SoftBank to leverage $184b portfolio for AI push, Vision Fund CFO says

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SoftBank Group currently has a US$183.6 billion portfolio with 477 companies, a factor Vision Fund CFO Navneet Govil believes gives the Japanese investment giant an edge over smaller rivals in the realm of AI, the exec told Reuters.

Govil said that with its size, SoftBank can rally its portfolio firms to give it a better grasp on how they can use generative AI and large language models. “When you have 477 portfolio companies, you can facilitate synergies, which isn’t possible if you’re a smaller platform,” he added.

However, the CFO said that the Vision Fund is not yet investing in companies based on how they fit into this ecosystem of AI-powered businesses.

The exec added that SoftBank is measuring the potential revenue gains of its portfolio firms by deepening the connections between them. These firms can be customers or suppliers of one another, or help each other break into new markets. To date, SoftBank has brought in 50 of its portfolio companies to Japan.

While the exec noted that SoftBank has been investing less recently, the group still injected roughly US$4 billion into companies in each of the last two years.

The Vision Funds posted an annual gain of 724.3 billion yen (US$4.6 billion) in the financial year ended March 2024. This reverses a loss of US$33.8 billion in the previous financial year.

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Currency converted from Japanese yen to US dollar: US$1 = 155.8 yen.