SoftBank Group

SoftBank Group is a multinational telecommunications and internet corporation based in Japan. It operates through four segments: mobile communications, Sprint, fixed-line telecommunications, and internet. The company provides a wide range of services, including mobile and fixed-line voice and data transmission services, broadband services, internet advertising, e-commerce, and digital television. SoftBank Group also invests in various technologies through its venture capital arms, such as SoftBank Investment Advisers and SoftBank Vision Fund, focusing on areas like artificial intelligence, robotics, and the Internet of Things. One of its notable subsidiaries, SoftBank Robotics, designs and manufactures humanoid robots for various applications, including education, healthcare, and business.

Karim Abouzahr

Director, SoftBank Europe Ventures

Kristin Bannon

Investment Director, SoftBank Investment Advisers

Jonathan Bullock

COO and Managing Director

John Cassidy

Investment Director, Life Sciences and HealthTech

Tom Cheung

Partner, Americas

Serena Dayal

Partner, Americas

Angela Du

Partner, Americas

Colin Fan

Managing Partner, SoftBank Investment Advisers

Ted Fike

Director, Americas

Ronald Fisher

Vice Chairman

Navneet Govil

Managing Partner, CFO

Ayush Jain

Investment Vice President

Lydia Jett

Partner

Sumer Juneja

Managing Partner and Head of EMEA and India Investing

Robert Kaplan

Partner, Americas

Chris Lee

Partner, Asia

Anna Lo

Director, Americas

Amit Lubovsky

Director, Americas

Jimi Macdonald

Director

Kentaro Matsui

Managing Partner

Ken Miyauchi

Representative Director and Senior Executive Vice President

Greg Moon

Executive Managing Partner

Karol Niewiadomski

Partner

Shu Nyatta

Managing Partner

Max Ohrstrand

Partner, EMEA

Vikas Parekh

Managing Partner, Americas

Ben Parton

Director of Deals and Transactions

Yanni Pipilis

Managing Partner

Narendra Rathi

Director, Asia

Brett Rochkind

Managing Partner

Masayoshi Son

Founder

Ram Trichur

Partner

Ervin Tu

Partner, Americas

Aaron Wong

Vice President

Kenichi Yoshida

Chief Business Officer and Executive Vice President

Linda Yu

Vice President, Vision Fund

Andrew Zloto

Partner, Americas

Tim Yap

Director, EMEA

Past deals in Wearables

Early Health

Seed Round in 2023
Early's mission is to bring early illness detection to people's everyday routines. They do this with thoughtfully-designed consumer hardware products that integrate well with people's existing bathroom routines, allowing prompt diagnosis and treatment.

Whoop

Series F in 2021
Whoop, Inc. is a Boston-based company that specializes in the development and sale of wearable fitness sensors designed for athletes to monitor their physiological metrics during workouts. Founded in 2012, Whoop provides a performance optimization system that continuously tracks key indicators such as heart rate, sleep, and recovery. The company's flagship product, the Whoop Strap 3.0, collects data around the clock, offering users insights that help balance training, minimize injuries, and enhance overall performance. In addition to the wearable device, Whoop offers a variety of apparel and accessories, including bands, tops, joggers, and hats, primarily sold online. By delivering personalized insights into physical exertion and recovery, Whoop aims to help athletes and teams maximize their potential and improve their training outcomes.

Tempo

Series C in 2021
Tempo designs and develops a home fitness platform with personal guidance to help users in their training sessions. It features live elite trainers who can help users when they make mistakes. It has built-in three-dimensional sensors that track form, counts reps, and recommend weights. It helps users to improve in real-time. Powered by 3D motion sensors and AI, it analyzes 25 of the body’s essential joints as users work out and gives understood form feedback. Moawia Eldeeb and Joshua Augustin founded it as Pivot in 2015, with its headquarters in San Francisco in California.

Forward

Series D in 2021
Forward is a startup focused on transforming healthcare delivery by incorporating advanced technologies that have been underutilized in the industry, such as sensors, mobile applications, and artificial intelligence. Founded in January 2016 by former executives from Google and Uber, Forward operates primary care clinics that emphasize personalized patient care. Through its mobile application and natural language processing system, the company enhances healthcare services, offering features like body scanning, genetic screening, real-time blood testing, and home monitoring of vital signs. These innovations empower patients to take control of their health, promote transparency, and foster better collaboration with their primary care physicians. Backed by prominent investors and entrepreneurs, Forward aims to redefine the patient experience in healthcare.

Keep

Series F in 2021
Keep is an innovative fitness platform that combines technology with a passion for sports, aiming to enhance the fitness experience for users. The company offers a comprehensive fitness solution that includes AI-assisted personalized curriculums, interactive live-streaming classes, and recorded fitness courses. These offerings are tailored to individual athletic levels, fitness goals, and daily workout habits. Additionally, Keep provides a range of smart fitness devices, gear, apparel, and nutritional products, creating an integrated ecosystem that bridges the physical and digital realms. By promoting a culture of fitness and encouraging community engagement, Keep seeks to inspire more individuals to embrace an active lifestyle.

Whoop

Series E in 2020
Whoop, Inc. is a Boston-based company that specializes in the development and sale of wearable fitness sensors designed for athletes to monitor their physiological metrics during workouts. Founded in 2012, Whoop provides a performance optimization system that continuously tracks key indicators such as heart rate, sleep, and recovery. The company's flagship product, the Whoop Strap 3.0, collects data around the clock, offering users insights that help balance training, minimize injuries, and enhance overall performance. In addition to the wearable device, Whoop offers a variety of apparel and accessories, including bands, tops, joggers, and hats, primarily sold online. By delivering personalized insights into physical exertion and recovery, Whoop aims to help athletes and teams maximize their potential and improve their training outcomes.

Biofourmis

Series C in 2020
Biofourmis is a biotechnology company based in Boston, Massachusetts, founded in 2015. It specializes in personalized care and therapies through the use of digital therapeutics. The company develops and delivers clinically validated software-based therapeutics that enhance patient outcomes. Biofourmis has created a predictive health analytics platform that analyzes physiology data gathered from clinical-grade wearables. Utilizing artificial intelligence, this platform integrates and interprets continuous physiological data to identify personalized patterns and predict potential clinical exacerbations. By enabling medical professionals to intervene days before critical events occur, Biofourmis aims to improve patient care and provide cost-effective solutions for healthcare providers.

Exeger

Venture Round in 2019
Exeger Sweden AB is a technology company that specializes in the development and commercialization of innovative light energy harvesting solutions. The company focuses on creating dye-sensitized solar cells that convert various forms of light, including both natural and artificial light, into electrical energy. This technology enables the integration of self-power capabilities into everyday devices, enhancing their functionality and sustainability. Exeger's solar cells can be printed in various colors and free-form designs, making them suitable for a wide range of applications in consumer electronics, wearables, and other products. By providing efficient energy solutions that operate even in indoor lighting conditions, Exeger aims to transform how energy is perceived and utilized in everyday life.

Exeger

Venture Round in 2019
Exeger Sweden AB is a technology company that specializes in the development and commercialization of innovative light energy harvesting solutions. The company focuses on creating dye-sensitized solar cells that convert various forms of light, including both natural and artificial light, into electrical energy. This technology enables the integration of self-power capabilities into everyday devices, enhancing their functionality and sustainability. Exeger's solar cells can be printed in various colors and free-form designs, making them suitable for a wide range of applications in consumer electronics, wearables, and other products. By providing efficient energy solutions that operate even in indoor lighting conditions, Exeger aims to transform how energy is perceived and utilized in everyday life.

Arm Holdings

Acquisition in 2016
ARM Holdings, founded in 1990 and based in the United Kingdom, specializes in providing silicon intellectual property (IP) and custom system-on-chip (SoC) designs that are integral to billions of devices globally. The company focuses on designing and licensing its IP rather than manufacturing semiconductor chips. ARM licenses its architecture, which is utilized in a majority of smartphone CPU cores and various battery-powered devices like wearables and tablets. Clients, including major technology companies, can purchase different types of licenses that allow them to modify ARM's architecture to meet specific requirements or opt for off-the-shelf designs. In addition to processor IP, ARM offers a variety of tools and system-level IP to support optimized SoC designs, making it a key player in the semiconductor industry.

Afero

Series A in 2016
Afero, Inc. is a technology company specializing in Internet of Things (IoT) solutions, providing a Platform-as-a-Service that facilitates the development and deployment of connected devices. Established in 2014 and headquartered in Los Altos, California, Afero offers a comprehensive platform that includes a secure Bluetooth Smart module, scalable cloud services, and various development tools. This architecture allows entrepreneurs and companies to quickly prototype connected devices across multiple industries, including consumer electronics, healthcare, and home automation. Afero's platform enables users to effectively access, control, and manage their devices, promoting seamless communication and interaction between them. By leveraging its technology, Afero enhances the ability of businesses to utilize connected devices for improved operational efficiencies and meaningful analytics, thus transforming how connected technologies integrate into everyday processes.

NeuroSky

Venture Round in 2013
NeuroSky, Inc. is a company that specializes in the design and development of health and wellness biometrics, catering to mobile solutions and wearable devices. Founded in 2004 and based in San Jose, California, with additional offices in several international locations, NeuroSky offers a range of products including ECG and EEG biosensors. These biosensors digitize and amplify raw brain signals, providing inputs for applications in gaming, education, and health monitoring. The NeuroSky MindWave headset, designed for consumer use, monitors EEG brainwave impulses to assess mental states such as attention and relaxation, and comes bundled with various neuroscience applications. NeuroSky's technology is widely utilized in the EEG device market, enabling users to gain insights into both body and mind health, which encourages healthier lifestyle choices. The company's products are distributed through various channels, including retailers and online platforms.

Fitbit

Series D in 2013
Fitbit is a company focused on promoting healthier lifestyles through its digital health and fitness devices. It develops the Fitbit Tracker, a compact wireless wearable sensor that automatically monitors various aspects of a user's activities, including calories burned, sleep quality, steps taken, and distance traveled. This device continuously collects data while worn throughout the day, which is then wirelessly uploaded to a dedicated website. Users can access their information to track progress toward personal health goals, engage with a motivational interface, and share achievements with friends, family, and co-workers. Additionally, the platform allows users to manually log nutrition, weight, and other health metrics, providing a comprehensive overview of their well-being. By automating health data collection and offering an engaging user experience, Fitbit aims to simplify the journey toward a healthier lifestyle.
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