Ultrahuman’s former VP of hardware raises $5.5 million for hardware that controls AI agents, not just your registration

The race to build the next AI interface is crowded with startups. the Sandbar Blood ring pin ai Desktop notebook and pocket credit card size pucks They are all vying to catch what you say and do. bee and friend Take the wearable route, while Meta Ray Ban and And even the facts They bet on smart glasses. Now, a startup based in Bengaluru and San Francisco, always (“Mirror” in Hindi), is trying to make its own mark in this crowded field of human-computer interface devices.

The company announced today that it has raised $5.5 million in a round led by Redstart Labs (Infoedge, India) and 360 ONE, with participation from MIXI Global Investments, Antler, and Blume Founders Fund.

The round also attracted retail investors, including newly appointed WhatsApp head Kunal Shah, Razorpay co-founders Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar, and Scribd founder Tikhon Bernstam.

Aina, formerly known as Project Mirage, was founded by Apoorv Shankar, former vice president of hardware at smart ring maker Ultrahuman. Before that, Shankar ran LazyCo, a startup designing hardware interfaces that make gadgets, including a loop that lets users control other devices like a smartphone. Ultrahuman later takes over LazyCo, bringing Shankar home before eventually setting out on his own again.

“I left Ultrahuman last year because I was very curious about the AI ​​interface space,” Shankar told TechCrunch. “Devices like Rabbit and Humane Pin were released, and I was disappointed by them. However, I was excited that we were seeing interfaces become a thing now. As an engineer turned product designer, this was the most important thing I could ever imagine myself building.”

The startup’s first product is Sand dunesa three-key, context-aware “macro” keyboard — essentially a mini keyboard that launches predefined shortcuts — that can control the microphone and camera in a meeting and trigger shortcuts or scripts based on which app users are viewing.

Aina has developed two other devices: Radiance, a tabletop remote for video calls with a volume dial and buttons for microphone, camera, AI note taker, audio adjustment, and join meeting; And Shift, a one-click “agent” button — press it once, and it will launch an AI agent to perform a repetitive task — which connects to your phone.

But in early tests, Aina found the Dune to be the most popular of the three and realized it could pack the features of the other two into a keyboard. This mention from users is the reason why the company decided to ship Dune first. It wants to learn first-hand what kind of tasks users want to automate.

Aina said the lessons learned from the three devices will feed into its next product. The company has not yet revealed the details of its new device, but it plans to begin testing with a small group of selected users in the coming weeks.

Shankar hinted that the new device won’t be a passive “context capture” tool — like an always-listening ring or a Plaud-style meeting note taker that only records what’s happening around you — but rather a device designed to control and recall agents.

“I think you have enough context, you have it on your phone and your laptop all the time, and we haven’t even started to put that to good use yet. We’re building an action-oriented device that uses context to help you control and operate your workflow,” he said.

As more developers and knowledge workers adopt AI coding tools like Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex, there has been a steady rise in devices specifically designed to control and operate those agents. Just this week, OpenAI released a custom Codex keyboard made with Work Louder. There are also plenty of other options, starting with Keyboard makers to DIY lovers Build their own macro controllers.

There are also reports that OpenAI is developing a smart speaker with a built-in AI assistant, and the Rabbit R1 has positioned itself as another device for summoning AI agents. Meanwhile, Qualcomm says it is testing more than 40 devices to interact with artificial intelligence. With no clear winner yet in terms of form factor – ring, pin, glasses, keyboard or speaker – we expect a wave of new hardware bets and funding rounds, chasing the same question: What does controlling AI actually look like?