# SoftBank Group

> SoftBank Group is a VC fund in Tokyo backing E-Commerce and Mobile. See 8 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Tokyo, Japan
- Total investments: 8
- Last investment: Jul 2023
- Lead investor: 50%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/softbankgroup/
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/softbank_group
- Website: https://global.softbank/

SoftBank Group is a VC fund in Tokyo focused on E-Commerce and Mobile. SoftBank Group International specializes in the fields of investment management and financial services.SoftBank Group is comprised of the holding company SoftBank Group Corp. (TOKYO: 9984) and its global portfolio of companies, which includes advanced telecommunications, Internet services, AI, smart robotics, IoT, and clean energy technology,providers.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for SoftBank Group. Shizune tracks 4 team members at SoftBank Group. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/softbank-group-international?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| E-Commerce | 3 | 38% |
| Mobile | 2 | 25% |
| Apps | 1 | 13% |
| FinTech | 1 | 13% |
| Internet | 1 | 13% |

18 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Series A | 3 | 38% |
| Series B | 1 | 13% |
| Series D | 1 | 13% |
| Funding Round | 1 | 13% |
| Post-IPO Debt | 1 | 13% |

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Japan | 2 | 25% |
| South Korea | 2 | 25% |
| China | 1 | 13% |
| Brazil | 1 | 13% |
| United States | 1 | 13% |

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Benjamin Lizana | Investor | 2 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/benjamin-lizana |
| Daniela Llobet | Vice President | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/daniela-llobet |
| Victoria Bertasoli | Latam Operations Team | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/victoria-bertasoli |
| Jan Geldmacher | Operating Partner | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jan-geldmacher |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Telexistence | TELEXISTENCE Inc. aims to be the systematic innovator of scale in robotics. Innovator means new stuff. And scale means big, systematic ways of looking things done in a way that’s reproducible. | $3.3B | Series B | Jul 06, 2023 |  |
| Line | LINE develops calling and messaging applications for mobile phones in Japan and internationally. It offers LINE, a smartphone application that allows users to make free calls and messaging with other users regardless of which mobile network provider they are using.The company also offers NAVER, a search communication service; NAVER Matome, auser-participatory curation platform; Livedoor, a portal site; livedoor Blog, a blogging service; and livedoor News that provides information gathered from various news sources, as well as a range of advertising products. In addition, it operates LINE GAME, a platform that lets LINE users to play games. | $9.7M | Series A | Jul 13, 2022 |  |
| Line Next | Line Next is committed to advancing and expanding the worldwide NFT industry. LINE NEXT seeks to offer innovative digital experiences and pave the road for the future by utilising blockchain and NFT technology. | $10M | Series A | Jul 13, 2022 |  |
| Shift | Shift is an online marketplace for buying and selling used cars. Acting as a personal concierge service, the company details cars, lists them on multiple lists, handles test drives, and finds intent buyers. Charging a Shift Service Fee for registration, car prep services, and sales tax, Shift provides customers with a 150-point concierge reportthat includes specs, high-resolution photos, vehicle history, and results on their cars before purchase. | $20M | Post-IPO Debt | Mar 15, 2022 |  |
| Trela | Social Commerce Platform in Brazil | $25M | Series A | Mar 08, 2022 |  |
| Trela | Social Commerce Platform in Brazil | $25M | Series A | Mar 08, 2022 |  |
| Qraft Technologies | Qraft Technologies they are data scientists and researchers, data engineers, and investment experts, who develop investment solutions powered by AI (artificial intelligence). | $146M |  | Jan 10, 2022 |  |
| Starmerx | Starmerx mainly deals with cross-border e-commerce, mobile computing and internet data mining. The company is a high-tech enterprise in Shenzhen, is applying for national high-tech enterprises. The company's core technical team has made more than a dozen software copyrights and published dozens of papers in related fields such as data miningand information retrieval. The company has developed a number of projects in computer AI and information processing and has accumulated technology, in which e-commerce category development technology based on massive data mining has taken the lead in the field of international e-commerce. |  | Series D | Nov 01, 2021 |  |

8 of 8 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [SoftBank Group](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/softbank-capital) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [CJ ENM](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/cj-enm) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Hashed](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hashed-f96b) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [Kaszek](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/kaszek-ventures) — VC Fund, 2 deals together
- [K Auction](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/k-auction) — VC Fund, 2 deals together

## Similar investors

### Similar industry
- [SV Angel](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/sv-angel) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund
- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [General Catalyst](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/general-catalyst-partners) — VC Fund

### Similar country
- [Mitsubishi UFJ Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mitsubishi-ufj-capital) — VC Fund
- [SMBC Venture Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/smbc-venture-capital) — VC Fund
- [Mizuho Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/mizuho-capital) — VC Fund

## Featured in investor lists
- [Mobile Apps VC Funds in Japan](https://shizune.co/investors/mobile-apps-vc-funds-japan)
- [Mobile VC Funds in Japan](https://shizune.co/investors/mobile-vc-funds-japan)

## FAQ

### What does SoftBank Group invest in?

SoftBank Group invests primarily in E-Commerce, Mobile and Apps startups, most often at Series A and Series B stage. Most of the 8 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Japan. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact SoftBank Group?

Public channels for SoftBank Group include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at SoftBank Group?

The team at SoftBank Group includes Benjamin Lizana (Investor), Daniela Llobet (Vice President) and Victoria Bertasoli (Latam Operations Team). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### 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.

# About Shizune
Shizune.co is an investor database. Core features:
- 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others)
- Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data
- Updated daily from public funding news
- CSV and Excel export

The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co