Weekly Update #209: Has SoftBank Ushered in the Return of the Mega-Round?

Has SoftBank Ushered in the Return of the Mega-Round?

There's news this week of huge planned private rounds for both Grab (Asian ride-sharing) and Slack (collaboration software):

• Uber rival Grab to nab $2.5 billion in fresh funds from Didi Chuxing, SoftBank and others
• SoftBank and Accel Partners are expected to co-lead a big new funding round for Slack

Are mega-rounds back? While the term has no specific definition, it typically refers to a private equity capital raise in excess of $250 million. Note that both the Grab and Slack rounds reportedly include commitment from Softbank, likely from the behemoth $93 billion Softbank Vision Fund.

1 quiet tech IPO market (source: Venturebeat),

1 growing public tech index,

and $93 billion in dry Softbank powder (source: India Times).