upliance.ai in talks to raise up to $4 Mn Series A
upliance.ai, a D2C smart kitchen appliance startup, is in advanced talks to raise $3 Mn to $4 Mn (around ₹28-₹37 Cr) in a Series A round, according to sources. The round is expected to close by January 2027.
A new investor is expected to join the cap table, while existing backers, including Khosla Ventures, are looking to invest further. It previously raised ₹34 Cr in a seed round led by Khosla Ventures in February 2024, at a valuation of ₹143 Cr.
Founded in 2021 by former Ather Energy executive Mahek Mody and former Chaayos employee Mohit Sharma, upliance.ai builds smart kitchen appliances. Its range includes the upliance 2.0+ cooking assistant and a 12L Smart Air Fryer Oven launched in July.
The company uses generative AI to turn recipes into instructions its cooking assistant can carry out. Its YouTube recipe feature, for example, breaks a cooking video into steps and maps them to what the appliance can do, such as chopping ingredients and adjusting the cooking sequence.
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Customers can also reach recipes through the company's app and leave a voicemail if something goes wrong while cooking. The team responds to these queries and uses ratings and feedback to improve recipes over time.
The startup could use the fresh capital to strengthen R&D, improve its interface, and expand into international markets.
The funding talks come amid growing activity in India's smart kitchen appliances market. MarkNtel Advisors estimates the market at $800 Mn in 2026, growing at a CAGR of 25% to $2.99 Bn by 2032, with cooking appliances accounting for about 48% of it in 2026.
The segment includes both startups and established appliance brands offering varying degrees of cooking automation. Wonderchef launched its Chef Magic kitchen robot in April 2024, automating chopping, stirring, steaming, sautéing and kneading. Philips launched OneChef in India in March 2026, combining air frying, stir frying, steaming and boiling in one appliance.
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