Well-known IT entrepreneur Ashook Soota's three-year old tech venture Happiest Minds has been ranked No. 2 on the Deloitte Technology Fast50 India 2014 list. Speaking exclusively to CNBC-TV18, Soota says the company is in no rush to raise funds and is on track to come out with an IPO in due course, report Poornima Murali and Kritika Saxena.
He scaled up Wipro from being a mere USD 2 million entity to half a billion dollar. He was also a part of Mindtree's founding team and saw the company through its successful IPO. Now, three years after launching yet another tech start-up, Ashok Soota seems satisfied with the journey Happiest Minds is on as he carefully strategises for the future.
Ashok Soota, executive chairman, Happiest Minds says: “Our basic story for being able to get into business, to get growth goes back to our original strategy which has resonated well - focus on disruptive technologies which we have adapted as we have gone further to say that we provide a smart, secure connected experience and now we provide companies the ability to do their digital transformation journey through all of these disruptive technologies. I think this has worked well. We go to customers and say what are the new areas of innovation in which we are working and in those areas and bring in expertise and experience as the older players.”
Ranked no 2 on the Deloitte Technology Fast50 India List in 2014, Happiest Minds hopes to end the year with USD 50 million in revenue. The company saw its topline grow by 120 percent last year and is confident of beating industry growth in the future as well. Innovation and patented tech solutions seems to be Soota's mantra as his company targets a wide spectrum of clients right from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.
Key areas of focus include cloud, analytics and social computing. As financials start looking up, an IPO is also on the cards - though it’s another 3-4 years away.
Soota adds: “We are a company in which VCs have invested. We committed to them that we will go public in 6-7 years from the date of commencement. In March, we will complete our third financial year. We are pretty much on track which means we are still 3-4 years away. So we have got a long journey but we are clear that is our goal. It’s important for us to be able to monetize the gains for our own people.
Happiest Mind's has not raised funds beyond its initial seed capital of USD 52.5 million pooled in by Canadian Partners, Intel Capital and Ashok Soota. The founders don't seem to be in any hurry to raise money over the next 18 months unless it’s for a compelling acquisition. At the moment, it’s all about building on key verticals like retail and BSFI, as Happiest Minds focuses on boosting revenue growth.
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