Tech investment giant SoftBank has once again posted a loss on its venture capital arm, losing £71m last quarter.
The Vision Funds, which have backed British tech firms including Zopa and Revolut, lost significantly less than the $20bn it haemorrhaged in the first quarter of last year but it means the cumulative loss of the funds now stands at £5.7bn.
The total loss posted by the Japanese conglomerate across all of its businesses was £2.6bn.
The results from the Vision Funds follow repeated poor performances from the tech investment vehicles, which last year lost a record total of £25.4bn.
SoftBank has been in defence mode over the last two years. Its investments in tech startups – many made during the bull run when valuations were far higher – means it has been hit hard by the economic downturn that has brought tech valuations crashing down to Earth.
Now, however, the company is eyeing a return to investing, despite losses in its funds.
“We are carefully and slowly moving back to investment activities,” said CFO Yoshimitsu Goto at the investor presentation. The financial chief said that AI would remain a key area of interest for the group.
SoftBank is still in the process of listing semiconductor company Arm, which is expected to IPO in New York as early as September.
One of the UK’s most valuable tech firms, Arm is seeking a valuation of more than £50bn for its public launch.