SoftBank Leading Upcoming Juspay Investment Round

Japanese investment company SoftBank is likely to lead the upcoming $100 million to $120 million fundraising round for FinTech Juspay, according to a report in The Economic Times Tuesday (Nov. 23).

If successful, the move would value the company at between $400 to $500 million — and if Juspay’s investment round hits its goal, it would be the largest fundraising effort for the company since it launched almost a decade ago.

Juspay provides payment processing technology to merchants and is adding more services as more businesses have shifted their focus online since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The FinTech has raised a total of about $27 million from investors leading into the expected nine-figure effort, including raking in $21.6 million in March 2020 at a $118 million valuation.

SoftBank is one of the largest investors in Paytm and appears to be looking to diversify its investments in the Indian FinTech space with its plans to sink fresh capital into Juspay. The company already has financial backing from Accel and Wellington Management, among others.

“SoftBank may put in around $50 million with some other investors still to finalize their participation,” one person familiar with the plans told The Economic Times. SoftBank owns 16% of Paytm after $1.6 billion in investments.

The investment in Juspay shows that SoftBank Vision Fund II is now willing to invest in startup companies that require smaller amounts of funding.

Related: Paytm’s Busted IPO Shows Investors’ Fears Over Long-Term Prospects

Last week, Paytm’s parent company One97 struggled in its debut on the Bombay Stock Exchange, dropping more than 25% in the first day of trading on Nov. 18.

India’s GDP was about $2.7 trillion in 2020 and has been growing by about 7% annually, according to One97’s initial filing, and is poised to climb to 9% as the spread of the pandemic slows down.

The country has also been in a multi-year digital shift away from cash, with the volume of digital payments slated to grow by about 30% over the next few years, One97 said.