upliance.ai in Talks to Raise Up to $4 Mn Series A Round

Indian smart kitchen startup upliance.ai is in advanced talks to raise $3 million to $4 million (roughly ₹28-₹37 crore) in a Series A round, according to people familiar with the matter. The round is expected to close by January 2027.

A new investor is expected to join the company's cap table, while existing backers, including Khosla Ventures, are looking to invest further. The company has been approached for comment.

What the money would fund

The fresh capital could go toward strengthening R&D, improving the product interface and expanding into international markets, the sources said.

upliance.ai was founded in 2021 by former Ather Energy executive Mahek Mody and former Chaayos employee Mohit Sharma. Its last disclosed round was a ₹34 crore seed investment led by Khosla Ventures in February 2024, at a valuation of ₹143 crore.

The company's lineup includes the upliance 2.0+ cooking assistant and a 12L Smart Air Fryer Oven launched in July. It uses generative AI to turn recipes into instructions the appliance can execute. Its YouTube recipe feature, for example, breaks a cooking video into steps and maps them to the device's capabilities, such as chopping ingredients and adjusting cooking sequences. Customers can also get recipes through the app and leave a voicemail if something goes wrong while cooking; the team replies and uses ratings and feedback to refine recipes.

A growing, crowded market

The talks come as India's smart kitchen appliance market expands. MarkNtel Advisors estimates it at $800 million in 2026 and projects it to reach $2.99 billion by 2032, a CAGR of 25%. Cooking appliances make up about 48% of the market this year.

Competition includes established brands. Wonderchef entered automated cooking in April 2024 with Chef Magic, a kitchen robot that chops, stirs, steams, sautés and kneads, with a built-in scale, touchscreen and more than 200 preloaded recipes. Philips launched OneChef in India in March 2026, combining air frying, stir frying, steaming and boiling in one appliance.

If the round closes as planned, it would give upliance.ai fresh funding to compete in that field and test demand outside India.