SoftBank's deal flow halved in Apr-June after portfolio takes heavy losses

Low tech valuations are draining SoftBank's ability to turn public listings of its portfolio companies into liquidity to fuel its outsized bets

The number of SoftBank Group Corp.’s Vision Fund investments halved in April-June after weak tech valuations sapped the risk appetite of the world’s biggest startup investor.

The Japanese backer of Uber Technologies Inc. and Didi Global Inc. put money into 35 startups and participated in financing rounds valued at $5.1 billion over the past three months, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. This compares with 70 deals worth a total $17.4 billion from a year ago. SoftBank led or co-led most of the rounds.

That’s a sharper slowdown than in venture capital activity worldwide. Global VC deal count fell by 6% in