Upliance.ai, the home appliance startup, has achieved a significant milestone by securing Rs 34 crore (over $4 Million) in its recent seed funding round, with Khosla Ventures taking the lead among investors. The funding has propelled the startup to a valuation of Rs 143 crore. While the specific names of other investors were not disclosed, Upliance.ai expressed its commitment to utilizing the funds strategically.
Expressing enthusiasm about the partnership with Khosla Ventures, Upliance.ai’s CEO, Mahek Mody, stated, “Their investment is a validation of both the potential of Upliance.ai and the traction we have seen in the market.”
The primary focus of the funding injection is to escalate the production of Upliance.ai’s flagship product, the AI-powered cooking assistant called Upliance. The company aims to ramp up production to 20,000 units annually within the next six months. Simultaneously, Upliance.ai has set ambitious targets to scale its revenue to Rs 150 crore by the close of 2024.
Khosla Ventures partner Rajesh Swaminathan shared his perspective on the fundraise, saying, “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.”
This funding round follows Upliance.ai’s earlier success in securing $1.5 million during its pre-seed round from investors including Rainmatter Fund, Draper Associates, Rukam Capital, Stanford Angels, and Entrepreneurs India, as well as undisclosed co-founders of Ather Energy and Unacademy.
As of January 2024, Upliance.ai has reported a revenue of Rs 1.5 Crore, having sold 750 units within nine months of product launch in January the previous year. The company has set an ambitious target of selling 1,500 units by March 2024 and aims to grow its active community members to 10,000 by the end of 2024.
The funding environment for deep-tech startups received a further boost in the interim Budget 2024, with the government allocating a mega Rs 1 Lakh crore corpus for Indian startups to foster research and development in emerging sectors. Additionally, a new scheme was proposed to encourage the deployment of deep-tech technologies in the defense sector. These initiatives underscore the government’s commitment to nurturing innovation and technological advancements in the country.
The company is headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India.