Upliance.ai, a burgeoning home appliance startup, has secured INR 34 crore ($4 million) in its seed funding round, spearheaded by Khosla Ventures.
The funding round propelled the startup’s valuation to INR 143 Cr, as stated by Upliance in a statement.
Upliance plans to utilize the fresh proceeds to ramp up the production of its first product, the AI-powered cooking assistant “Upliance,” to 20,000 units per annum in the next six months. The startup also aims to utilize the capital to scale up its revenue to INR 150 Cr by the end of 2024.
Upliance was also recently showcased on Season 3 of Shark Tank India.
Continue Exploring: India’s first AI Cooking Assistant, upliance.ai sets sights on 10X growth and INR 150 Crore revenue after star performance on Shark Tank
Established in 2021 by Mahek Mody and Mohit Sharma, upliance.ai markets an AI-driven ‘Smart Jar’ capable of handling numerous cooking functions, including chopping, sautéing, blending, heating, and steaming.
Equipped with a touchscreen interface, the product utilizes machine learning and AI technologies to streamline cooking processes.
“We are extremely excited about having Khosla Ventures as partners. Their investment is a validation of both the potential of upliance.ai and the traction we have seen in the market,” said upliance.ai chief executive officer (CEO) Mahek Mody.
Commenting on the fundraise, Khosla Ventures partner Rajesh Swaminathan said, “Mahek and his team have built a product that early consumers love and has the potential to significantly change people’s daily eating routines. We are also excited about the health benefits and AI integration capabilities possible with upliance.ai. These are the bold bets we like to take.”
Earlier, the Bengaluru-based startup secured $1.5 million in its pre-seed round from Nikhil Kamath-led Rainmatter Fund, Draper Associates, Rukam Capital, Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs India, as well as undisclosed cofounders of Ather Energy and Unacademy.
According to upliance.ai, they have recorded a revenue of INR 1.5 Cr as of January 2024 and have sold 750 units since the product launch in January of the previous year. The startup has announced its intention to sell 1,500 units by March 2024 and aims to increase its active community members to 10,000 by the end of 2024.
Continue Exploring: Bangalore-based startup Up aims to revolutionize home cooking with smart appliance delishUp
This comes at a time when deeptech startups have increasingly captivated investors’ attention. Despite the significant time investment required before product launches and the need for extensive research and development, the deeptech sector saw hefty capital inflow in 2023, defying the challenges posed by funding winters.
According to data, funding for Indian deeptech startups surged to over $496 million in 2023, a significant increase from $397 million in 2022. To date, the sector has amassed over $1.5 billion in capital, with notable mega deals, such as GreyOrange’s $100 million+ round, occurring last year.
The sector was notably highlighted in the interim Budget 2024. The government allocated a substantial INR 1 lakh crore corpus to support Indian startups, aimed at fostering research and development within burgeoning industries. Additionally, a new scheme was proposed to promote the adoption of deeptech technologies within the defense sector.
Continue Exploring: A-Listers Spice Up Their Portfolios with Bold Bets on India’s Booming F&B Startups
