Japan’s investment major Softbank investment Advisers, which invests through the SoftBank Vision Fund, is looking forward to deepening its play in India’s technology ecosystem, and thus, the company has announced plans to open an office in Mumbai in India.
For this purpose, the company has even roped in Sumer Juneja to lead the same. Norwest Venture Partners’ Sumer Juneja would be joining SoftBank to lead its India investments. Juneja is joining the company after a 9-year stint at Norwest Venture Partners. He has also led and invested in deals like those in Swiggy, Komli Media and Quikr.
“I’m delighted to welcome Sumer to the team; he will play a pivotal role in working with our existing portfolio companies as well as sourcing new opportunities on the ground. India represents an enormous addressable market comprising a young, tech-enabled population. I am excited by many of the opportunities we see there and look forward to announcing further investments in the coming months,” said Rajeev Misra, CEO, SoftBank Investment Advisors and Board Director, SoftBank Group.
Of the $8 billion that SoftBank has invested in India, about $5 billion has come from the 18-month old SoftBank Vision Fund in four of India’s highest-valued technology companies including hospitality group OYO, digital payments provider Paytm, insurance comparison site PolicyBazaar and online retailer Flipkart.