Softbank agrees to sell 50% stake in Wag labs back to the dog-walking startup

Softbank group's vision fund has agreed to sell its nearly 50 per cent stake in Wag labs inc back to the dog-walking startup. 

“We are amicably parting ways with Softbank and Softbank will no longer have board representation,” chief executive Garrett Smallwood said in a memo to employees.

Wag, which earlier this year laid off several dozen employees, is letting go a significant amount of the remainder of its workforce, the report said. 

Wag, which pairs dog owners with available walkers in their neighbourhood, landed its first investment from Softbank’s vision fund in January 2018. Since then, Softbank’s $100 billion vision fund has come under scrutiny for ploughing money into unprofitable start-ups, such as WeWork and Uber.   

The price of the deal is unclear, but reports say it is going to be below the $650 million valuations that was earned by wag when Softbank first invested nearly two years ago.