SoftBank arm may venture into India with Loginext investment

SoftBank Ventures Asia, an early-stage funding arm of Japan’s internet and telecommunication giant SoftBank, might enter the Indian market with an investment in logistics management software provider Loginext Solutions Pvt Ltd.

According to various sources, SoftBank Ventures Asia has been in talks with Loginext since April.

Interestingly, Loginext is backed by Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm, in which SoftBank has a major investment.

Founded in 2000, SoftBank Ventures Asia is based in Korea and it scouts for start-ups with a strong potential in Asia, the US, Israel, and the EU, focussing on AI, IoT and the smart robotics industry.

A mail to SoftBank Ventures Asia remained unanswered.

The fund is likely to close three to four deals this year, sources said.

When contacted, a SoftBank spokesperson said the company never commented on the scope or strategy of its funds.

Loginext founder Dhruvil Sanghvi also declined to comment, saying that the company is always in talks with several investors. The Mumbai-based start-up works with over 100 enterprises across India, the US and South-East Asia.

At an average run rate of $5 million, the company expects to garner $10 million in revenues in 2019.

Growth potential

The funding talks come at a time when venture capital funds are aggressively scouting for start-ups in the logistics-tech space.

In March this year, logistics start-up Delhivery raised about $350 million from SoftBank’s Vision Fund.

Indian automaker TVS Motors acquired Bengaluru-based Tagabox for $3.85 million; while a week ago, logistics optimisation start-up Locus — a competitor of Loginext — raised $20 million.

Blackbuck, another logistics player, raised $150 million from Goldman Sachs Investment Partners and Accel a few weeks ago.

[“source=thehindubusinessline”]