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Hello,

The sun has set on WazirX’s NFT marketplace. 

Among India’s first NFT marketplaces, the WazirX NFT Marketplace was launched in June 2021 by the Indian cryptocurrency exchange. However, slow growth and poor traction have forced the company to shut it down.

But all is not lost. Users can continue to hold their NFTs in their wallets and sell them in other marketplaces such as OpenSea.

Moving on. ‘Layoffs’ could very well be the trending word of this year.

McKinsey & Company is now planning to cut about 2,000 jobs as part of its restructuring plans—touted as the consulting firm’s biggest layoffs ever. 

Bloomberg says the layoffs—which will affect McKinsey’s non-client-facing support staff—are a part of Project Magnolia, which the firm hopes will help preserve the compensation pool of its partners.

ICYMI: Not everyone is happy with the changes made to Roald Dahl’s iconic children’s storybooks. 

Politically correct, but at what cost?

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Market volatility hits Upstox’s growth
• Another cloud kitchen shuts shop
• Telangana hones Web3 startups

Here’s your trivia for today: How many operational buttons did the original Game Boy have?

Finance

Market volatility hits Upstox’s growth

Online brokerage Upstox has been battling slowing growth of late, blaming the slide on fewer demat account openings and a volatile stock market. Recently, Zerodha also reported a 50% decline in new monthly account openings.

Steady slide:

• Active clients on Upstox dropped to 3.4 million in January this year from about 4.9 million a year earlier.
• It went from adding 300,000-400,000 new users every month in 2020-2021 to about 200,000 new accounts monthly recently.
• While it currently has 10 million-plus users, Co-founder Shrini Viswanath told YourStory that the 100 million users target will take time. 

Funding Alert

Startup: AdmitKard

Amount: ₹50 Cr

Round: Series A

Startup: Eko India Financial Services

Amount: ₹30 Cr

Round: Equity

Startup: TreZix

Amount: $1.2M

Round: Seed

Foodtech

Another cloud kitchen shuts shop

Zomato-backed food robotics startup Mukunda Foods has closed its kitchen-as-a-service business, Nucleus Kitchens. It provided brands with kitchens along with equipment and staff in exchange for a share of the revenue. Founder and CEO Eshwar Vikas told YourStory that the market isn’t ready for growth.

Larger problem:

• Nucleus Kitchens’ clients, including ITC, Auntie Fung’s and Biggies Burger have been asked to vacate the premises and close their accounts.
• In December, Uber Co-founder Travis Kalanick’s CloudKitchens exited India after failing to generate sustainable revenue.
• Swiggy is divesting its cloud-kitchen business, and Zomato has scaled down its kitchen infrastructure.

Web3

Telangana hones Web3 startups

While Indian regulations around cryptocurrencies and blockchain are still grey and undefined, Telangana has launched a Web3 regulatory sandbox for selected blockchain startups to test their solutions in a controlled environment.

First steps:

• Telangana’s sandbox aims to enable early-stage Web3 startups from across sectors to close collaboration with government authorities.
• The initiative aims to provide authorisation, legal compliance, security, and authentication for disruptive blockchain projects.
• The first cohort of startups includes Dygnify, SpotSpreads, Renai, EquiDEI, Finclus, Rariko, Zoth, and Rightsfually.

News & updates

• Disabled friendly: Amazon teamed up with hearing implant company Cochlear to launch Audio Streaming for Hearing Aids (ASHA) support for compatible Cochlear devices. It hopes to help cochlear implant users watch their favourite movies and TV shows and use Alexa more comfortably.
• Funding: Kotak Mahindra Group’s asset management arm will invest $129 million in Biocon Ltd to help it fund its acquisition of Viatris Inc’s biosimilars business. Biocon Biologics completed the $3.34 billion acquisition of US-based Viatris’s biosimilars business in late November.
• Record profits: Jeep and Dodge carmaker Stellantis announced record full-year results, reporting a 26% rise in net profit to 16.8 billion euros and a 41% annual jump in global battery and electric vehicle sales. It announced a 4.2 billion euro dividend payout to shareholders, equating to 1.34 euros per share.

How many operational buttons did the original Game Boy have?

Answer: Four

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