US-India Tech News Update for December 15, 2025

This is a fully AI generated summary and audio briefing of news in the US and India tech and startup industries.

First up, funding announcements are buzzing. Atomberg, the Indian energy‑efficient appliance maker eyeing a FY27 IPO, is in talks for a secondary round of about 4.8 million dollars led by Forj Capital, which would value the company at roughly 600 million dollars. The startup plans a fresh issue of up to 220 million dollars later this year to fund capex, debt repayment and marketing. Meanwhile, German AI video startup Mirelo raised 41 million dollars from Index Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz to add synchronized sound to AI‑generated video, a move that could unlock new monetisation for creators. In India, the analog watch brand Rotoris secured a 3 million dollar seed round backed by Zerodha co‑founder Nikhil Kamath and actor‑investor Vivek Oberoi, earmarking the funds for manufacturing scale‑up and its first flagship store in New Delhi. D2C kids apparel brand Kidbea announced a 60 crore rupee investment—about 7.2 million dollars—to roll out 100 offline stores across the country over the next two years. And Swiggy closed a massive 1.2 billion‑dollar qualified institutional placement, directing roughly 45 percent of the capital to expand its Instamart fulfilment network.

On the M&A front, Flipkart received in‑principle clearance from the Indian NCLT to merge its Singapore‑based subsidiaries back into the Indian entity, a reverse‑flip that should streamline its upcoming 2025 IPO. In a cautionary tale, iRobot’s attempted sale to Amazon was blocked by European regulators, leaving the company in bankruptcy and highlighting the regulatory risks of cross‑border deals.

Tech news includes a shift in AI sentiment. The Download newsletter launched an “AI Hype Correction” series, warning that many grand promises—like AI replacing lawyers—remain exaggerated. Across India, enterprises have moved from AI pilots to production, with nearly half of firms now running live generative AI deployments and building localized models for regional languages. At the same time, a new wave of AI‑driven productivity tools is sparking debate, as developers report mixed gains in speed and code quality.

New technologies are making headlines too. Thea Energy previewed Helios, a planar‑coil fusion reactor that uses AI‑controlled plasma dynamics to cut build time and costs, and is hunting Series B funding. Sisir Radar raised 7 million dollars to launch an L‑band synthetic‑aperture radar satellite, promising all‑weather high‑resolution imaging for defence and commercial markets.

In the crypto and Web3 corner, Bitcoin is currently at 86,165.66 dollars. Ethereum price is currently unavailable.