Food is an essential part of our lives, but in today’s fast-paced world, it’s often the first thing to be sacrificed when we’re pressed for time or feeling exhausted. This is especially true for young professionals in India, who frequently order food delivery when they return home from work. Recognizing the potential in this trend, companies such as Zomato and Swiggy have created nationwide food delivery platforms. Although these services offer convenience, there are increasing concerns about the potential health risks associated with relying too heavily on them in the long term.
Up is a tech company that specializes in designing and manufacturing smart and connected consumer appliances. Founded in 2021 by Mahek Mody and Mohit Sharma, the company is based in Bangalore and focuses on promoting home cooking while reducing the friction associated with it.
delishUp is the main product of the company, which serves as a smart cooking assistant specifically designed to simplify the cooking process for young Indian households. It features more than 250 recipes from a variety of cuisines, such as continental, oriental, Indian, Filipino, and Ethiopian, among others. This product eliminates the challenges of measuring ingredients, chopping, and cooking, making the entire cooking experience hassle-free.
Equipped with an interactive 8-inch touchscreen and Smart Jar, the appliance automates the process of chopping and stirring ingredients for a range of dishes, including gravies and one-pot meals. It can hold enough food to serve up to 4 people and can also be utilized to keep the food warm and heat it.
The delishUp appliance is powered by an AI framework called UpAI, which governs and regulates the hardware functionality and recipe precision. With the integration of ChatGPT, UpAI now possesses extensive knowledge of food, ingredients, and recipes, enabling it to provide generative and responsive suggestions for all cooking requirements and inquiries. In addition, the company is currently developing its AI capabilities for recipe creation and sharing, with the aim of establishing a community of users who can share and follow recipes created by other users.
CEO and Co-founder of the company, Mody said, “With food available on food delivery apps and new recipes coming up on Instagram and YouTube, people are interested in experimenting with food. But this generation has not learned to cook from their parents. So we wanted to lessen the distance between these two doors.”
Over the course of one year, the food tech company has secured a total of $1.5 million in funding, with contributions from a variety of investors, including Rainmatter (Zerodha’s funding arm), Rukam Capital, Draper Associates, as well as Co-founders from Ather Energy and Unacademy, along with several other angel investors.
Despite being established in 2021, the company only began operating five months ago. However, within this short time frame, it has already garnered over 100 monthly users, primarily in Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai. The company intends to broaden its delivery geography to include Delhi in the near future.
Up aims to sell around 500-800 devices per month by December and plans to expand gradually to other cities, with a target of reaching 1000 devices per month by the end of the financial year. The company is currently focusing solely on the Indian market, as it is considered large enough to accommodate several years of expansion.
