Deepinder Goyal's Temple Has Spent $30 Million on Its Brain Wearable — $20 Million From His Own Pocket

Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal says his wearable startup Temple has spent $30 million building its device — $20 million of it from his own pocket. Goyal shared the figures on X on Nov. 5 in a pointed response to Indian doctors who have publicly questioned the science behind the product.

The disclosure puts a number on one of the most closely watched second acts in Indian tech. Goyal stepped down as CEO of Eternal, Zomato's parent company, to focus on Temple full time.

What Temple Is Building

Temple is developing a high-performance wearable aimed at elite athletes. Goyal has described the device as a sensor that sits on the wearer's temple and continuously tracks cerebral blood flow and other physiological signals.

The product is priced at ₹85,000, and pre-orders opened on Nov. 1. Temple offers a 14-day, no-questions-asked return policy, and Goyal says some of the device's most significant features have yet to be made public.

The Funding Behind Temple

Temple's spending is backed by a sizable war chest. In February, the company raised $54 million at a valuation of about $190 million in a friends-and-family round that Goyal led himself, according to TechCrunch. Steadview Capital, Peak XV Partners, InfoEdge Ventures and Dharana Capital participated, along with prominent angels including Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma, CRED's Kunal Shah and Zerodha's Nithin and Nikhil Kamath. More than 30 employees also invested at the same valuation.

In his latest post, Goyal said employees had invested in a round a few months ago and that the round Temple is currently raising is "mostly" from customers. He did not disclose an amount or valuation for the new raise.

Why Doctors Are Pushing Back

Temple has drawn criticism from parts of India's medical community. On Nov. 4, hepatologist Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips — widely known online as "The Liver Doc" — posted a detailed presentation questioning Temple's scientific claims and clinical usefulness, and compared the company to Theranos.

Goyal responded with a post addressed to "Concerned Indian Doctors," rejecting the suggestion that Temple is a scam and saying the company stands by its science. He noted that selling a few thousand units would recover only a small fraction of what has been spent, and said he is not motivated by money.

Temple has said its device outperformed several leading wearables, including the Apple Watch Series 12, in heart-rate accuracy testing. That study was funded and conducted by Temple and has not been peer reviewed. Goyal said pre-prints are coming, peer-reviewed publications will follow, and independent studies are expected once the device is in users' hands.

Why It Matters

Consumer health wearables live and die on trust. As Temple moves from pre-orders to shipping, independent validation of its claims will matter as much as Goyal's capital and star power. His willingness to put $20 million of his own money behind the device signals conviction — but the medical community will be watching the data, not the dollars.

Source

Business Today — "'Spent $30 million, including $20 million of my own': Deepinder Goyal responds to doctors questioning Temple"