Rajeev Misra, CEO of Softbank Investment Advisers, said that ticket sizes have come down dramatically and that it has to expand its portfolio base to reach its investment targets.
Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp is ready to invest as much as $10 billion in India next year provided it finds right opportunities at right valuation, Rajeev Misra, CEO of Softbank Investment Advisers said.
Talking at the Bloomberg India Economic Forum 2021, Misra said that ticket sizes have come down dramatically and that it has to expand its portfolio base to reach its investment targets.
“We could invest another $5–10 billion in 2022, if we find the right companies at the right valuation. The quantum of capital we are able to invest today is not as high because the founders are not raising as much money. They’re raising $150–300 million. To invest $3–4 billion, we would have to invest in about 15 companies,” he said.
Misra said the company is expanding its presence in India although it doesn’t have a pre-defined budget for the country.
The Paytm- and Oyo-backer has invested $3 billion across 24 companies in India this year. Misra said India has done an ‘amazing turnaround’ over the years to become a preferred destination for global investors from being a market where it was difficult to justify investments.
He sees fintech, business-to-business (B2B) Software as a service (SaaS) and education as most interesting opportunities in India.
“I think fintech is the biggest opportunity in India because India is unbanked. We had invested in Paytm and Policybazaar, we’re looking at two other fintech companies, because financial inclusion is a must in India. The big ones that we like are still B2B businesses that serve businesses to improve their HR and sales quality. These are not just for India but can go global,” he said.
Talking about the startup IPO frenzy, Misra said the pent-up demand is fueling tech IPOs and this frenzy would slow down as demand for such issues cools down.
A slew of Softbank portfolio companies including Delhivery, Oyo, Policybazaar, Ola, and Flipkart are readying their public market debut in the next 18–24 months.
The IPO of Paytm, one of its largest bets in India, was subscribed fully on the third and final day of bidding today on Wednesday. India’s biggest IPO was subscribed 1.89 times, receiving bids for 9.13 crore equity shares against offer size of 4.83 crore shares.
