SoftBank Investment Advisers

OpenAI is at the frontier of artificial intelligence research and deployment. We’re excited to participate in the company’s latest fundraising round, and support their ongoing efforts to create general-purpose AI systems.   “OpenAI is a leader in progressing and deploying AI technology, creating systems that make it easier and faster for people and businesses to leverage the power of AI,” said Vikas Parekh, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “We’re proud to partner with the OpenAI team as they continue to build artificial general intelligence that benefits humanity.” https://lnkd.in/eQZG9qXd CC: Paul Davison Kiran K. Karol Niewiadomski

As previewed by Nina Trentmann in this week’s Bloomberg CFO Briefing, CFOs are gearing up for growth. Our latest CFO survey reveals growing optimism among finance leaders, with 52% feeling more upbeat about the economy than they did a year ago. As a result, 50% of CFOs plan to raise capital in the next 12 months. Steve Hulme, CFO of Zopa Bank, notes: “We’re seeing the first signs of improving interest rates and a bit more stability, which is helpful in terms of clarity about where we’re headed.” Discover more insights from our CFO survey here:  https://lnkd.in/ezna6rhP #CFO #CapitalRaising #EconomicOutlook

Can you remember the impossible things you dreamed of as a child? As we grow up, we learn to put limits on our imagination and see the world as we are taught to see it. Our children still dream of a world that could be. And their dreams are closer to being realized than you might think. We are thrilled to launch “[AI] What dreams are made of", a campaign dedicated to showcasing the SoftBank Group's commitment to the betterment of humanity in partnership with our visionary portfolio companies. Discover how the SoftBank Group’s ecosystem is shaping the future through AI. Stay tuned as we explore various themes. https://lnkd.in/ezNkjtKW #AI #whatdreamsaremadeof

As the demand for improving software utilization grows, we are excited to continue our partnership with Whatfix, through our participation in their $125M funding round. Now deploying new GenAI technologies, Whatfix continues to expand its product suite, helping organizations enhance user experience and automate workflows across software applications. Congratulations to Khadim Batti Vara Kumar Namburu and the entire Whatfix team on a great achievement. We’re proud to support your next phase of growth. #GenAI #growth #expansion

When online staffing marketplace Job&Talent turned to organic growth to penetrate new markets, the company quickly ran into trouble. “What we learned over time is that launching organically in a new country was extremely slow,” says Ana Sastre, Job&Talent’s Chief Finance Operations Officer. “With M&A, we realized we could hack it and build much faster.” Here are four tips from Job&Talent’s M&A playbook that have supercharged the business across the world: 1️⃣ Don’t rush. Entrepreneurs often face a lot of pressure to go international. But only they can decide when they’re ready, as it will require significant time, focus, and effort. 2️⃣ Assemble the right team. Having a team that understands your company and culture, and is attune to the sensibilities of the country you’re going into, is critical to success. 3️⃣ Think outside the box. For some companies, like Job&Talent, M&A proved the right strategy. But for others, it could be organic growth, or partnerships, or a mix of approaches. 4️⃣ Pick the right markets for you. The world is a big place, and different companies have different strategies. Figuring out the right target markets — and whether to go deep in a few locations, or go broad in many — depends on myriad criteria as diverse as market size, regulation, competition, and country risk. Read more about Job&Talent’s journey to M&A success below. https://lnkd.in/ghcHVWPj #growth #startup #expansion

We’re proud to power tomorrow’s innovations through today’s connections. We welcomed 175 founders, investors, and innovators at our latest networking reception—Sōzō Connect: London.    Thank you to all who joined and supported the event, especially Alex Clavel, Rajeev Misra, Amanda Sanchez-Barry, Brett Rochkind, Mark Agne, Tim Mackey, Yosuke Sasaki, and our local host, Sumer Juneja. #innovation #startups #entrepreneurs

Founded in a Madrid living room, Job&Talent evolved from an online job board into an innovative app-based staffing marketplace that focuses on blue-collar and temp work. “These are the people that make our world go around,” co-founder Juan Urdiales says about essential workers. “We all realized, especially during the pandemic, that they are absolutely crucial. And yet, it’s a segment of the workforce that’s been under-invested in.” Job&Talent’s approach forgoes the independent contractor model for proper labor contracts that bring better protections and benefits for workers—leading to happier, more reliable employees. Learn more about the company’s impactful mission and how they expanded around the world in the article below. https://lnkd.in/gajaF82W #growth #startup #expansion

We are proud to join Out Investors, a global network for LGBT+ investment professionals, and support their mission of making the investing industry more welcoming for LGBT+ individuals.   Learn more about Out Investors on their website: https://lnkd.in/e4UuF9i

As enterprises continue to seek AI solutions which can drive real value across their businesses, we're excited to partner with Glean, a leading solution for AI at work, on their $260 million Series E funding round. Glean's unique Work AI platform helps enterprises connect gen AI to enterprise data via search, enabling every employee to find information, generate insights, summarize content, draft communications, and automate everyday tasks, all grounded in enterprise context.   “Generative Al has the power to transform the enterprise, but it can only do so when it meets users where they are," said Brett Rochkind, Managing Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers. "We believe Glean's laser focus on the end user experience is reflected in their impressive growth and devoted customer base, and their rapid adoption in the enterprise is a testament to the power of the tools they've built."    "We have strong conviction that the future of Al work will be driven by truly useful applications for the enterprise that enable an entire organization to operate better, faster, and smarter. Glean's deep contextual search integrates with hundreds of SaaS applications, and enables Al work for all enterprise users," added Andrew Zloto, Partner at SoftBank Investment Advisers.   Congratulations to CEO Arvind Jain and the entire Glean team - we are proud to support your mission to scale next-generation Al capabilities at the enterprise level. https://lnkd.in/d_JbfSs4 #WorkAIForAll

Our Head of EMEA and India investing, Sumer Juneja, recently sat down with Sifted’s Kai Nicol-Schwarz, to discuss the outlook for European startups. Sumer shares his take on instilling an AI-first approach and why genuine AI talent remains a scarce resource for startups. Recent investments, valuations, and potential exits are also discussed, as well as the need for investors to stay patient in the current market cycle. You can read Sifted’s full writeup here: https://lnkd.in/eGrbrmWr