Deepinder Goyal is back in the spotlight, and this time, it’s not about food delivery.
The Zomato founder, who recently moved from Group CEO to Vice Chairman of parent company Eternal, has officially unveiled his latest startup, Temple. And it’s already making serious noise in India’s startup circles.
Temple has raised a whopping $54 million (around ₹493 crore) in a fresh funding round. What’s more surprising? The company hasn’t even launched a product yet, and it’s already valued at a massive $190 million.
What Is Temple All About?
If you’ve watched Goyal’s recent podcasts or public appearances, you may have noticed a small metallic, futuristic-looking device on his forehead.
That device is the core of Temple.
Unlike wearables such as the Apple Watch or Fitbit that track steps and heart rate, Temple is building what it calls a “next-gen” wearable. The device is designed to measure cerebral blood flow, tracking how much blood reaches your brain with medical-grade precision.
The idea stems from Goyal’s personal interest in longevity and his “Gravity Ageing Hypothesis.” This theory suggests that as we age, gravity pulls blood away from the brain, potentially contributing to cognitive decline.
Temple’s goal? To offer elite athletes and high performers a real-time dashboard for monitoring brain health.
A “Friends and Family” Round
Typically, a friend’s and family round means small cheques from close contacts. But in Goyal’s case, things are a little different.
The funding round saw participation from early Zomato investors like Peak XV Partners, Steadview Capital, and Info Edge.
Several big names from India’s tech ecosystem also joined in. These include Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath of Zerodha, Kunal Shah of CRED, Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm, and Varun Alagh of Mamaearth.
Goyal himself led the round with a personal investment of ₹104 crore.
In a strong show of internal confidence, more than 30 Temple employees also invested their own money at the same valuation as the big VC firms.
Hiring With A Fitness Test
Temple also grabbed headlines for its unusual recruitment strategy. If you want to work on this brain-tracking device, you may need to prove your fitness first. Goyal’s hiring call for engineers and neuroscientists came with a strict fitness condition:
Male candidates must have body fat below 16%. Female candidates must have body fat below 26%.
The reasoning? Temple wants “engineers who are also athletes,” people who push their bodies to the limit to build products for similar high-performance users.
Those who don’t meet the criteria but are deeply passionate can still apply. However, they will be put on probation and expected to meet the fitness goals within three months.
What’s Next For Temple?
With $54 million in fresh capital, Temple is now aggressively hiring talent in areas like deep learning, neuroimaging, and analog systems.
The device isn’t available to the public yet, but a waitlist is expected to open soon.
Deepinder Goyal appears to be shifting gears from delivering food to your doorstep to delivering longevity to your life.
Will Temple become the next must-have wearable like the Oura ring, or will it remain a niche device for the ultra-elite? That remains to be seen.
