Startup News Today - December 23, 2025 | Top Funding, Launches, Failures, Mergers, IPO Updates & Market Highlights Today

A quick and simple roundup of startup news for December 23, 2025. See today’s funding deals, new launches, and important updates.

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I am Aadi, tracks the global fintech and policy beat. I dissect deal structures, regulatory shifts, and capital flows with forensic precision.

This time only 24 global startups raised a total of $849.1 million, comprising 12 growth-stage and 12 early-stage deals, while 2 startups kept their funding undisclosed. 

Growth-stage deals

Growth and late-stage funding reached $811.2 million across 12 deals this week. The activity was anchored by Silicon Valley-based Erebor Bank, which locked in a massive $350 million Series B round led by Lux Capital. The funds will fuel its aggressive expansion into defense and aerospace banking. 

Following closely was Gurugram-based True Credits, which tapped the debt market for $75 million from Community Investment Management to extend credit to underserved borrowers. Nasdaq-listed ETHZilla executed a pivot to Real World Asset tokenization via a $74.5 million asset sale.

Defense tech also saw significant movement. Bengaluru’s CoreEL Technologies bagged $30 million in a Series B round led by ValueQuest Scale Fund. Meanwhile, Hyderabad-based medtech firm Sensa Core Medical Instrumentation secured $72 million from Motilal Oswal Alternates. 

Olea, a Singaporean trade finance platform, infused $30 million into its operations from BBVA. Nashville’s Thread Bank picked up $30.5 million to scale its embedded banking solutions.

Other notable deals included Heads Up For Tails securing $25 million for Middle East expansion and PlasmaGen Biosciences raising Rs 150 crore ($17.8 million). Crystal Crop Protection filed for an IPO comprising a fresh issue of Rs 600 crore ($71.4 million).

Early-stage deals

Early-stage startups raised about $37.9 million across 12 deals this week. Bengaluru-based wealthtech PowerUp Money topped the charts with a $12 million Series A led by Peak XV Partners. 

Travel fintech unicorn Navan secured a $9.3 million strategic equity top-up from Andreessen Horowitz. Fintech SaaS Prosperr.io locked in $4 million in a seed round led by Jungle Ventures.

Cybersecurity firm Gambit Cyber bagged $3.4 million to scale its KnightGuard platform. Naxatra Labs raised $3 million for EV motor production, while Lucid Capital picked up $2.5 million for AI trading infrastructure.

Lithuania’s Repsense and Rwanda’s Kayko also secured funding this week. The Foundery and iVoiceUp did not disclose their transaction details. 

City and segment-wise deals

By city-wise deal count, Bengaluru led the pack with 6 deals, followed by Gurugram and Silicon Valley. Hyderabad, Nashville, Singapore, and Vilnius also recorded deals during the week.

Segment-wise, Fintech and Banking startups led the week with 9 deals. Defense tech followed with 3 deals. Medtech, Agrochemicals, and Cybersecurity also bagged funding during the period.

Series-wise deals

Series B rounds dominated the capital volume, while Seed rounds led the deal count. Debt financing and post-IPO equity rounds also saw participation.

Key Hirings / Departures

United Launch Alliance (ULA) CEO Tory Bruno has resigned, leaving John Elbon as Interim CEO. Yellow.ai has laid off over 100 employees, cutting 30% of its workforce to pivot toward agentic AI.

Fund Launches

Bank of America has committed $10 million in zero-interest loans to support businesses impacted by the L.A. wildfires. ZAS Ventures initiated a pre-seed round for Latvian forest-asset fintech Upwood.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Clearwater Analytics has been acquired by Permira and Warburg Pincus for $8.4 billion in an all-cash deal. Janus Henderson is set to go private in a $7.4 billion acquisition by Trian Fund Management and General Catalyst. Alphabet has snapped up Intersect Power for $4.75 billion to secure clean energy for its AI data centers.

HCLSoftware has acquired Belgium-based Wobby for €4.5 million and data analytics firm Jaspersoft for $240 million. In the domestic market, Park Medi World bought KP Institute of Medical Sciences for Rs 245 crore. Amazon India approved the merger of its transportation arm, ATS, into Amazon Seller Services.

New Launches and Partnerships

1. Intuit partners with Circle to embed USDC in TurboTax and QuickBooks.
2. Klarna partners with Coinbase to integrate USDC stablecoin rails.
3. BharatPe launches 'Pay Later' with YES Bank offering 45-day interest-free credit.
4. Tether launches QVAC Genesis II Dataset with 148 billion synthetic tokens.
5. Monzo launches in Ireland after securing EU banking licence.
6. Bybit announces exit from Japan market due to regulatory friction.

Financial result

1. MediBuddy narrows losses by 37% to Rs 137 Cr; posts Rs 725 Cr revenue.
2. Vail Resorts posts $260.3 million revenue; net loss improves to $172.8 million.
3. Amazon Transportation Services reports Rs 4,889 Cr revenue and Rs 80 Cr net loss.
4. Amazon Marketplace (Seller Services) revenue grows 14% to Rs 25,406 Cr.

Flash News

1. Trump Administration halts 6 GW of offshore wind leases citing national security.
2. Federal Reserve proposes 'skinny' master accounts for fintechs.
3. NYT reporter sues OpenAI and Google for copyright infringement.
4. Novo Nordisk receives FDA nod for oral Wegovy pill.
5. India-New Zealand FTA finalized; duty-free access for 54% of NZ exports.
6. Ghana passes bill legalizing crypto trading under central bank supervision.

Summary

The global funding landscape was dominated by fintech infrastructure and defense technology.

Intuit has made a landmark move by partnering with Circle to embed USDC stablecoins into TurboTax and QuickBooks. This integration allows the fintech giant to bypass traditional ACH delays, leveraging programmable money rails for 24/7 settlement. It positions Intuit ahead of competitors like PayPal in the race for "embedded finance" dominance. The move validates stablecoins as a utility layer for retail and SMB workflows beyond mere trading.

In a massive capital injection, Erebor Bank secured $350 million to build banking infrastructure for the defense and aerospace sectors. The deal underscores a growing trend of specialized financial institutions servicing high-compliance industries that traditional banks often shun.

Regulatory shifts are reshaping the crypto landscape. The Federal Reserve has proposed "Payment Accounts" that would grant fintechs direct access to Fed rails without full banking licenses. Simultaneously, Ghana has legalized crypto trading, while Japan’s strict regulations have forced Bybit to exit the market.

On the corporate front, M&A activity surged with multi-billion dollar take-private deals. Clearwater Analytics and Janus Henderson are exiting public markets in deals worth $8.4 billion and $7.4 billion respectively. This signals a return of mega-cap private equity buyouts.