Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal on Friday announced that his new health tech venture, Temple, has secured $54 million in its first funding round from friends and family, and valued at approximately $190 million.
“Temple has raised its first round. Friends and family. $54m. Post-money valuation of ~$190m,” said Goyal on X.
Temple, which is developing a wearable device aimed at elite performance athletes, made headlines earlier in the day when Goyal posted a recruitment ad seeking “athletes who are also engineers and scientists.” The ad specified that male candidates should have less than 16 per cent body fat and female candidates less than 26 per cent, drawing amusement and attention online.
In his statement, Goyal highlighted the support from close associates and early-stage Zomato investors. “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 wrote.
“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,” he added.
Temple is actively hiring across a range of roles, from Analog Systems Engineers to Computational Neuroscientists. Goyal stressed that the startup is building “the ultimate wearable for elite performance athletes” and is seeking employees who are themselves committed to peak fitness. Applicants not meeting the body fat requirements can still apply if they commit to achieving the target within three months, though they would be on probation until then.
Meanwhile Goyal, who resigned last month as Managing Director and Group CEO of Eternal, the parent company of Zomato and Blinkit, to pursue higher-risk experimental ventures, continues with the firm as Vice Chairman.
