Zerodha’s Rainmatter invests in smart connected home appliance startup – Up

Consumer hardware startup Up (previously React Labs) has raised $500,000 led by Nithin Kamath-led Rainmatter as a part of its pre-seed funding.

The Bengaluru-based startup, founded by Mahek Mody and Mohit Sharma, closed its pre-seed round at $1.3 million.

Other investors who participated include co-founders of Ather Energy, Unacademy and Stanford Angels and Entrepreneurs India. Additionally, early Tesla investor Tim Draper. Notably, consumers from the brand’s beta testing program have also turned into mini-angel investors in the startup.

Up says it plans to use the raised capital to execute the go-to-market strategy of its first ‘upliance’- delishUp. The startup claims its device, which has been used at 250+ young Bengaluru homes, features a cutting-edge touch screen with unlimited in-built guided recipes, coupled with a jar which heats and cooks and offers controlled chopping, stirring and other culinary functions.

“Everyone knows the best way to manage your health is to eat home-cooked food, and with this new funding, we are looking forward to taking delishUp to consumers across the country. Most other services available in the market focus on the exercise or ‘calories out’ options, but nearly none of them are offering users the superpower to take control of ‘calories in’," said Mahek Mody, Co-founder & CEO of Up.

"Nithin & the whole Zerodha-Rainmatter family are the flag bearers of health and nutrition in the Indian startup sector. Them discovering and using delishUp and following that with an investment is a massive vote of confidence," Mahek added.

Nithin Kamath, Co-founder & CEO of Zerodha, said, “Helping people become healthy is something we're really passionate about at Rainmatter. When Mahek and Mohit showed us delishUp and what they were trying to build, we really liked it. We could instantly see that this could go a long way in helping people eat healthy. We're really excited to join Up in this journey.”

Siri Srinivas, Principal Investor, Draper Associates, said, “The next generation of smart & connected innovation will be designed to elevate the quality of our domestic lives. The next generation of smart and connected devices for the world will be built in countries like India and by the upcoming generation of hardware startups."

Up is also part of Qualcomm’s 2022-23 accelerator program through the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge (QDIC). Through QDIC, the startup said it is on a path to build a technical collaboration with Qualcomm to unlock the potential of smart connected consumer technology in Indian homes.

Also Read:

• How TheCodeWork helps early and growth-stage startups overcome obstacles

Follow IndianStartupNews on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter for the latest updates from the startup ecosystem.