Three-horse race for Happiest Minds; Gazette may unlock content blocking

Happy Friday! A clutch of suitors is eyeing IT veteran Ashok Soota’s Happiest Minds. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ Anveshan eyes new funds
■ Howard Morgan interview
■ PhysicsWallah’s next move: Hostels

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Happiest Minds founder and chairman Ashok Soota

Private equity firms EQT and Partners Group, along with IT services company ITC Infotech, are in the race to acquire a controlling stake in listed software firm Happiest Minds from founder and chairman Ashok Soota.

What’s happening? Soota, a Wipro veteran and Mindtree founder, holds about 44% of the company's shares, directly and through investment entities. This promoter stake was valued at roughly Rs 2,500 crore on Thursday.

Sources told us that a Big Four firm is conducting commercial due diligence, with findings expected to be shared with potential bidders soon.

• Discussions, they added, are still at a very early stage.
• Deal timelines and valuation alignments remain uncertain.

Tell me more: As recently as February, Soota said during an earnings press conference that he was “very much at the helm”, with a focus on scaling the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) initiatives.

Also Read: Happiest Minds upgrades FY27 revenue growth guidance to 13% on strong AI demand

Expert take: “Mid-market IT services firms could see consolidation given some of the headwinds being faced by the outsourcing industry. In this backdrop, one could see larger rivals trying to buy smaller or equally sized players… and PE (private equity) firms also exploring such acquisitions,” said an industry watcher.

Also Read: PE firms up SaaS buyouts as AI resets valuations & biz models

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The government may expand content-blocking authority to multiple ministries through an official gazette notification, without amending the Information Technology Act, 2000, sources told us.

What’s happening? Secretaries from relevant ministries could be designated as “nodal officers”, empowering them to issue blocking orders under Section 69 (A).

• No change in the IT Act or the 2009 blocking rules required.
• Orders would still follow the existing review framework.
• Urgent cases can bypass committees and go directly to senior officers, including the Secretary.

Quick recap: Today, blocking powers are effectively centralised within the IT Ministry. The proposal could extend this to ministries such as Defence, Home Affairs, External Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting.

Yes, but: Experts warn that the move could increase the volume of takedown orders, straining platforms already dealing with tight 2-3-hour takedown windows. It also raises questions about consistency and oversight as more authorities enter the decision-making chain.

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(L-R) Aayushi Khandelwal, Kuldeep Parewa & Akhil Kansal, founders, Anveshan

D2C food brand Anveshan is in advanced talks to raise Rs 150–200 crore from Vertex Ventures and International Finance Corporation, according to sources.

Round details: The funding round could value the company at around Rs 900–1,000 crore, more than double its April 2025 valuation of about Rs 430 crore.

• The sharp jump in valuation stems mainly from strong revenue growth.
• Sources say the company has been riding the quick-commerce channel to expand fast and drive repeat purchases.

This follows Anveshan’s Rs 48 crore funding round last year, backed by Wipro Consumer Care Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners, and Titan Capital.

Also Read: L'Oreal in talks for majority stake in Innovist; deal pegged at Rs 4,000 crore

What else? Investor interest is building across organic and clean-label food brands.

• Organic dairy startup Akshayakalpa Organic is raising Rs 175 crore, led by Singapore-based investor ABC Impact.
• Pune-based Two Brothers Organic Farms raised Rs 110 crore from 360 One Asset, Rainmatter, and the Narotam Sekhsaria family office.
• Clean-label food startup The Whole Truth Foods raised about $51 million in February, led by Belgian investor Sofina and VC firm Sauce VC.

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Howard Morgan, chairman, B Capital and cofounder, First Round Capital

First Round Capital cofounder Howard Morgan on AI boom: Veteran US venture capitalist Howard Morgan, chairman of B Capital, says the current artificial intelligence boom will likely see a market correction, but the strongest companies will emerge far more powerful after the shakeout.

PhysicsWallah expands into student hostel segment: Noida-based edtech firm PhysicsWallah has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary focused on student housing. This comes as its offline enrolments grew 36% year-on-year (YoY) to 4.1 lakh in the December 2025 quarter.

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■ The fight to hold AI companies accountable for children’s deaths (Wired)

■ “It feels like Squid Game”: China’s workers scramble to keep up in the AI race (Rest of the World)

■ Nvidia is quietly building a multibillion-dollar behemoth to rival its chips business (TechCrunch)