SoftBank Group

SoftBank Group is a multinational telecommunications and internet corporation based in Japan. It operates through four segments: mobile communications, Sprint, fixed-line telecommunications, and internet. The company provides a wide range of services, including mobile and fixed-line voice and data transmission services, broadband services, internet advertising, e-commerce, and digital television. SoftBank Group also invests in various technologies through its venture capital arms, such as SoftBank Investment Advisers and SoftBank Vision Fund, focusing on areas like artificial intelligence, robotics, and the Internet of Things. One of its notable subsidiaries, SoftBank Robotics, designs and manufactures humanoid robots for various applications, including education, healthcare, and business.

Karim Abouzahr

Director, SoftBank Europe Ventures

Praveen Akkiraju

Managing Partner, Americas, Asia

Kristin Bannon

Investment Director, SoftBank Investment Advisers

Lee Bocker

COO

Jonathan Bullock

COO and Managing Director

John Cassidy

Investment Director, Life Sciences and HealthTech

Tom Cheung

Partner, Americas

Rodrigo Costa

Partner

Serena Dayal

Investment Director

Angela Du

Investor

Colin Fan

Managing Partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers

Ted Fike

Director, Americas

Ronald Fisher

Vice Chairman

Navneet Govil

Managing Partner, CFO

Ayush Jain

Investment Vice President

Lydia Jett

Partner

Sumer Juneja

Managing Partner and Head of EMEA and India Investing

Robert Kaplan

Investment Director

Nagraj Kashyap

Managing Partner

Matt Krna

Principal

Chris Lee

Partner, Asia

Anna Lo

Director, Americas

Amit Lubovsky

Investor

Jimi Macdonald

Director

Kentaro Matsui

Managing Partner, Asia

Ken Miyauchi

Representative Director and Senior Executive Vice President

Greg Moon

Associate

Akshay Naheta

Partner, EMEA

Gowri Narayanan

Partner, FinTech

Karol Niewiadomski

Partner

Shu Nyatta

Managing Partner

Max Ohrstrand

Partner, EMEA

Vikas Parekh

Managing Partner, Americas

Ben Parton

Director of Deals and Transactions

Paulo Passoni

Managing Investment Partner

Yanni Pipilis

Managing Partner

Narendra Rathi

Director, Asia

Brett Rochkind

Managing Partner

Saleh Romeih

Managing Partner, Investment Committee Member, SBIA, EMEA

Ram Trichur

Partner

Ervin Tu

Partner, Americas

Munish Varma

Partner, EMEA, Asia

Aaron Wong

Vice President

Kenichi Yoshida

Chief Business Officer and Executive Vice President

Linda Yu

Vice President, Vision Fund

Andrew Zloto

Investment Director

Tim Yap

Director, EMEA

Past deals in Messaging

Zhichi Technologies

Series D in 2022
Zhichi Technologies is a prominent intelligent customer experience provider based in Southeast Asia, specializing in a diverse range of solutions including AI chatbots, live chat, call center services, and ticketing systems. Since its inception in 2014, the company has supported over 5,000 brands and enterprises, facilitating millions of interactions across various channels such as online chat, social media, business messaging, and voice calls. Zhichi Technologies is dedicated to delivering a reliable and user-friendly platform that enhances communication between global enterprises and their customers. Additionally, the company has been designated as a Meta authorized business service provider, allowing it to assist enterprises in managing business accounts and executing marketing campaigns, notifications, and other communications efficiently.

Meesho

Series F in 2021
Meesho operates as an online reselling platform that enables anyone to start a business without investment. Meesho connects manufacturers, wholesalers, and suppliers with resellers who use social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook to sell products to their network of friends and family. The company was founded in 2015 by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwa and is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka.

Picsart

Series C in 2021
PicsArt, Inc. is the world's largest digital creation platform, specializing in photo and video editing tools designed for users at all skill levels. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Miami, with an additional office in Yerevan, Armenia, the company offers a comprehensive suite of features through its mobile and web applications. Its flagship app provides an array of options for photo manipulation, drawing, and collage making, including customizable filters, text overlays, and a GIF generator. Additionally, PicsArt hosts a vibrant community for creative collaboration, allowing users to share and collectively edit images. The platform also features a dedicated app for children, as well as a messaging system that enhances the shared creative experience. By combining its extensive open-source content collection with AI-powered tools, PicsArt serves consumers, marketers, content creators, and businesses alike, facilitating both personal and professional design projects.

IRL

Series C in 2021
IRL is a social messaging application founded in 2019 and based in San Francisco, California. The app facilitates event discovery and planning, enabling users to manage their social calendars effectively. It allows individuals to follow friends, join interest-based groups, and engage in chats. Users can create groups centered around their interests, fostering connections with like-minded individuals and enhancing existing relationships. The platform supports event creation, allowing users to invite group members and plan activities easily. Additionally, IRL integrates local public events and enables users to follow sports teams, musicians, celebrities, and local venues, streamlining the process of sending and receiving invitations to social gatherings.

Sinch

Post in 2021
Sinch is a cloud communications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, that connects businesses with customers through a range of communication tools. Founded in 2008, the company offers a platform that enables mobile messaging, voice, and video services, allowing businesses to reach every mobile phone globally in seconds. Sinch provides cloud communication services to both enterprises and mobile operators, with key segments including Messaging, Voice, Email, and support for small and medium-sized businesses. The Messaging segment is a significant revenue driver, focusing on handling messages and executing personalized video and multimedia messaging for enterprises. With operations in over 30 countries, Sinch powers critical communications for many of the world's largest companies, facilitating seamless integration of communication capabilities into various applications and business processes.

ADA

Corporate Round in 2021
ADA is end-to-end commerce excellence, from marketing and content optimization to store operations offers comprehensive messaging solutions and extensive integration knowledge.

SendBird

Series C in 2021
SendBird is a leading provider of messaging and chat APIs, designed to enhance communication for mobile applications and websites. The company focuses on digitizing human interactions by enabling user-to-user, user-to-business, and business-to-business communication through its robust API platform. This allows enterprises to initiate autonomous support and sales conversations while keeping human agents available for more complex inquiries. With a strong emphasis on customer experience, SendBird empowers businesses to build AI agents and foster meaningful connections at scale. The company is trusted by over 4,000 prominent applications, including DoorDash, Match Group, Noom, and Yahoo Sports, and facilitates more than 7 billion conversations each month. Headquartered in California, SendBird is recognized for its reliability, security, and compliance, meeting the demands of enterprise clients.

Meesho

Series E in 2021
Meesho operates as an online reselling platform that enables anyone to start a business without investment. Meesho connects manufacturers, wholesalers, and suppliers with resellers who use social media platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook to sell products to their network of friends and family. The company was founded in 2015 by Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwa and is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka.

Sinch

Post in 2020
Sinch is a cloud communications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, that connects businesses with customers through a range of communication tools. Founded in 2008, the company offers a platform that enables mobile messaging, voice, and video services, allowing businesses to reach every mobile phone globally in seconds. Sinch provides cloud communication services to both enterprises and mobile operators, with key segments including Messaging, Voice, Email, and support for small and medium-sized businesses. The Messaging segment is a significant revenue driver, focusing on handling messages and executing personalized video and multimedia messaging for enterprises. With operations in over 30 countries, Sinch powers critical communications for many of the world's largest companies, facilitating seamless integration of communication capabilities into various applications and business processes.

Slack

Series H in 2018
Slack Technologies, Inc., established in 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, operates a cloud-based communication and collaboration platform, Slack. This platform facilitates team messaging, file sharing, and integration with various business tools, catering to a wide range of industries, from startups to large enterprises. Slack's software-as-a-service model enables real-time communication and data sharing, aiming to increase organizational efficiency and productivity.

hi

Corporate Round in 2018
hi is a cross-ecosystem financial services and travel technology platform that operates in over 82 countries. It utilizes popular social media messengers, such as WhatsApp and Telegram, to deliver its services. The company integrates inspirational content, travel booking tools, hotels, destination services, and data intelligence to streamline the travel experience. By connecting these elements, hi facilitates easier exploration for travelers and enhances personalized guest experiences for hotels. Additionally, the company's branded smart products are increasingly present in hotel rooms worldwide, contributing to its growth and innovation in the travel sector.

Snow Corporation

Series A in 2018
Snow is the developer and operator of the selfie pic and video app SNOW, featuring face recognition-enabled stickers and GIF-enabled chat functionality. With SNOW, users pick from over 700 stickers and 30 types of filters to liven up their photos and videos, then send the finished product to their friends or post them within the SNOW app to give their friends a peek into what they are up to now. User numbers have been growing steadily since the app first launched in Korea, with service being expanded to Japan and China in November 2015 and February 2016, respectively. In Japan, the number of users has been growing rapidly, and the app has been ranked as No.1 in both iOS App Store’s free app Photo & Video category and Google Play’s Photography category.

Mirror Emoji Keyboard

Seed Round in 2017
Mirror uses a single selfie to instantly create hundreds of emoji that look like you and your friends. You can then use these in all messengers.

Slack

Series G in 2017
Slack Technologies, Inc., established in 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, operates a cloud-based communication and collaboration platform, Slack. This platform facilitates team messaging, file sharing, and integration with various business tools, catering to a wide range of industries, from startups to large enterprises. Slack's software-as-a-service model enables real-time communication and data sharing, aiming to increase organizational efficiency and productivity.

Hike

Series D in 2016
Hike is a versatile technology company that focuses on creating innovative products aimed at shaping the social future. It operates a comprehensive platform that facilitates in-store, online, and mobile selling for retailers, alongside providing cloud-based retail management software. In addition, Hike is engaged in the blockchain gaming sector, developing the Rush Gaming Universe, which combines elements of Web2 and Web3 to offer a unique social gaming experience. This platform allows players to utilize their skills to earn and grow within the gaming ecosystem. Furthermore, Hike has developed a mobile messaging application that provides multilingual messaging services, enabling users to express themselves through stickers and emojis while sharing messages and media with friends and family. Overall, Hike is dedicated to merging technology with social interaction and gaming, creating new economic opportunities for users.

Quixey

Series C in 2015
Quixey, Inc. is a mobile technology company based in Mountain View, California, with additional offices in Beijing, Bengaluru, and Tel Aviv. Founded in 2009, Quixey operates a platform that enhances user access and engagement with applications through its innovative Deep View Cards. This solution connects users directly to app functionalities, enabling quick actions such as booking a hotel or ordering a ride without the need for user registration. By employing content acquisition techniques and application mining technology, Quixey effectively delivers relevant app content through various channels, including ads, search, and social messaging platforms. The company's offerings cater to both users and leading mobile brands, streamlining the process of finding and utilizing application features in a visually engaging manner.

Sprint

Acquisition in 2012
Sprint Corporation was an American telecommunications company that provided a wide range of wireless and wireline communications services to consumers, businesses, and government entities. It was known for its innovative technologies, which included two wireless networks that served nearly 49 million customers at the end of the second quarter of 2009. Sprint offered industry-leading mobile data services, instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities, and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. On April 1, 2020, Sprint merged with T-Mobile US, marking a significant consolidation in the telecommunications industry.

Piictu

Seed Round in 2012
Piictu is a mobile photo-sharing application that enables users to engage and interact with friends and communities through pictures. Users can capture images, post them to Piictu and their social networks, and receive live picture responses from others. This platform combines elements of social networking and gaming, allowing brands to connect with their customers in an engaging way. By facilitating collaboration around ideas, interests, and experiences, Piictu offers a fun and simple method for users to share and communicate visually. The application emphasizes the interactive nature of photo sharing, making it an appealing tool for both personal use and brand engagement.

Piictu

Seed Round in 2011
Piictu is a mobile photo-sharing application that enables users to engage and interact with friends and communities through pictures. Users can capture images, post them to Piictu and their social networks, and receive live picture responses from others. This platform combines elements of social networking and gaming, allowing brands to connect with their customers in an engaging way. By facilitating collaboration around ideas, interests, and experiences, Piictu offers a fun and simple method for users to share and communicate visually. The application emphasizes the interactive nature of photo sharing, making it an appealing tool for both personal use and brand engagement.

Yoke

Seed Round in 2011
Yoke is a Facebook dating app that matches you with single friends of friends. It makes accurate suggestions for potential dates by referencing your Facebook Likes and listening activity against data from Amazon, Netflix, Echnonest, and its own proprietary Facebook Page and college graphs. Users can contact matches via Facebook messages, ask a mutual friend for an introduction, or play matchmaker for their friends. http://apps.facebook.com/yokeapp

Danger

Series E in 2006
Danger was a technology company that specialized in providing software and hardware solutions, particularly known for powering T-Mobile's Sidekick phone. This device was geared towards younger users and was notable for its robust messaging capabilities, handling over 4,000 messages and 400 pageviews per user each month at its peak. In 2008, Microsoft acquired Danger, but the company faced significant challenges, including a major server issue in 2009 that resulted in data loss for users. By May 2011, the cloud data service for Danger-powered Sidekick devices was discontinued, marking the end of an era for the product. Throughout its operations, Danger offered integrated solutions that enabled mobile operators to deliver data and internet services effectively to their subscribers.

Danger

Series D in 2004
Danger was a technology company that specialized in providing software and hardware solutions, particularly known for powering T-Mobile's Sidekick phone. This device was geared towards younger users and was notable for its robust messaging capabilities, handling over 4,000 messages and 400 pageviews per user each month at its peak. In 2008, Microsoft acquired Danger, but the company faced significant challenges, including a major server issue in 2009 that resulted in data loss for users. By May 2011, the cloud data service for Danger-powered Sidekick devices was discontinued, marking the end of an era for the product. Throughout its operations, Danger offered integrated solutions that enabled mobile operators to deliver data and internet services effectively to their subscribers.

Danger

Series D in 2003
Danger was a technology company that specialized in providing software and hardware solutions, particularly known for powering T-Mobile's Sidekick phone. This device was geared towards younger users and was notable for its robust messaging capabilities, handling over 4,000 messages and 400 pageviews per user each month at its peak. In 2008, Microsoft acquired Danger, but the company faced significant challenges, including a major server issue in 2009 that resulted in data loss for users. By May 2011, the cloud data service for Danger-powered Sidekick devices was discontinued, marking the end of an era for the product. Throughout its operations, Danger offered integrated solutions that enabled mobile operators to deliver data and internet services effectively to their subscribers.

HeyAnita

Series B in 2001
HeyAnita is a voice platform specializing in enhanced messaging solutions for the global telecommunications industry. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Burbank, California, with additional offices in San Francisco, London, and Pune, the company caters to e-businesses seeking to provide voice access to their products and services. Its diverse product portfolio includes mobile applications such as Rapid Messaging Service, Travel App Suite, Weather Info, and Entertainment App Suite, among others. HeyAnita also offers a range of deployment options, including an ASP model, premise-based solutions, and OEM opportunities. The platform enables mobile subscribers to communicate and share information seamlessly across different networks and handset technologies. Additionally, HeyAnita provides software developers with tools and services to create and deploy custom voice applications using its FreeSpeech platform.

HeyAnita

Series A in 2000
HeyAnita is a voice platform specializing in enhanced messaging solutions for the global telecommunications industry. Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Burbank, California, with additional offices in San Francisco, London, and Pune, the company caters to e-businesses seeking to provide voice access to their products and services. Its diverse product portfolio includes mobile applications such as Rapid Messaging Service, Travel App Suite, Weather Info, and Entertainment App Suite, among others. HeyAnita also offers a range of deployment options, including an ASP model, premise-based solutions, and OEM opportunities. The platform enables mobile subscribers to communicate and share information seamlessly across different networks and handset technologies. Additionally, HeyAnita provides software developers with tools and services to create and deploy custom voice applications using its FreeSpeech platform.
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