SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son’s younger brother Taizo Son, has also decided to dive in the startup ecosystem in India.
Taizo’s investment firm and incubator, Mistletoe, launchd in 2013 has tied up with GSF Accelerator and Infobridge, a business consultancy that connects Japanese companies with their Indian counterparts, to launch a startup accelerator ‘Gastrotope‘.
The intricate details and operations have not been fully decided for now but it is sure that the accelerator will work with startups in India and abroad that focus on ‘farm-to-fork’ processes including agriculture and food processing, among others.
“India will be at the centre of agriculture and food technology. There are some issues here. We could solve these locally, here, and then these ideas could be adopted by the rest of the world. Japan is also a country with deep agriculture technologies and food culture. I have always believed that innovation comes from the connecting of diverse dots, and this time, with the bridge between India and Japan, new and unique solutions to the fundamental questions of food and agriculture will arise,” said the younger Son.
Taizo Son is also the founder of mobile gaming company GungHo Online Entertainment Inc, the makers of Puzzle & Dragons, one of the best selling mobile games worldwide.
Apart from investing in funds such as 500 Startups, Beyond Ventures and Grove Ventures, Son has invested about $161 million of his personal wealth in more than 90 startups including Astroscale, Zipline and Flower Robotics.
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In India, Mistletoe has invested in Innerchef, Ninjacart and Kisan Network. The firm is in talks to invest in more startups, said Son.
Incidentally, Rajesh Sawhney, founder and chief executive at GSF Accelerator, Mistletoe’s partner in India for Gastrotope, is also the founder of Innerchef.
“Gastrotope is borne out of a new world vision of democratising healthy gastronomy experiences for millions. The food consumption habits are changing globally with a focus on nutrition and wellness. Gastrotope seeks to play a vital role in catalysing India’s adoption of these trends through the birth of a completely new agriculture and food tech ecosystem,” said Sawhney.
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