After Zomato, Deepinder Goyal returns with a $54 million brain monitoring bet

Weeks later Step down from the position of CEO From food delivery service Zomato and its parent company Eternal, Indian entrepreneur Deepinder Goyal is back raising $54 million for his wearables startup templeIt is part of what the 43-year-old previously described as a shift towards “high-risk exploration and experimentation”.

Friday, Joyal He said In a post on X, Temple raised money in a friends and family round from founding friends and early backers of Zomato, at a post-money valuation of about $190 million. He said more than 30 employees participated in the same evaluation.

Goyal stepped down from his position as CEO of Zomato and its parent company Eternal last January. Hand over the role to Albinder Dhindsa, who leads the Blinkit Express Trade unit. The move represents a major shift for Goyal after nearly two decades at the helm of the food delivery company he co-founded in 2008.

Temple is one of the clearest expressions yet of this shift. The startup is focused on building a high-performance wearable for elite athletes, an area Goyal described as ripe for deeper technological innovation.

During a conversation in January with podcast host Raj Chamani, Goyal described Temple’s wearable sensor is designed to sit on the wearer’s temple and continuously track cerebral blood flow.

In a separate post on X earlier Friday, Temple said Aims to build What he called “the ultimate wearable for elite athletes,” claiming that the device would measure metrics that current wearables cannot. He also outlined an expanded hiring push that includes embedded systems, computational neuroscience, and brain-computer interface engineering.

The startup is entering the crowded, well-financed wearables market, where companies like Whoop, Oura and Garmin have spent years improving devices that track sleep, recovery and athletic performance. Whether Temple can meaningfully differentiate its technology remains an open question.

The push into Temple is part of a broader shift in Goyal’s investment focus. In October 2025, he said he did so Pledged $25 million From his own capital to another new project, Continuation Research, which explores ways to extend human lifespan. He is also a co-founder of aerospace startup LAT Aerospace, which recently expanded into defense technology with the early-stage acquisition of Sharang Shakti.

Goyal built his reputation at Zomato, which he co-founded with Pankaj Chaddah and spent nearly two decades building one of India’s largest food delivery platforms before stepping down as CEO earlier this year.

Chaddah exited the company in 2018, as Zomato continued to strengthen its position through acquisitions, including Buy Uber Eats business in India In 2020 and Grocery delivery platform Blinkit – then known as Grofers – for $568 million in 2022.

Prior to Temple, Goyal also backed startups in the health and fitness space, including… Superhumanan India-based wearables maker that competes with the Oura smart ring, underscoring its increasing focus on performance and health technology.

Goyal declined to comment further on Temple.