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.

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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.