Masayoshi Son invites start-up founders, CEOs with SoftBank holding

Those meeting the SoftBank boss in New Delhi will have to go through RT-PCR tests

SoftBank’s boss Masayoshi Son, who is on a whistle-stop visit to New Delhi on Tuesday for half a day, has invited founders and chief executive officers (CEOs) from the start-up community who boast investments from his conglomerate.

These include Kalyan Krishnamurthy, CEO of e-tailer Flipkart; Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO of fintech firm Paytm; Peyush Bansal, CEO of eyewear e-portal Lenskart; Supam Maheshwari, CEO of FirstCry, an e-store for baby products; Asish Mohapatra and Ruchi Kalra, founders, B2B commerce and fintech start-up OfBusiness; and ride-hailing service Ola’s founder Bhavish Aggarwal, among others. As the decision to meet them was not planned earlier, they are awaiting confirmation, said sources.

Son is coming to India primarily to attend the marriage reception of Oyo Founder Ritesh Agarwal at a luxury hotel in Delhi and is following stringent Covid protocols and will not move out of the venue.   

Son has been one of the early investors in Oyo — the hotel aggregation start-up that is planning an IPO. Son had provided a personal guarantee in 2019 to Agarwal’s $2-billion loan from Japanese banks allowing the young entrepreneur to increase his stake in Oyo to over a third. Son, who is scheduled to arrive in his private jet at 11 am, is slated to go back by 7 pm.
 

Sources said that all those who are meeting the 65-year-old, who increasingly prefers Zoom calls to in-person meetings even in his home base of Tokyo, will have to go through RT-PCR tests, and a bio bubble is also being created for Son. A meeting of Son with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, however, is not on the cards as the PM will not be in Delhi tomorrow, said sources.
 

Sources say Son will also visit the married couple and some of the family members, exclusively, in a private ceremony, and has also lined up some private  engagements.  
 

One of the key investors in Indian start-ups, SoftBank has invested over $15 billion in the country, with the bulk of it ($11 billion) in the  last six years.

However, with the meltdown in start-ups, Softbank has slowed down investments in the country and in the last six months has made no fresh investments.