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SoftBank's Vision Fund has already had another difficult week, and this time its got nothing to do with WeWork
SoftBank's Vision Fund has already had another difficult week, and this time its got nothing to do with WeWork
Bani SapraNov 28, 2019, 01:59 IST
FILE PHOTO: Japan's SoftBank Group Corp Chief Executive Masayoshi Son attends a news conference in TokyoReuters
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Several once-promising startups backed by SoftBank's Vision Fund stumbled this week.
High-profile executives from at least three SoftBank-backed startups this week have indicated they were leaving their companies, including Wag CEO Hilary Schneider and four senior executives from Zume.
Oyo, an India-based hotel startup also announced a six-fold rise in losses, and predicted that the company would only make a profit beginning in 2022, according to Reuters.
These stumbles are reflective of the troubles that SoftBank-backed startups have been facing, as the string of WeWork scandals has drawn closer scrutiny to SoftBank's other investments.
Masayoshi Son, the CEO and founder of SoftBank, has became a household name in Silicon Valley for his company's Vision Fund - a venture firm with a strategy of pouring hundreds of millions (and sometimes billions) of dollars into startups, in an attempt to pick the next class of big winners.
But this past year, things took a turn for the worse among for SoftBank-backed companies. Uber and Slack stumbled out of the gate in their public-market debuts. Most infamously, WeWork's planned IPO process imploded, and SoftBank stepped in with $9.5 billion to bail out the buzzy office-rental company in a takeover deal.
The market has begun to sour on high-risk loss-making companies. For its part, in November, SoftBank reported its first quarterly operating loss in 14 years. SoftBank's Vision Fund reported its own $9 billion loss for the quarter. Investors are now beginning to question SoftBank's corporate governance and its investment strategies, according to the Wall Street Journal's Liz Hoffman and Phred Dvorak. SoftBank declined to comment.
Meanwhile, there are signs of turbulence at several SoftBank-backed startups.
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Earlier this week, Business Insider reported that SoftBank-backed robotics pizza company Zume is losing four key execs, amid broader changes to its business. Two other startups, India-based Oyo and construction tech company Katerra, have come under scrutiny this week, while dog walking startup Wag's CEO announced her departure amid reports that the company is putting itself up for sale.
Here's a look at a week that doesn't seem to reflect well on SoftBank:
Monday: Katerra's cofounder seems to have quietly left the company amid reports of layoffs and abandoned projects. Katerra had received $865 million from SoftBank's Vision Fund.
The cofounder of the high-tech construction startup Katerra, Fritz Wolff, is no longer featured on the company's leadership page.
Wolff quietly left the startup's board but will continue to advise the company, according to a Monday report from the Real Deal. Katerra was not immediately available for comment.
The promising startup had received $865 million investment from the SoftBank Vision Fund, backing its bid to use artificial intelligence to help customers build smarter and faster. But the quiet departure of its cofounder is not the first sign of the company's trouble this year.
Katerra has reportedly pulled out of at least six apartment and hotel projects this year, according to the Information's Cory Weinberg. The article also said that the company had laid off more than 100 of its employees.
Monday: Business Insider reports that four senior executives will leave robotic pizza-making startup Zume, joining a stream of departures. Zume, said to be seeking funding at a $4 billion valuation, raised $375 million from SoftBank.
But the company will lose its chief marketing officer, its chief legal officer, its head of human resources, and president of the robotic pizza business division, Business Insider's Megan Hernbroth reported this week. It also announced a broad reorganization to focus less on selling pizza directly, and more about providing logistics technology for the restaurant business.
Business Insider previously reported that executives have been leaving the firm over the past six months, including its interim chief financial officer and both its general counsel and vice president of talent.
Monday: SoftBank helped India-based hotel startup Oyo reach a valuation of over $10 billion. But its expenses have ballooned, and the company's own projections don't see it making money anytime soon, according to a Reuters report.
Oyo, an India-based hotel startup backed by SoftBank, revealed a dramatic six-fold rise in losses during its 2019 fiscal year, according to Reuters.
The company's internal projections reportedly suggested it would be at least two years before it could make a profit in India and China, and three years before it would be able break into the UK and US markets.
SoftBank has played a part in the company's billions of dollars of fundraising, pushing its valuation up to $10 billion. Oyo rapidly expanded into China, the United States, the United Kingdom and other markets. Amid that expansion, Oyo's operating expenses have risen exponentially. The company reported a net loss of 23.85 billion rupees ($333 million) in the fiscal year ending in March, up from the net loss of 3.6 billion ($50.3 million) for the year prior.
The company was not available for comment.
Tuesday: The dog-walking and pet-sitting startup Wag announced that its CEO is leaving — even as reports indicate that the company is hunting for a buyer. The company had raised $300 million from SoftBank.
The Los Angeles-based dog-walking startup Wag announced Tuesday that the firm CEO Hilary Schneider was leaving the company. Garret Smallwood, the company's vice president of product, partnerships and corporate development, will take over Schneider's position as CEO.
Wag was once seen as a company that could revolutionize the pet-care industry. SoftBank valued the company at $650 million and invested $300 million into the company in January 2018.
But the on-demand dog-walking app has struggled to grow as it competes with rivals like Rover.com. The company has reportedly shopped around for buyers recently, and even sought to sell itself for a lower price than its original valuation, according to Bloomberg. Wag was not immediately available for comment.
Schneider will be joining the private equity-owned photo-printing company Shutterfly as CEO, according to a company press release.
