SoftBank India head Sumer Juneja elevated to global role, will oversee EMEA bets

Masayoshi Son (left) and Sumer Juneja

SoftBank's Sumer Juneja, the head of its Vision Funds' investments in India, has been given additional responsibilities to oversee investments in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) markets, according to people aware of the developments.

This comes a month after it emerged that SoftBank Vision Fund Rajeev Misra is stepping aside from his primary roles at the Japanese investment conglomerate to build and run a new fund. According to sources, top SoftBank executives like Yanni Pipilis and Munish Varma are joining the new investment firm led by Misra.

"This is a huge leg up for Sumer based on his performance in less than 4 years. Narendra Rathi and Sarthak Misra (not related to Rajeev Misra) will play a bigger role in helping Sumer take the India operations forward," said a source close to the developments.

SoftBank runs a tight ship in India, with 12 people managing assets of over $20 billion. Rathi and Misra were elevated to investment directors earlier this year.

According to the source, Juneja will shuttle between India and the UK every month, spending 10 days in the country and the rest in London. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 portfolio in Europe includes buy-now-pay-later platform Klarna, meal-kit maker Gousto, and fantasy soccer platform Sorare.

“Sumer has made 14 investments (till now). Most have done well…,” he added.

SoftBank declined to comment on the developments.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Juneja was hired by SoftBank in December 2018 to open the office and set up a local presence in India. At the fund, he has invested across multiple sectors such as e-commerce, B2B, Edtech, fintech, logistics, and SaaS. He serves on multiple boards including Swiggy, Lenskart, Ola, Meesho, MIndTickle, and Eruditus.

Juneja has been investing in India since 2006. Before SoftBank, Sumer was a Partner at Norwest Venture Partners, focusing on growth equity and venture investments in Indian companies across various sectors. He has led and exited multiple investments, including Swiggy, Indusind Bank, Shriram City Union Finance, Cholamandalam Finance, and National Stock Exchange.

Meanwhile, SoftBank founder and CEO Masayoshi Son has also announced a reduction in headcount at the vision fund investment units after the Japanese investment conglomerate reported a record quarterly loss of over $23 billion in Q2.

Earlier this year, the Japanese conglomerate's chief operating officer Marcelo Claure had resigned due to disputes over compensation at a time when many of the Japanese investment conglomerate's bets turned sour with technology valuations plunging across the globe this year.