Rebalance Startup: Health and Nutrition Company, Upside Health Raises $180K in Pre-seed Funding
Upside Health is a health and nutrition startup re-imagining every indulgence from guilt-ridden Tiramisus and Indian sweets to Dosa. They have created India’s first range of indulgent products through proprietary blends with no sugar spike, and no compromise on taste.
Co-founded in 2022 by Shweta Mohan and Sachin Vyas, seasoned entrepreneurs, and recently joined by Anurag Jain, the Ex Co-founder of MilkBasket — Upside Health is on a mission to transform the way people approach food and nutrition, and help them win their day-to-day struggle with health through the joy of good food.
Shweta Mohan and Sachin Vyas, technology and product entrepreneurs, previously founded AugmentIQ Data Sciences, a company that was later acquired by L&T Infotech (now LTI-Mindtree). Sachin, who led the fastest-growing data practice for LTI globally, also served as the founding CTO for High Mark, India’s first and the world’s largest microfinance credit bureau, acquired by CRIF.
They joined Rebalance Accelerator Cohort 06 in 2023. During the program, Shweta and Sachin met Anurag Jain, the co-founder of the beloved grocery app MilkBasket. Anurag’s passion for health and nutrition resonated deeply with Shweta and Sachin. Beyond investing in Upside Health, he has joined the team as a co-founder, aiming to create a significant impact by helping millions of people overcome their daily issues with personal & family health & nutrition.
Anurag revolutionized daily grocery delivery with features like single-click ordering and pioneered early morning deliveries. He brings invaluable experience in scaling consumer businesses and operations. Under his leadership, MilkBasket secured $38.5 million in funding and was eventually acquired.
Upside Health has recently announced a pre-seed round of $180K with participation from Rebalance Angel Community and a clutch of notable angel investors, founders, and operators.
Some angels who participated: Shashank ND [Founder & CEO at Practo], Kiran Moras [ex-founder Promptec (acquired by Havells)] and successful executives from technology Rishabh Shah [VP at Capgemini] Kunal Jadhav [Senior Director at Capgemini] Vinayak Satpute [Founder at TerraBlu Climate Tech], Gireesh Puthumana [Associate Director at LTI-Mindtree], Yugesh Deshpande [Managing Director Next Pathway India].
“The inspiration for Upside Health came from a personal health transformation journey. In our 40s, Sachin and I found ourselves at our lowest health-wise. Through our journey to get better, we discovered the vast crisis of metabolic health issues such as obesity, diabetes, and thyroid dysfunction, which many people wrongly accept as inevitable consequences of aging. These conditions can be prevented and even reversed with the right lifestyle choices which led us to start Upside Health” said Shweta Mohan, Co-founder Upside Health.
Upside Health has also won two consecutive awards from Channelier FMCG Awards in the innovations in healthy desserts & Mithai category.
“We set out to create alternatives that wouldn’t compromise on taste or sensory pleasure. We identified a significant gap in the market for healthy, indulgent foods that could satisfy cravings without negative health impacts. Through trials, we found that the most vulnerable moments for individuals are when cravings hit. When users give in to these cravings, it often creates a negative feedback loop that can derail their efforts to maintain a healthier lifestyle. Upside Health’s products address these critical moments of weakness by offering delicious, guilt-free alternatives that help break this cycle” added Sachin Vyas, Co-founder Upside Health.
Their top-selling products, such as Don’t Miss Tiramisu, Oh!Fudge, and Kala-of-Kalakand, offer 16–18 grams of natural protein — more than most protein bars — and contain no added sugars.
Upside Health blends differentiate by reducing the empty calories to more than 90% without compromising the recreational & sensory pleasures of good food and making those nutritionally dense with higher protein & high fiber content.
“There is an unhealthy trend of very low protein and fiber intake in India and globally. Upside Health is reimagining the solution to this problem by combining indulgence and pleasure with essential nutrition and I am thrilled to join them on this mission” commented Anurag Jain, Co-founder at Upside Health.
They plan to use these funds to scale the distribution of their top categories which are no-sugar & protein-rich desserts. They have recently launched in Mumbai and plan to rapidly expand to other Indian cities.
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