• Private Equity

SoftBank’s billions spur race to pour money into startups

The rush of venture funds has led to bidding wars and heightened concerns that the sector is overvalued

When Tony Xu, chief executive of food-delivery company DoorDash, began raising funding late last year, he told investors he expected to raise up to $250m to support his growing, five-year-old business.

He misjudged the market. SoftBank Group and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC, both competing to invest heavily in startups, pushed up the size of the fundraising round to $535m, people familiar with the deal say.