SoftBank Vision Fund Investment Plan in Indian Startup GoMechanic

Indian car service & repair startup GoMechanic is in talks to get $35 million from SoftBank Vision Fund. A venture capital firm associated with the SoftBank Group, the SoftBank Vision Fund was established in 2017. With its head office in Minato, Tokyo, SoftBank Group Corp. is a Japanese multinational holding company with a concentration on investment management.

Data from Venture Intelligence show that SoftBank has long been a significant investor in Indian companies, having gained close to $4 billion in a single year. Among its well-known investments are Unacademy, a provider of online education, and Paytm, a provider of mobile payments.

However, after a worldwide tech crash, according to officials in the investment sector, SoftBank has begun to approach its investments with more caution. After suffering a record $26.2 billion quarterly loss at its Vision Fund due to declining tech valuations, SoftBank’s CEO Masayoshi Son announced this month that the company would invest significantly less this year than in 2021.

GoMechanic, which was founded in 2016, claims to be 40% less expensive than the services offered by automakers and has serviced and repaired more than two million cars in India through its service locations.

According to the source, SoftBank has been in talks with GoMechanic for over nine months and was initially concerned with the Indian company’s proposal for a $1 billion value.

According to the source, GoMechanic had a $300 million valuation a year ago and now generates about $40 million in gross income annually.