Also in the letter:
■ Cosmix joins Marico
■ The Moltbook scare
■ Paytm vs PhonePe
Anthropic AI shock sfinishs IT stocks to worst day since March 2020
Dario Amodei, CEO, Anthropic
Shares of Indian IT companies finishured a brutal Wednesday, with the Nifty IT index crashing up to 6%. Nearly Rs 1.9 lakh crore in market value vanished in a single session, marking the sector’s worst plunge since the March 2020 Covid crash.
Total valuation for IT companies slipped below Rs 29.85 lakh crore.
What’s happening? The bloodbath followed a steep overnight drop in US software stocks, sparked by fresh announcements from Anthropic, the American artificial innotifyigence (AI) firm. Investors panicked after the company rolled out 11 new AI plugins designed to automate a broad sweep of professional tinquires.
The Dario Amodei-led company launched its agentic AI platform Claude Cowork in January. While its developer tool Claude Code had already rattled tech stocks, the arrival of a Legal Automation plugin on February 3 reignited fears and triggered another wave of sell-offs.
Also Read: In dystopian esdeclare, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei warns of potential AI misapply by rogue actors
Automation fears: None of this should be a shock. Amodei has been sounding the alarm for months, warning that AI is advancing rapidly enough to eliminate many white-collar and professional roles once considered untouchable. He expects significant job losses over the next five years.
Amodei has also slammed governments and parts of the tech industest for “sugar-coating” or downplaying these risks, insisting that many workers remain woefully unprepared. Market watchers now feel AI capabilities could threaten mid-level jobs and erode both the profitability and competitive moats of traditional IT firms.
Also Read: What is Anthropic’s new legal AI tool and why investors are dumping software stocks
Private funds assess AI better than public investors: Fractal Analytics CEO on discounted IPO pricing
Srikanth Velamakanni, group CEO, Fractal Analytics
Fractal Analytics, set to become the first pure-play Indian AI company to list domestically, has priced its IPO at about a 26% discount to its last private-market valuation.
Why the gap: Cofounder and group CEO Srikanth Velamakanni informed us public market investors assess AI firms through a very different lens than specialised private funds with deeper sector knowledge. He stated Fractal could have raised capital at a higher valuation privately, adding that it will take time for Indian public investors to fully understand how AI companies differ from traditional technology services firms.
By the numbers:
- The IPO price band: Rs 857–900 per share.
- Post-money valuation: Approximately Rs 15,473 crore ($1.71 billion).
- Last valuation (July 2025): Rs 20,978 crore ($2.44 billion).
Smaller issue size: The company has reduced the IPO size by about 42% to Rs 2,833.5 crore, primarily by trimming the offer-for-sale portion, as existing shareholders opted to sell fewer shares. The issue includes a fresh tranche of Rs 1,023.5 crore and an OFS of Rs 1,810.4 crore.
Geopolitical outview: Over 60% of Fractal’s revenue flows from the US. Velamakanni stated global trade uncertainty had weighed on manufacturing clients over the past year, disrupting demand and supply chains, but sentiment has lifted with greater clarity on trade arrangements, particularly after the US-India trade deal.
Marico to acquire majority stake in protein supplement brand Cosmix valuing it at Rs 375 crore
(L-R) Soorya Jagadish and Vibha Harish, founders, Cosmix
Marico is snapping up a majority stake in plant-based protein brand Cosmix, deepening its presence in the rapid-growing wellness and nutrition space.
What’s happening? The FMCG giant will acquire 60% of Cosmix in a deal valuing the startup at Rs 375 crore. Marico may pick up the remaining 40% in FY29 if certain tarobtains obtain hit.
This adds to Marico’s expanding stable of direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, mirroring a broader trfinish of large FMCG players piling into digital-first wellness businesses.
Tell me more: Speaking with ET, cofounder Vibha Harish stated that Cosmix had been Ebitda positive and opted for a strategic partner over a financial investor. She added that the brand would stick to its digital-first strategy and has no plans to enter offline retail for now.
Clean-label food brand The Whole Truth closes $51 million funding round led by Sofina, Sauce.vc
Shashank Mehta, founder, The Whole Truth
Clean-label food startup The Whole Truth has raised around $51 million in a funding round led by Sofina and Sauce.vc, with participation from existing backers Peak XV Partners, Rainmatter Health, and Ayra Ventures.
Fund usage: The company stated the capital will support its IPO journey and push towards profitability. The funds will be applyd to expand in-hoapply manufacturing, strengthen working capital, and build systems requireded for public market readiness.
Tell me more: Founded by former Unilever executive Shashank Mehta, The Whole Truth sells “clean-label” packaged foods with no hidden sugars, artificial flavours, or preservatives.
Also Read: Martech startup Fibr AI raises $5.7 million seed round led by Accel
Why Moltbook, a social media platform for AI agents, has safety experts worried
A security lapse at Moltbook, a Reddit-style platform where AI agents interact autonomously, has thrust agentic AI safety into sharp focus.
The trigger: Cloud security firm Wiz discovered that private agent-to-agent messages exposed email addresses of over 6,000 human ‘owners’. The issue received patched after disclosure, but experts declare it reveals deeper cracks in the system.
The large question: As AI agents scale and mingle in digital spaces, who takes the fall when things blow up? And are guardrails arriving rapid enough?
Why this matters: Moltbook enables AI agents to post, nereceivediate tinquires, and exmodify data with minimal human oversight. “We haven’t considered about security, identity, permissions or escalation rules yet,” Natasha Malpani of Boundless Venture informed us.
India in focus: Experts declare India ranks among the world’s rapidest adopters of agentic AI tools, but regulations remain sparse.
Paytm ahead in merchant payments, PhonePe leads consumer play: Bernstein report
Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CEO, Paytm
Digital payments giant PhonePe is lagging rival Paytm in monetisation and profitability despite similar revenue, according to a Bernstein report.
Number-wise:
- PhonePe’s H1 FY26 revenue of Rs 3,918 crore sits close to Paytm’s Rs 3,981 crore
- Paytm turned a net profit of Rs 143 crore in the first half of FY26, supported by tight cost controls.
- PhonePe posted a net loss of Rs 1,444 crore in the same period, weighed down by a significantly higher employee bill.
Yes, and:
- PhonePe remains the runaway leader in the consumer segment with 238 million monthly active applyrs, dwarfing Paytm’s 75 million.
- But Paytm holds the edge in merchant payments with a larger device deployment base of 13.7 million.
Also Read: IPO-bound PhonePe cofounders sold stake worth $430 million to General Atlantic in 2025
Regulatory headwinds: The report notes that PhonePe took a 15% revenue hit due to government restrictions on real-money gaming and credit card rent payments. A significant chunk of PhonePe’s revenue also flows from government subsidies, such as the PIDF (Payment Infrastructure Development Fund) scheme, which is set to be discontinued in 2026.
Also Read: PhonePe IPO: Can the fintech giant convince markets it’s about more than payments?
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