Deepinder Goyal, founder and CEO of Zomato, has raised $54 million for his new venture Temple at a post-money valuation of approximately $190 million, marking the startup’s first external funding round as it positions itself in the high-performance wearable technology space.

Announcing the development, Goyal wrote: “Temple has raised its first round. Friends and family. $54m. Post-money valuation of ~$190m. Every investor in this round is a founder friend or early-stage Zomato investor who wanted in, whether or not Temple ever makes it to market.” He added that what stood out for him was internal participation: “More than 30 Temple employees participated in the round, at par valuation. No discount. Their own money. That’s the kind of belief you can’t buy.”

The round, backed entirely by founder peers and early supporters from his Zomato journey, signals reliance on conviction capital rather than traditional institutional venture funding at this stage. At a $190 million valuation prior to commercial launch, Temple enters the market as one of the more highly valued early-stage hardware-led startups in India.

Betting on deep tech and elite performance

Temple is being built as a precision wearable platform for elite performance athletes, with a focus on capabilities beyond mainstream fitness tracking.

In an earlier recruitment post, Goyal described the ambition as building a device that measures parameters “no other wearable in the world measures,” calling for talent across embedded systems, sensor fusion, deep learning, computational neuroscience and brain-computer interface technologies.

The technology stack outlined suggests a convergence of advanced electronics, multimodal sensors, AI-led physiological modelling and neurotechnology — domains that typically entail long R&D cycles and significant upfront capital commitments.

Employee alignment as strategic signal

Employee participation at full valuation — particularly in a capital-intensive, pre-revenue hardware venture — is uncommon. More than 30 team members investing personal capital without preferential pricing points to strong internal alignment around the product thesis and long-term commercial potential.

Online responses echoed that view. Kumar Aman, reacting to the announcement, described the move as “pure skin in the game” and a “massive signal of alignment,” especially given the execution risks associated with hardware-plus-neuro innovation.

With fresh capital secured and hiring underway, Temple now moves into a critical execution phase.