Synopsis
SoftBank's Indian investments faced a significant downturn in the January-March quarter. Several prominent companies like Swiggy and Ola Electric saw their market value drop. This led to substantial paper losses for SoftBank's Vision Fund. Despite overall gains from other investments, the Indian portfolio's performance highlights recent market challenges. SoftBank has been a major investor in India's startup ecosystem.Listen to this article in summarized format
The Japanese investor net recorded mark-to-market investment losses of more than $600 million in the first quarter of 2026, according to the SoftBank Group’s latest earnings disclosures. Barring eyewear retailer Lenskart, where SoftBank registered a roughly $100 million gain, all of its currently listed Indian portfolio companies, including Swiggy, Ola Electric, Meesho, Delhivery and FirstCry, lost market value during the period.
The Vision Fund investment unit, through which SoftBank has been investing in tech companies, reported an investment loss of about $4.2 billion from listed portfolio companies.
The figures are mark-to-market, or paper, losses and gains, reflecting changes in the share prices of listed portfolio companies during the quarter rather than exits by the investor.
The decline comes as several of SoftBank’s India bets that went public over the past two years trade amid concerns around profitability, competitive intensity and post-listing performance.
On Wednesday, SoftBank reported a sharp increase in its net profit for the January-March quarter to $12 billion, as it booked gains on investment in OpenAI, the world’s biggest artificial intelligence company. The Vision Fund reported a gain of more than $20 billion for the January-March quarter, mostly on the back of the OpenAI investment.
SoftBank has been one of the most aggressive global investors in Indian startups over the past decade, backing companies across food delivery, mobility, ecommerce, logistics, childcare retail and financial services. It has deployed more than $15 billion in India over the years.
Its India portfolio has become increasingly public-market linked with companies such as Swiggy, Ola Electric, Delhivery, FirstCry and Lenskart now listed. However, lately, the investor has been cautious in investing in India and has made only a few deals, such as vibe coding platform Emergent, and follow-on investments in some of its portfolio companies.
SoftBank previously has also had mixed returns. While the investor lost more than $500 million on its Paytm investment, it earned close to $400 million on Policybazaar, and also netted $100 million from Eternal, in which it got a stake via its investment in Blinkit (earlier Grofers). Eternal (earlier known as Zomato) acquired Blinkit in 2022. It has fully existed these investments.
( Originally published on May 13, 2026 )
