Rakuten, which will begin mobile services in October - putting it in direct competition with SoftBank’s domestic telco, SoftBank Corp - plans to double the number of IT engineers in Bengaluru over the next year from 550 currently.
Innovation in artificial intelligence has become how Son defines the Vision Fund’s investment thesis, whose bets on 82 companies span sectors including ride-hailing, fintech and healthcare.Underscoring the contrast with his home country, where technology innovation remains dominated by long-established companies, Son brought on stage self-made entrepreneurs from SoftBank portfolio companies.
Speakers included Ritesh Agarwal, 25-year-old founder of Indian hotel chain OYO, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of payment app Paytm parent One97 Communications. Many of these companies are expanding beyond their original remits, with Paytm, which has grown rapidly by offering QR code payments, moving into insurance and credit, and Southeast Asian ride-hailing app Grab offering payments and food delivery.
While SoftBank has served as a gateway into Japan for some of its portfolio companies, its ability to help drive synergies between them is yet to be demonstrated, with this week’s conference bringing some of the founders together in Tokyo.
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