WeWork broke SoftBank’s heart. Now, SoftBank’s leaving other startups at the altar

Despite submitting term sheets promising hundreds of millions of dollars in investment months ago, SoftBank has backed out of a number of investments recently, raising eyebrows and blood pressures across the startup world, Axios reports.

SoftBank claims it’s not bailing entirely… 

And it says it’s just taking a long time to dot all the i’s and cross all the t’s. But that’s not an answer that satisfies spurned startup founders. 

So, who has SoftBank snubbed? 

• Honor, which provides home care for the elderly, reportedly received a $150m term sheet from SoftBank in November.
• Seismic, which makes business-to-business sales software, reportedly received a term sheet from SoftBank in August.
• Creator, which develops hamburger-making robots, reportedly received a term sheet from SoftBank several months ago for “many multiples” of the $25m it had raised up to that point.

But then SoftBank bailed on all 3 of these startups… 

And SoftBank didn’t give any reasons for backing out  

Now, these screwed-over startups are struggling to recover from their failed fundraising efforts — but they won’t get back the time they wasted negotiating with SoftBank.

But SoftBank’s strange behavior also exposes a crack in the once-glossy veneer of the company’s infamous Vision Fund — and it’s hard not to think that SoftBank’s soured investment in WeWork had something to do with its chronic case of cold feet…