The Japanese telecom and internet conglomerate, SoftBank has become the talk of the town in India. The largest investor in India’s homegrown firm, Flipkart, PayTM and Ola has again hit the road as the firm is in talks with a logistic startup, Rivigo Services to invest at least $100 million, according to ETtech report.

ETtech reports that if this investment happens, it could value the startup at nearly $1 billion, while another pegged the potential funding at $200-400 million.

Founded by McKinsey alumni Deepak Garg and Gazal Kalra in 2014, Rivigo is not only the largest buyer of trucks in India but has also launched a slew of technology products over the past year.

The startup has earlier raised more than $100 million in equity and debt financing from the likes of global private equity major Warburg Pincus and stage-agnostic investment firm SAIF Partners. The company was valued at about Rs 2,800 crore, or $440 million when it closed its previous funding round in November.

If we look at the firm’s balance sheet or its $100-billion technology-focused Vision Fund, it is not clear whether SoftBank will invest in Rivigo or not. In past six months, Softbank has closed two massive deals. Earlier in July 2017, SoftBank invested $2.5 billion in the homegrown e-commerce firm, Flipkart marking the biggest private investment in the country’s consumer technology sector. In April, the firm invested $1.4 billion in Noida-based Paytm, valuing it at about $7 billion.

Last week, Softbank invested $1.1 billion in Indian origin entrepreneur’s biotech startup, Roivant Sciences. With these investments, it is clear that SoftBank is ramping up investments in India at a rapid pace.
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