One important thing: The year 2023 has only just begun, and layoff announcements keep coming thick and fast. The latest one is from mobility and EV firm Bounce.

Sources tell us that the Sequoia and Accel-backed startup is laying off about 5% or around 50 of its employees across customer support, finance, and sales to cut costs.

• In 2021, Bounce pivoted to making EVs as its scooter rental business faced a slowdown during the pandemic. 

In today’s newsletter:   

• What to expect from Q3 IT earnings next week
• CoinSwitch shines a light on its reserves
• KreditBee kicks off 2023 with $100 mn funding

Was this newsletter forwarded to you? You can sign up for Tech3 here

All eyes will be on IT majors in the coming week, as Tata Consultancy Services will kick off the earnings season on January 9, with other companies such as Wipro, Infosys, and HCLTech scheduled to report later in the week.

Why is it significant?

After Indian IT moved from annus mirabilis to annus horribilis in 2022, the Q3 numbers will be closely watched since it is a seasonally weak quarter for the sector due to fewer working days and higher-than-expected furloughs. However, this time there is also the added pressure of deteriorating macroeconomic conditions.

Analysts are expecting revenue growth of 0-3 percent. It’s also expected to moderate on a year-on-year basis. 

Margins too, which have been under pressure for IT companies for some time now, are expected to improve slightly. 

• However, this isn’t to say margins won’t be under pressure — factors like weaker-than-expected revenue growth, lower utilisation QoQ, tail-end of wage pressures, increased travel and higher sales and marketing spends have to be taken into account.

As clients finalise their budgets for the calendar year 2023, IT spending is another area of focus following management's recognition of soft pockets and caution in client conversations in the last quarter.

However, brokerages say that Indian IT services are vulnerable to macroeconomic uncertainties and adverse regulatory changes in their key markets of the United States and Europe, where they make most of their revenue. 

What are the things to watch out for? Read our story.

Proof of reserves has become the talk of the town following the sudden collapse of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. Investors are now demanding greater transparency from exchanges regarding their crypto holdings.

• Proof of reserves (PoR) is a method for verifying that a trading platform or crypto firm has 1:1 backing across the digital assets it holds in custody on behalf of its customers.

Crypto unicorn CoinSwitch published its proof of reserves today, becoming the second crypto exchange to do so after rival CoinDCX in November.

As of 8 a.m. IST today, CoinSwitch said that its total assets were valued at $112.99 million and another $18.1 million held on exchanges.

CoinSwitch said it works with exchanges like WazirX, CoinDCX, Binance, apart from its own CoinSwitchX platform. In addition, the exchange provides custodial services through Ledger, Coinbase Custody, and Fireblocks.

CoinSwitch rebranded as a wealthtech platform in December, unveiling a new logo and app design.The company plans to launch at least seven new products by the end of next year, including fixed deposits, bonds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, and mutual funds.

Go deeper

Amid talks of a worsening funding winter for Indian startups in 2023, fintech platform KreditBee has kicked off the new year on a positive note.

KreditBee, a personal loan disbursal platform, has raised an additional $100 million from Advent International as part of its extended Series D funding round at an undisclosed valuation.

• In December, KreditBee raised $80 million from existing investors Azim Premji’s Premji Invest, Motilal Oswal Alternates, TPG-backed NewQuest Capital Partners, and Mirae Asset Ventures
  
  
• The company said it will use the funds to diversify and expand its product offerings
  
  
• With this round, KreditBee has raised close to $400 million to date

KreditBee’s $100 million funding marks the first large round of 2023. This comes as experts predict that 2023 will be an even more challenging year for startup funding than 2022.

More importantly, KreditBee intends to aggressively expand in order to outpace its competitors, as many of its digital lending peers have been impacted by the RBI's crackdown on digital lending.

Unlike its competitors, KreditBee has an in-house RBI-registered NBFC that allows it to continue offering secured lending products.

Samuel Morse demonstrated his telegraph system for the first time on January 6, 1838. It took Morse until 1843 to convince the US Congress to fund the first telegraph line. 

Quick trivia: In May 1844, Morse finally sent the first official telegram with the message: “What hath God wrought!” (Picture credit: Wikipedia)

• New York's attorney general has sued Celsius Network founder Alex Mashinsky, claiming he defrauded investors by concealing the platform's failing health.
  
  
• Digital Currency Group (DCG), the crypto conglomerate that owns embattled cryptocurrency broker Genesis and digital asset manager Grayscale, has announced the closure of HQ, its wealth management division.

If you haven't watched enough content about very rich people and very rich food over the holidays, here's the perfect movie to watch this weekend. But this one is with a twist!

The Menu, directed by Mark Mylod, is a horror-comedy that centers around an elite couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) who travel to a coastal island to dine at an exclusive restaurant.

However, as the evening progresses, things take a dramatic turn as the true intentions of the chef (Ralph Fiennes) are revealed. Curious about the evening's main dish? It's a murder!

Watch it on Disney+ Hotstar

P.S. If you prefer local shows, popular YouTube personality Bhuvan Bam's debut web series Taaza Khabar was released today on Disney+ Hotstar.

• In the action-drama series, Bam stumbles upon magical powers through which he gets to know things before it actually happens. Watch the show.

Note: By subscribing to Tech3 you have already made the right choice. Top it up with a premium offering, the Moneycontrol Pro Panorama, a newsletter that gives you a sharp take on macros, markets, business and finance. Sign up for Pro from this link to get this newsletter in your inbox and also a host of content enjoyed by 500,000+ subscribers.