Consumer Hardware startup Up democratises cooking with delishUp
Feb 16, 2023
Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], February 16 (ANI/PNN): Consumer hardware startup, Up has launched its Smart Cooking Assistant, delishUp. The product aims to level up young Indians looking to cook more often at home. The 8-inch touchscreen displays a wide selection of recipes with simple instructions, and the smart cooking jar automates the tedious processes of cooking, including chopping ingredients and automating stirring. With the delishUp, ANYONE can begin cooking wholesome and healthy meals at home.
The startup recently closed its pre-seed funding round of USD 1.3 million, which saw participation from Rainmatter (a Zerodha initiative), Draper Associates and Co-founders of Ather Energy and Unacademy, as well as many customers who invested as mini angel investors. Up is one of the few Indian companies that have entered the consumer appliances market, a USD 63.39 billion industry, which has primarily been dominated by players from Korea and China.
Mahek Mody, Co-founder of Up, said, "We are excited to be launching delishUp at a time when the consumer appliance industry is truly booming. Over the next decade, all home appliances, a USD 30B industry in India, are set to become smart and connected. We are building these smart upliances for Indians today. We aim to be in 1,50,000 homes across the country by the end of the year and have an expected revenue target of INR 150 crores by FY25. Moving ahead, we will look at launching other smart upliances, including Smart Fridges and Smart Microwaves. We started Up with the vision to level up lives, and the delishUp is our first step towards that."
The delishUp, powered by Up AI, continuously monitors the food that is being cooked, be it Indian, Continental or Oriental. The Up AI is trained by expert home cooks, food scientists and the 5000+ dishes that have already been cooked on it by a diverse set of consumers--offering never-before abilities like "Pausing" cooking and "Active" cutting. Up AI is rapidly learning from consumer input and preferences, constantly improving their cooking experience and the quality of recipes and food. The improvements are then rolled out to all active devices, making all delishUp better with time and use.
"The delishUp is a great expression of our vision of what smart and connected appliances should be. With local demand, manufacturing and product development, India offers the right environment now to be building consumer appliances of the future," added Mahek
Young homes in India are now used to having a much more diverse food palate, are more conscious of food's health and environmental impact and are much more open to experimentation, even on a weekday. DelishUp, with its advanced cooking capabilities and intuitive interface, effectively alleviates the stress and strain of managing a kitchen, allowing users to move from ordering to cooking at home. Up is heralding the shift to home cooking, even for those without experience in the kitchen.
The delishUp is available for purchase at Rs 21,999 via the brand's website (www.upliance.ai). Up also offers prospective customers to purchase the delishUp at INR 17,999 through the Owner Community via referrals. Up continues to offer an at-home delishUp trial at Rs499 in Bengaluru & online demos across other cities.
Founded by IIT Bombay alumni & ex-Chief of Staff at Ather Energy, Mahek Mody and Mohit Sharma, ex-Head of Engineering at Chaayos, Up sits at the intersection of smart and connected devices and everyday consumer appliances. While working with Ather Energy, Mahek helped define the Ather 450x as a product and a platform. Mohit, Co-founder and CTO, was leading the engineering team at Chaayos. He helped the team at Chaayos build their own proprietary chai-making machines from scratch. Together they aim to enable Indians to level up their daily lives through innovative products which will transform the mundane into something special. Their first upliance, delishUp, has been tested in 350+ real Indian homes and kitchens, and deliveries have begun in Bengaluru and other cities. Up is heralding the shift to home cooking, even for those with no experience in the kitchen, and is inviting everyone to participate in the experience, with a home trial at Rs499 in Bengaluru and online virtual demos for other cities.
Key Features
Smart Cooking Jar:
Cook: The Smart Jar powered by UpAI can precisely control temperature. Identifying and managing varied ingredients correctly and ensuring the meals are cooked just right and taste great.
Chop: Blades actively controlled by UpAI chop vegetables according to the recipe's requirement - including slicing, bite-sized cuts and grinding
Stir: The delishUp automatically stirs food being cooked, with the blade acting as a spatula and also tossing soft ingredients like Paneer and leafy vegetables.
Integrated Weighing Scale: Integrated targeted weighing scales that are precise to a gram simplify cooking for 1 - 4 people. Up 's recipes show ingredient weights instead of the confusing cup and size measurements traditionally used in cooking instructions.
Guided Recipes on the touchscreen: Over 150+ recipes across Indian and global cuisines and meal types come preloaded on delishUp. The step-by-step instructions simplify the process, showing users when to add each ingredient and automating the cooking instructions. Cooking with the delishUp only requires users to add the right set of ingredients when asked.
New recipes are sent via weekly Over-the-Air (OTA) updates.
Up AI: The proprietary AI technology of Up resides in the cloud and ensures your food is cooked just right. It ensures your vegetables are chopped to the right size by precisely controlling the blades. It estimates the temperature of your food every 10 seconds and adapts and adjusts the heat accordingly to cook food perfectly.
Connectivity: delishUp uses WIfi to offer a variety of features - like Over-the-Air updates, access to weekly recipe upgrades, new features and also integrated customer support via an assistance button. The Assistance feature helps owners reach out to team Up during cooking for immediate help or even to offer suggestions on what to cook for the day.
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