LONDON: Software startup Slack Technologies raised $250 million from SoftBank Group and other investors in a funding round that boosted the company’s valuation to $5.1 billion.
The latest fundraising, led by SoftBank through its giant Vision Fund and joined by Accel and other investors, lifted Slack’s total funds raised to $841 million, the enterprise messaging operator said on Monday.
The SoftBank Vision Fund is the world’s largest private equity fund, backed by Japan’s SoftBank Group and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund. Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala Investment, Apple, Qualcomm, Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology and Japan’s Sharp are also investors.
In July, sources told Reuters that Slack was raising $250 million in a new funding round led by SoftBank.
The company in the past has raised money from venture firms including GGV Capital, Spark Capital and Thrive Capital, among others.
Slack this week also announced support of four new languages and a shared channels feature, allowing employees from different companies to work together using its platform.
“We believe this is the most important thing we’ve done since launching Slack itself,” April Underwood, Slack vice president of product, told Reuters.
The messaging market is also attracting investment from technology titans that include Google, Cisco and Facebook.
Slack currently has 6 million daily active users and more than 2 million paid users, up from 5 million users and 1.5 million paid users in January.
The new shared channels feature allows users to create group chats with internal and external users.
The SoftBank Vision Fund will also become a cornerstone investor in the Hong Kong initial public offering of ZhongAn Online Property and Casualty Insurance — China’s first Internet-only insurer.
“This is a good marriage for the company in the sense that this is a very strategic, visionary investor and they’ve done a lot of study into the company. SoftBank is definitely a very strong stamp of approval,” ZhongAn’s chief financial officer Francis Tang said at a news conference.
Saudi-backed fund invests in Slack
Saudi-backed fund invests in Slack
ACWA Power completes refinancing of Rabigh 3 Independent Water Project
RIYADH: Saudi utility giant ACWA Power has completed the refinancing of the Rabigh 3 Independent Water Project, located in the western region of the Kingdom.
Rabigh 3 is a seawater desalination plant with a capacity of 600,000 cubic meters of potable water per day, using reverse osmosis technology.
In a press statement, the Tadawul-listed company said the refinancing was executed through a capital-markets-led approach, anchored by the issuance of a long-term senior secured project bond.
The refinancing was anchored by investment firm KKR as the largest lender, with participation from other investors including Barings, Hong Kong Mortgage Corp., and Clifford Capital, as well as Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, and SBI Shinsei Bank. There was also regional support from Riyadh Bank and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.
“The transaction highlights ACWA Power’s continued innovation in infrastructure financing, combining capital-markets instruments with strong project-level credit and global institutional participation,” said Marco Arcelli, the company’s CEO.
He added: “By meeting international rating agencies’ and debt investors’ expectations, ACWA Power has reinforced the bankability of large-scale desalination projects and expanded access to long-term funding for essential infrastructure.”
Arcelli also said the refinancing supports the company’s ambition to continue providing more than half of Saudi Arabia’s desalinated water capacity.
The new transaction replaces the project’s previous debt facility with a diversified financing structure that broadens the investor base and enhances long-term funding resilience.
The statement added that the refinancing underscores ACWA Power’s ability to structure complex financings that meet the requirements of global institutional investors while aligning with international sustainability standards.
“Rabigh 3 IWP is a cornerstone asset for water security in the Kingdom, and the strong participation from international investors reflects its quality, reliability, and long-term value,” said Abdulhameed Al-Muhaidib, chief financial officer at ACWA Power.
He added: “This transaction demonstrates ACWA Power’s commitment to responsible finance, sustainable water infrastructure, and long-term environmental stewardship. We’re very proud to issue our first-ever blue bond that attracts new international investors to our Saudi fleet.”
The refinancing marks ACWA Power’s first alignment with the International Finance Corporation’s Blue Finance Guidelines, reinforcing the plant’s strong operational performance while supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 infrastructure goals.
