SoftBank’s Vision Fund swaps splashy bets for ‘timid’ investing

In January, the Spanish startup TravelPerk closed a funding round suited to today’s austere times. It raised less than it did two years prior, landing on only a slightly higher valuation of $1.4 billion.

The surprising part was that TravelPerk’s lead backer was SoftBank, a Japanese investor whose Vision Fund was famous for giving startups outrageous price tags until it racked up immense losses in an investing spree under founder Masayoshi Son. Then, SoftBank went quiet. A year later, the Vision Fund is back writing checks, but it’s steering clear of the high-flying startups it was once known for championing, like WeWork and failed pizza delivery enterprise Zume.

As other tech investors have heaped money into new artificial intelligence firms, Vision Fund has stayed out of the fray. Instead, it’s offering more measured support for companies like TravelPerk, which sells software for corporate travel and hopes to incorporate AI tools rather than invent new ones. The fund is “looking very carefully” at generative AI firms, said Alex Clavel, its co-chief executive officer, but stipulated that it will place its bets wisely.