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SoftBank Capital raises $51 mn to invest in New York tech startups
MUMBAI: SoftBank Capital, a venture group affiliated with Japan‘s SoftBank has announced that it raised an additional $51.02 million to invest in early-stage New York State technology startups. The additional capital extends SoftBank Capital‘s position as a complete early-to-late stage investment partner with an ongoing commitment to New York‘s emerging technology scene.
SoftBank Capital New York partner Jordan Levy will oversee investments, with others including Ron Fisher (Managing Partner), Joe Medved (Partner), Ron Schreiber (NY Partner) and special partners, Eric Hippeau (Lerer Ventures) and Mike Perlis (President and CEO of Forbes Media), also helping to manage the fund. The major investments will focus on the high-growth sectors of social, ecommerce and software.
This team has previously led a series of investments in New York-based startups for SoftBank Capital. These included investments in companies such as Buddy Media, acquired by Salesforce.com, Huffington Post, acquired by AOL, OMGPOP, acquired by Zynga, and Hyperpublic, acquired by Groupon.
Levy said, “We were very pleased by some of the big successes with previous New York investments and feel our latest drop-down fund will be equally beneficial in helping to fuel the next generation of promising New York State startups.”
SoftBank Capital has already made its first investment, leading a $10 million investment round into Work Market with other firms Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital, which follows along SoftBank‘s strategy of investing with the best firms on the eastern seaboard. Work Market provides a marketplace to revolutionise the way businesses work with freelancers, contractors and consultants. The company has also announced that Levy has joined Work Market‘s board of directors.
Work Market CEO and co-founder Jeff Leventhal said, “We view SoftBank Capital as perfect partner for us in being able to successfully grow our business and reach a key audience of entrepreneurs and businesses, which will create a real advantage for us going forward”.
The New York State investments are a key component of SoftBank Capital‘s diverse array of investment activities. Already this year, the firm has announced $250 million in funding targeted toward growth-stage, sector-leading technology companies intending to expand their Asian presence and a $20 million investment from Yahoo! Japan intended for early-stage investments for U.S. startups looking to break into the Japanese market.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
