Hello Sifted reader,

As layoffs continue, is now the best time to hire tech talent in Europe? Dutch cloud communications unicorn MessageBird has let go of almost a third of its headcount, attributing the cuts to too-rapid growth and slow acquisition integration. Elsewhere, vertical farming startup Infarm has made up to 50% of its team redundant, only two months after a first round of staff cuts.

It's a different story at other companies — some which are raising healthy rounds. That includes Huel, which raised a $24m Series B round from actors Idris and Sabrina Elba and several other well-known names for its meal replacement drinks.

Also from the Sifted newsroom:

☕️ "We looked like idiots when we didn’t want to do what FTX does." Crypto exchange FTX's dramatic implosion may have put many investors off the space for now; but, as Zosia Wanat found over an unconventional brunch with the founders of Polish crypto payments startup Ramp, some founders aren't spooked.

With the biggest Series B round in Polish tech's history under their belt, Szymon Sypniewicz and Przemek Kowalczyk chat about growing their business in an unstable sector, crypto's future and a personal history of a good fish and chips.

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👀 There are only two accelerators that VCs care about. That's what we gleaned after asking 20-odd of Europe's top investors to share what they really think about accelerator programmes. The two accelerators with the most kudos also got their fair share of criticism, though.

😵‍💫 When business coaching goes "alternative". Business coaches have become a must-have for any successful leader. But some of them have some truly unique offerings — from microexpression reading to zodiac birth charts and a “psychedelic concierge”, we dig into this wacky world.

🦜 The startups boosting biodiversity. It’s estimated that more than half of global GDP depends on high-functioning biodiversity — but is a thriving ecosystem compatible with a thriving business? Here are some of the startups making that marriage work.

🤺 How to manage conflict within teams. Conflict inevitable in a business — things go wrong and people have problems, and that can cause confrontations. It doesn't always have to be a bad thing, though; executive coach Olivia Meyrick advises on how best to communicate and de-escalate your way out of times of tension.

📩 Italy’s largest neobank pens deal with postal service. Poste Italiane, which delivers the country's mail, will give Aidexa access to “hundreds of thousands” of new small and medium enterprise (SME) customers. Italy is 2022's Europe's fastest growing startup ecosystem by funding, and this deal marks another sign that it's rapidly catching up to the rest of the continent.

🍿 Idris and Sabrina Elba's latest venture. The power couple joined a star-studded list of investors for meal replacement drinks and snacks startup Huel's $24m Series B round, which came in at a $560m valuation. Presenter Jonathan Ross and fitness YouTuber-turned-founder Grace Beverley also participated.

🛍 Klarna predicts 2023 profitability — despite losses. The buy now, pay later operator is feeling optimistic, as cofounder and CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski announced that he's expecting monthly profitability by mid-2023. The current reality, however, is that it's still loss-making; Klarna's third-quarter losses were twice what they were in the same quarter in 2021.

🩺 The €100m healthtech fund from an ex-founder. YZR Capital (pronounced Wiser, FYI) has raised almost €60m of its first fund, led by the founder of German telehealth company Teleclinc, Reinhard Meier. It's the first healthtech fund launched by an ex-founder from the healthtech industry, Sifted believes.

🦠 Meet some of the startups capturing carbon — using bacteria and electricity. (Sponsored by New Energy Challenge.)

💰 Where’s Europe’s foreign direct investment coming from right now? (Sponsored by Latham & Watkins.)

💻 Here's why companies will continue to invest in tech amidst economic uncertainty. (Sponsored by BCG X.)

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Whether it's Klarna's slashed valuations, Monzo's latest debacle or the hottest neobanks in Italy, Sifted's fintech reporter Amy O'Brien is on it.

Every Tuesday in her Fintech newsletter she runs through the industry's breaking news, analyses the biggest stories and — crucially — evaluates what's hot and what's not in the sector that week.

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