- 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.
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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.
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: