# Akshay Naheta

> Akshay Naheta is a Series A investor at SoftBank backing Automotive and Autonomous Vehicles. See 10 investments, check sizes, portfolio. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: Angel Investor
- Fund: [SoftBank](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/softbank)
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Total investments: 10
- Last investment: Dec 2021
- Lead investor: 80%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshay-naheta-11713a152/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/akshay_naheta

Akshay Naheta is a Series A investor at SoftBank in London focused on Automotive and Autonomous Vehicles. Akshay Naheta - Managing Director @ SoftBank

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Automotive | 4 | 40% |
| Autonomous Vehicles | 4 | 40% |
| Biotechnology | 3 | 30% |
| Genetics | 2 | 20% |
| Military | 2 | 20% |

18 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 3 | 30% |
| Post-IPO Debt | 2 | 20% |
| Series D | 1 | 10% |
| Series F | 1 | 10% |
| Private Equity | 1 | 10% |

6 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| United States | 7 | 70% |
| Germany | 1 | 10% |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Robotic Research | Robotic Research, LLC, is a small engineering firm founded by Alberto Lacaze and Karl Murphy in 2002. Both worked together in the Intelligent Systems Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (Gaithersburg, MD) when they decided to make the move (across the street as it turned out) to pursue focused interest in unmannedvehicles. | $228M | Series A | Dec 09, 2021 |  |
| Forterra | Forterra provides autonomous systems for ground-based movement in the working world. The company is among the earliest innovators in driverless technology, focused on building systems that protect front-line soldiers and enable civilian workers in our industrial base. Forterra is a go-to provider of autonomous solutions for the U.S. Department ofDefense, which harnesses autonomy for asymmetric warfare in critical conditions. | $243M | Series A | Dec 09, 2021 |  |
| Forterra | Forterra delivers autonomous mission systems for defense. From self-driving land systems to coordinated swarms of robotic platforms, the company builds scalable, robust, mission-critical hardware and software designed to empower customers to deploy autonomy as a force multiplier - extending reach, survivability, and effectiveness across thebattlespace and industrial domains. | $243M | Series A | Dec 09, 2021 |  |
| Invitae | Invitae is a genetic information company whose mission is to bring genetic information into routine medical practice to improve the quality of healthcare for billions of people.Specializing in genetic diagnostics for hereditary disorders, Invitae is aggregating the world’s genetic tests into a single service with better quality, fasterturnaround time, and a lower price than most single-gene diagnostic tests today.What’s our plan? It takes three steps:--Make genetic testing more affordable and accessible than ever before.--Build a secure and trusted genome management infrastructure.--Design a new global community for sharing genetic information to advance science and medicine.Today, we are reinventing genetic testing by lowering the barriers for clinicians and patients to obtain diagnostic genetic information. Together we can improve healthcare for billions of people. | $1.2B | Post-IPO Debt | Apr 05, 2021 |  |
| PacBio | Pacific Biosciences designs, develops, and manufactures sequencing systems to resolve genetically complex problems. Its single molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing technology enables single molecule real-time detection of biological processes. Pacific Biosciences offers PacBio RS II and Sequel Systems that conducts, monitors, and analyzes singlemolecule biochemical reactions in real time. It also provides consumable products, including SMRT cells, as well as various reagent kits, such as template preparation, binding, and sequencing kits. Pacific Biosciences' customers include research institutions; commercial laboratories; genome centers; clinical, government, and academic institutions; genomics service providers; pharmaceutical companies; and agricultural companies. It markets its products through a direct sales force in North America and Europe, as well as primarily through distribution partners in Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Joseph Bonventre and Stephen Turner founded Nanofluidics in 2000 that laterbecame Pacific Biosciences. Its headquarters is in Menlo Park in California. | $900M | Post-IPO Debt | Feb 10, 2021 |  |
| AUTO1 Group | AUTO1 Group is a used-car marketplace with its own certified and diversified inventory and a technology platform that allows buyers and sellers.AUTO1 is aimed primarily at the used car trade. By connecting buyers and sellers through technology the company enables consumers as well as dealers to trade seamlessly. Sourcing from all channelsincluding OEMs and dealerships. AUTO1 Group owns business units like AUTO1.com, Autohero.com or wirkaufendeinauto.de. AUTO1 Group operates in almost 30 countries and continues to expand rapidly. | $302.7M | Convertible Note | Jul 30, 2020 |  |
| Roivant Sciences | Roivant Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company focused on completing the development of promising late-stage drug candidates.Roivant’s mission is to reduce the time and cost of developing new medicines for patients and to share those savings with the healthcare system. Roivant does this by building Vants - nimble, entrepreneurial biotech andhealthcare technology companies with a unique approach to sourcing talent, aligning incentives, and deploying the technology. In addition to its biopharmaceutical subsidiaries, Roivant also builds technology-focused Vants focused on improving the process of developing and commercializing medicines. | $200M | Private Equity | Nov 13, 2018 |  |
| Light | Light enables machines to see like humans using a camera-based perception platform that revolutionizes perception for ADAS/AV. | $121M | Series D | Jul 18, 2018 |  |
| AUTO1 Group | AUTO1 Group is a used-car marketplace with its own certified and diversified inventory and a technology platform that allows buyers and sellers.AUTO1 is aimed primarily at the used car trade. By connecting buyers and sellers through technology the company enables consumers as well as dealers to trade seamlessly. Sourcing from all channelsincluding OEMs and dealerships. AUTO1 Group owns business units like AUTO1.com, Autohero.com or wirkaufendeinauto.de. AUTO1 Group operates in almost 30 countries and continues to expand rapidly. | $488.2M | Series F | Jan 15, 2018 |  |
| Roivant Sciences | Roivant Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company focused on completing the development of promising late-stage drug candidates.Roivant’s mission is to reduce the time and cost of developing new medicines for patients and to share those savings with the healthcare system. Roivant does this by building Vants - nimble, entrepreneurial biotech andhealthcare technology companies with a unique approach to sourcing talent, aligning incentives, and deploying the technology. In addition to its biopharmaceutical subsidiaries, Roivant also builds technology-focused Vants focused on improving the process of developing and commercializing medicines. | $1.1B | Private Equity | Aug 09, 2017 |  |

10 of 10 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Crescent Cove Advisors](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/crescent-cove-advisors) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Enlightenment Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/enlightenment-capital) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Henry Crown and Company](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/henry-crown-and-company) — VC Fund, 3 deals together
- [Luminar](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/luminar-technologies) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Bessemer Venture Partners](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bessemer-venture-partners) — VC Fund, 1 deal together
- [DN Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/dn-capital) — VC Fund, 1 deal together

## About SoftBank

VC Fund · Tokyo, Japan

SoftBank provides fixed-line, mobile telephony, internet telecommunications, and digital television products. It is a multinational telecommunications and internet corporation focused on broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-commerce, the internet, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses. The company operatesthrough four segments.The mobile communications segment provides mobile communications services, produces and distributes online games for smartphones and other devices, offers mobile broadband services, provides supply chain solutions, handset protection, and insurance, buy-back and trade-in services, omnichannel solutions, and financial services, and sells mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads, and SoftBank smartphones. The Sprint segment offers mobile and fixed-line voice and data transmission services for individual consumers, businesses, government subscribers, and resellers in Puerto Rico and the U.S. and sells mobile devices and accessories. The fixed-line telecommunications segment offers telecom services such as fixed-line telephone and data communications services to corporate customers and broadband services to individual customers. The internet segment is engaged in the operation of the Yahoo! Japan portal, the sale of internet advertising, the operation of e-commerce sites, the provision of membership services, the sale and marketing of data centers, the provision of online automobile-related information, and the operation of the internet affiliate system.SoftBank also generates and sells electricity from renewable energy sources; provides payment processing, invoice collections, and computation services for businesses; distributes video, voice, and data content via media; operates the IT information site ITmedia; provides solutions and services for online businesses; and operates online games and software downloads. Additionally, it is involved in the ownership of professional baseball teams, the operation of baseball games, the management and maintenance of baseball stadiums and other sports facilities, and the procurement of funds by issuing preferred securities.

5 contacts available at SoftBank.

| Name | Title | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Andrew Kovacs | Global Head of Communications | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/andrew-kovacs |
| Gary Ginsberg | Global Head of Communications | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/gary-ginsberg |
| Makizono Keiichi | Executive Officer & CIO | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/makizono-keiichi |
| Akshay Naheta | Managing Director | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/akshay-naheta |
| Eric Gan | Executive Vice President | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/eric-gan |

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- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does Akshay Naheta invest in?

Akshay Naheta invests primarily in Automotive, Autonomous Vehicles and Biotechnology startups, most often at Series A and Post-IPO Debt stage. Most of the 10 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### When did Akshay Naheta last invest?

The most recent investment recorded for Akshay Naheta closed in Dec 2021. Shizune tracks 10 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

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