Ex-Ultrahuman Executive’s AI Hardware Startup Aina Raises $5.5 Million in Seed Funding

Consumer hardware startup Aina, founded by former Ultrahuman Vice President of Hardware Apoorv Shankar, has raised $5.5 million in a seed funding round to build a new generation of AI-native hardware interfaces aimed at redefining how users interact with computers and smartphones.

The funding round was led by Redstart Labs (Info Edge India) and 360 ONE Asset, with participation from MIXI Global Investments, Antler, Blume Founders Fund, and several angel investors, including Kunal Shah, Harshil Mathur, Shashank Kumar, Vaibhav Domkundwar, Avnish Anand, Aditya Singh, KRS Jamwal, and others.

The Bengaluru-based startup will use the fresh capital to bring its flagship AI interface to market and expand its engineering and product teams across Bengaluru and San Francisco.

Founded in May 2025, Aina initially operated in stealth as Project Mirage, a Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) lab focused on reimagining the way people interact with AI-powered devices. Earlier this year, the company launched Dune, a context-aware three-key keypad for Mac that dynamically adapts its functions based on the application currently in use.

Aina believes that while artificial intelligence has dramatically improved software capabilities, hardware interfaces such as keyboards and touchscreens have remained largely unchanged, creating friction in everyday digital interactions.

“Phones and computers today are still primarily designed for browsing. As AI assistants become more context-aware and capable of acting on our behalf, the missing piece is a simple interface that captures human intent effortlessly,” said Apoorv Shankar, Founder and CEO of Aina. “We’re building a general-purpose interface designed for the AI era, where interacting with technology becomes faster, more intuitive and almost invisible.”

The company showcased three experimental AI hardware interfaces at CES 2026, demonstrating new ways to simplify tasks such as joining meetings, booking cabs and ordering food through context-aware interactions.

Commenting on the investment, Vibhore Sharma of Redstart Labs said Aina is building a new category of hardware designed for a future where AI understands context rather than simply executing commands.

Abhishek Nag, Head of Venture Capital at 360 ONE Asset, said every major shift in computing has required a new hardware interface, adding that the rise of AI agents presents an opportunity to rethink how humans interact with technology.

Aina’s vision is to create a general-purpose interface that reduces the number of steps required to complete everyday tasks by combining AI with context-aware hardware. The company is currently accepting registrations for the waitlist of its upcoming flagship product, Pilot, through its website.

The startup’s latest fundraise marks one of the early investments in India’s emerging AI hardware ecosystem as founders look beyond software to build the next generation of human-computer interfaces.