Up’s smart cooking appliance ‘delish’ comes with step-by-step instructions and recipes, how-to videos, and cooking presets that are perfect for Indian home cooking.
Cooking for beginners or amateur cooks isn't always a 'joyful' experience - it involves a lot of work, learning, and even burning to get things right. Bengaluru-based consumer hardware startup Up (legally Up⤴) with its smart appliances is making cooking easy. Co-founded by Mahek Mody and Mohit Sharma, Up believes that connected appliances should exist and they should work like magic. Mahek Mody CEO and co-founder, Up, in an interview with Bizz Buzz, says, "With the delishUp we're building the new-age kitchen assistant. The delishUp comes with step-by-step instructions and recipes, how-to videos, and cooking presets that are perfect for Indian home cooking. The case for home cooking has never been stronger. We had a whole roster of product ideas that we benched, so we could help people stop eating boring food."
We have both stepped out from the very 'hot' electric vehicle and Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) sectors to find the next big thing and home appliances seemed to be an obvious answer. In the last five years the internet has become ubiquitous in people's homes. During and post-pandemic investments for the home, time spent at home and endearment towards their home has dramatically risen. However, home appliances today do not reflect this and are way past due a transformation.
India has become one of the largest markets for home appliances and is on its way to becoming the largest manufacturer of the same in the world. While the Indian buyer is spending $26 billion annually on these purchases, they are spending on products that were designed for the 1970s.
India today is what Korea and Japan were in the 1950's when Samsung, Sony and LG emerged - redefining the landscape globally. With local demand, local manufacturing, local product development, the next consumer appliances brand will emerge from India.
At Up we have a clear vision towards building consumer "upliances" of the future. The digital core of Up's products is already learning the behaviour and preferences of our users to make them more suitable for their needs. Other major players have made incremental innovation for years towards the digital future, at Up we are fundamentally rethinking appliances in 2023 and designing and developing the products ourselves with strong engineering patents and consumer understanding.
Up stands for appliances (appliances that level up). Up is feeling empowered, excited, optimistic and understood. All the things people already feel when they are moving into new homes and investing in appliances. We amplify those emotions with products that match.
At Up we believe connected appliances should exist and they should work like magic. The technology exists today, it's just the devices that need to be designed and built. This is the premise that kickstarted the journey for us. The devices we want to build today will define the homes of tomorrow. We are building for young homes which imagine a new way of life. Young homes which want more, do more and get more done. Kitchen appliances have long been about 'automating' what we are already doing in kitchens, the delishUp, India's first smart cooking assistant, is taking this beyond by actively expanding what you can do in your kitchen and what you want to do. It's 2023, of course, we have automation, but because it is smart, we are blurring the lines between cooking Maggi and cooking Pasta or Dal Makhni.
Why did you decide to enter the smart kitchen industry and what differentiates your brand from other market players?
Cooking Dal-Chawal-Roti-Sabzi at home is boring. We saw Indian households exploring cuisines beyond the local. Consumption of food-related media is at an all-time high. People are seeing new and interesting food as well as variations on food they are already eating every day on social media, movies, and TV shows. Eating the same food seven times a week is boring. On the other hand, having Pani Puri and Momos at home on a weekday is normal.
With traditional kitchen appliances failing to accommodate for this new and evolved lifestyle, we decided to enter the smart kitchen industry. With the delishUp we're building the new-age kitchen assistant. The delishUp comes with step-by-step instructions and recipes, how-to videos, and cooking presets that are perfect for Indian home cooking. The case for home cooking has never been stronger. We had a whole roster of product ideas that we benched, so we could help people 'stop eating boring food.'
The last big thing that happened to food in India is on-demand food delivery - diverse food, bottomless variety, pasta on a Tuesday, all with incredible convenience. However, India's food culture is synonymous with home-cooked meals. In a world of abundance, people are cooking for themselves and their families because they feel it adds value, consistency, health, and nutrition in their day to day. Cooking is a means of expressing care and contribution. This is what on demand food delivery fails to deliver and this is what sets us apart. With the delishUp you can make food you want, at home minus the hard work of cooking.
What is your definition of a smart kitchen and what makes you believe it will meet customer expectations?
A smart kitchen for us is where you have answers to all food related questions and requirements.
The kitchen should cater to your needs right from having answers to 'what do I cook today?' and giving you the ability to cook it without having to worry about getting it wrong. It should be a space that equips you with the right skills to make what you want when you want it, this is what we imagine a smart kitchen to be and is the core philosophy for developing the delishUp. We have developed the delishUp with our users, right from what recipes they want us to build to features that our users think will be useful to them, we will continue to learn and adapt to their life with time.
