SoftBank

Market context

Major capital allocator in robotics and AI, with direct ownership of ABB Robotics marking a significant move into industrial automation infrastructure.

Facts

• Website: https://group.softbank
• HQ: Tokyo, Japan
• Founded: 1981
• Ticker: 9984.T / TSE
• Segment: Development Platform
• Known funding rounds: 1

Funding

• 2024-07-09 - Series A - $300M - SoftBank participates in Skild AI's $300 million Series A financing - source: skild.ai

Investors

• Alexa Fund - Participant - Vc - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• Amazon Industrial Innovation Fund - Participant - Corporate / Cvc - 1 funding event - strategic/corporate - first seen 2024-07-09
• Bezos Expeditions - Lead - Angel / Individual - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• Carnegie Mellon University - Participant - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• Coatue - Lead - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• CRV - Participant - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• Felicis Ventures - Participant - Vc - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• General Catalyst - Participant - Vc - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• Lightspeed Venture Partners - Lead - Vc - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• Menlo Ventures - Participant - Vc - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• Sequoia - Participant - Unknown - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• SoftBank Group - Lead - Angel / Individual - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09
• SV Angel - Participant - Angel / Individual - 1 funding event - first seen 2024-07-09

SoftBank role in field robotics infrastructure

Japanese multinational holding company focused on technology investment through its Vision Fund and direct ownership of AI, telecom, and robotics assets. Major capital allocator in robotics and AI, with direct ownership of ABB Robotics marking a significant move into industrial automation infrastructure.

• Target environment: Construction, surveying, mapping, infrastructure work, outdoor operations and field-deployed robotic systems.
• Deployment model: Field robotics model built around rugged deployment, infrastructure work, mapping, construction support or outdoor automation.
• Customer context: Construction firms, survey teams, infrastructure owners, agriculture users, utilities and field-service teams.
• Workflow context: Surveying, construction support, mapping, inspection, field data capture, outdoor navigation and infrastructure workflows.
• Commercial maturity: Major technology investor and asset owner with robotics exposure through capital allocation, telecom/AI infrastructure and industrial automation holdings.
• Market position: Field robotics participant supporting construction, infrastructure, survey or outdoor deployment.
• Adoption constraints: Adoption depends on ruggedness, workflow fit, data accuracy, safety, customer training, operating cost and deployment support.
• Adjacent context: Construction robotics, surveying, mapping, infrastructure automation, inspection, agriculture and outdoor autonomy.
• Source confidence: medium

Events

• 2026-06-19 - Market Signal - Boston Dynamics reportedly set to become wholly owned by Hyundai - The planned purchase covers SoftBank Group's remaining 9.65% holding. The transaction would move Boston Dynamics from majority ownership to full Hyundai Group ownership. The transaction strengthens The company's ownership, capital or operating position in com…
• 2026-05-01 - Product Launch - SoftBank Robotics brings STEAMA and FLAMA autonomous cooking robots to the United States - SoftBank Robotics announced that autonomous cooking robots STEAMA and FLAMA would debut in the United States. The systems sit in SoftBank Robotics' food-service automation lane for commercial kitchen workflows. The U.S. launch expands the company's autonomous…
• 2026-04-16 - Partnership - Matternet and SoftBank Robotics America announce strategic partnership to scale drone delivery networks - Matternet and SoftBank Robotics America announced a strategic partnership to accelerate deployment of autonomous drone delivery networks. The collaboration focuses on healthcare, retail, and enterprise logistics use cases where speed and reliability are criti…
• 2025-10-08 - Acquisition - SoftBank agrees to acquire ABB's Robotics business - SoftBank Group entered into a definitive agreement to acquire ABB's Robotics business for a total purchase price of USD 5.375 billion. SoftBank said the transaction would strengthen its AI robotics strategy by adding ABB Robotics' industrial scale, installed…
• 2024-07-09 - Funding - SoftBank participates in Skild AI's $300 million Series A financing - Skild AI announced a $300 million Series A and named SoftBank Group among the round leaders. The financing valued Skild AI at $1.5 billion and was positioned around building a general-purpose robotics foundation model. This is the cleanest surfaced robotics i…
• 2021-09-21 - Partnership - SoftBank Robotics and Keenon Robotics announce strategic global partnership - • SoftBank Robotics Group Corp (SBRG) announced a global partnership with Keenon Robotics to expand the use of robotic systems in the servi... • The companies introduced the Keenbot, an indoor intelligent service robot, in markets including Singapore, Japan,…

Team

• Masayoshi Son - Chairman and CEO - Son leads SoftBank Group, whose robotics and AI investments are material to the ecosystem.
• Yoshimitsu Goto - Board Director; Corporate Officer; CFO - Goto is senior finance leadership at SoftBank Group.
• Kazuko Kimiwada - Corporate Officer; Chief Sustainability Officer - Kimiwada is senior corporate leadership at SoftBank Group.

Relationships

• Skild AI - Investor - SoftBank participated in a funding round for Skild AI alongside NVIDIA and Samsung.
• Keenon Robotics - Partner - Keenon Robotics and SoftBank Robotics partnered on service robot distribution and deployment in global markets.
• ABB Robotics - Acquired Company - ABB agreed to sell the ABB Robotics business to SoftBank Group for USD 5.375 billion.
• ABB Robotics - Acquisition - SoftBank Group agreed to acquire the ABB Robotics business for USD 5.375 billion.
• Stack AV - Launch Backer - SoftBank backed Stack AV with capital, resources and AI expertise at launch.
• Matternet - Partner - SoftBank Robotics America supports Matternet drone and ground-system commercialization, deployment and maintenance.

Context tags

• Robotics investment layer - Stack Layer
• Robotics startup investment - Workflow