Good day. Under its new owner Elon Musk, Twitter Inc. on Friday began laying off workers in a range of departments, just one day after both ride-hailing company Lyft Inc. and payments processor Stripe Inc. announced job cuts.

That could be an opportunity for brand-new startups flush with capital—and, by extension, a silver lining for laid-off workers hoping to land on their feet.

Seed and early-stage startups have struggled in recent years to hire developers, engineers and marketers amid a tight labor market and fierce competition from bigger tech employers with deep pockets.

“There will certainly be some segments of startups looking to step into the labor market to scoop up available tech workers,” said Tim Herbert, vice president for research and market intelligence at IT trade group CompTIA. Mr. Herbert points to software engineering, data science, artificial intelligence or cybersecurity as especially competitive hires.

And just as the supply of tech talent begins loosening up, new startups are getting more attention—and cash—from venture capital investors, who have pulled back on later-stage startup funding in the face of public market turmoil.

And now on to the news...

Deep discount. There’s a fire sale on bitcoin-mining hardware. The most efficient bitcoin-mining machines are selling for 77% less than last year, The Wall Street Journal reports. The machines, used to process transactions, currently cost about $24 per 100 “terahashes,” a measure of the machine’s computing power, according to mining-services firm Luxor Technology Corp. Last year the same machines cost about $106.

• Mining companies expanded rapidly during the bull run, sometimes borrowing hundreds of millions to buy hardware and build warehouses to house the hardware. Those operations were profitable when bitcoin and crypto were booming.
   
• Once the Federal Reserve started raising interest rates, risk assets became less attractive. Tech stocks and cryptocurrencies alike fell sharply. When bitcoin crashed, mining companies’ expenses, especially their debt payments, overwhelmed their revenue.

A Federal Reserve official signaled support for continuing to raise interest rates but at a somewhat slower pace than the central bank has moved this year to avoid risks of too much tightening. “I don’t think we should try to decide right now exactly what the path will look like,” Boston Fed President Susan Collins said in an interview with the WSJ. Ms. Collins said she was ready to “shift from this really rapid increase to a more measured focus, deliberate focus on what would be sufficient tightening before we hold” rates steady.

Sumeru Equity Partners, a growth-equity firm focused on technology companies, has reached the fundraising limit for its fourth fund, WSJ Pro reports. Sumeru Equity Partners Fund IV has closed with $1.3 billion, the San Mateo, Calif., firm said Friday. The sum exceeds the $1 billion target size and is nearly double the size of the predecessor fund, which closed at $720 million two years ago. Sumeru was formed in 2015 by a team that spun out of Silver Lake Sumeru, the growth-equity arm of technology buyout firm Silver Lake. Sumeru typically invests $50 million to $200 million per transaction in companies in North America and Europe.

There’s a lot of buzz about flying taxis, even though none are buzzing overhead, WSJ reports. Investors are pouring capital into startups racing to develop new electric aircraft that take off and land vertically like a helicopter but fly horizontally like an airplane. Major airlines are investing in some of these startups, betting that they will one day zip passengers between airports and city centers much faster than cars or public transit. Gary Gysin, chief executive of Wisk Aero, says he sees a future where air taxis will seem commonplace. The company is developing an automated flying taxi that would seat four passengers but has no pilot on board.

Funds

Addison, Texas-based Fifth Growth Fund has raised a $25 million fund, according to a regulatory filing.

Switzerland-based Privilège Ventures launched its 20 million Swiss Franc (just over $20 million) fourth fund to invest in women-led early-stage startups across Europe.

People

Glasswing Ventures appointed Hunter Hartwell as partner, Jessica Mullins Camburn as chief financial officer and Ted Julian as venture partner. Mr. Hartwell joins the firm from Forte Ventures. Ms. Mullins Camburn was previously at Aduro Advisors and New Enterprise Associates. Mr. Julian previously held positions at companies including Resilient Systems and Arbor Networks. In September, Boston-based Glasswing Ventures closed its second fund with $158 million in commitments.

Oncology management platform Thyme Care Inc. named Brad Diephuis as chief business officer. He was previously senior advisor at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Thyme Care’s backers include Andreessen Horowitz, AlleyCorp, Frist Cressey Ventures, Casdin Capital and Bessemer Venture Partners.

Exits

Publicly-traded financial automation software company Bill agreed to purchase Finmark, a financial planning software provider, for an undisclosed amount. Finmark has raised funding from investors including IDEA Fund Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Promus Ventures and Draper Associates.

The Mobility House, a Munich-based electric vehicle grid company, closed a $50 million Series C round from investors including Mercuria Energy Trading, Ventura Capital and Green Gateway Fund.

Vivrelle, a membership club that offers access to designer handbags and accessories, completed a $35 million Series B round. Lead investor 3L Capital was joined by Origin Ventures, Chapford Capital Group, Plus Capital and others in the funding.

Lodgify, a Barcelona-headquartered vacation rental software startup, secured $30 million in Series B funding. Octopus Ventures led the round, which included participation from Bonsai Partners, Aldea Ventures, Intermedia Vermögensverwaltung and Nauta Capital. Uthishtan Ranjan from Octopus Ventures and Andrés de la Morena from Bonsai Partners joined Lodgifyʼs board of directors.

Gitpod, a Germany-based open source development platform that builds ready-to-code workspaces in the cloud, secured $25 million in Series A financing. Tom Preston-Werner, founder and former chief executive at GitHub, led the round, which saw additional participation from General Catalyst, Crane Venture Partners, Vertex Ventures US and Speedinvest. Mr. Preston-Werner along with General Catalyst’s Juliet Bailin will join the board.

ORO, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based procurement automation platform, landed $25 million in Series A funding. Norwest Venture Partners and B Capital co-led the round, which included additional support from XYZ Venture Capital and Array Ventures.

Orum, an artificial intelligence-powered conversation platform for sales teams, fetched $22 million in Series B funding. Lead investor Tribe Capital was joined by Craft Ventures and Unusual Ventures in the round.

hC Bioscience Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based startup developing therapeutics targeting protein dysfunction in genetically defined diseases, added $16 million in Series A funding, bringing the round total to $40 million. Taiho Ventures and Panacea Venture joined existing investors ARCH Venture Partners, Takeda Ventures and 8VC in the round. Taiho Ventures’ Seiji Miyahara and Panacea Venture’s Benjamin Chen joined the board.

Enzyre, a provider of ambulant diagnostic technology for blood coagulation testing based in The Netherlands, raised €12 million in Series A funding. Oost NL led the round, which included support from i&i Biotech Fund, Takeda Ventures and Novalis Biotech. A portion of the financing is in the form of an innovation credit from the Dutch government.

Return, a blockchain climate platform, raised $2.5 million in pre-seed funding. Led by Cherry Ventures, the round included participation from Blue Bear Capital, Possible Ventures, Slow Ventures, Not Boring Capital, Climate Capital, Eniac Ventures and others.

Yes Hearing, a New York-based provider of hearing technology and audiology care, closed a $10 million Series A round. Blue Heron Capital led the investment, which included contributions from Primetime Partners, Ensemble Innovation Ventures, Maccabee Ventures and Gaingels. Todd Walrath, chief executive of HomeCare.com and ShiftMed, was added to the board.

• The chip industry pivots from clamor for higher output to cost cutting
   
• Why Elon Musk’s quest to revive Twitter is likely to fail
   
• Reported ransomware incidents, costs soared in 2021, Treasury says
   
• DraftKings reports higher revenue for start of football season

• Binance helped Iranian firms trade $8 billion despite sanctions (Reuters)
   
• Smartphone data from drivers could help spot when bridges need urgent repairs (MIT Technology Review)

This newsletter was compiled by Eric Sylvers, Marc Vartabedian and Zachary Cole.

WSJ Pro Venture Capital is a premium service of The Wall Street Journal. We cover venture capital and the global startup ecosystem. Share your tips, comments and questions: vcnews@wsj.com

The Team: Matthew Strozier, Yuliya Chernova, Brian Gormley, Angus Loten, Eric Sylvers and Marc Vartabedian.

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