startups in the U.S. and Europe.
