DUSQ, a sleep-focused wearables startup formerly known as InnerGize, has raised ₹24 crore (approximately $2.6 million) in a seed funding round. The investment was led by Fireside Ventures, with participation from Antler India, Climber Capital, Startup Sherpas, Vaishav Investments, Avnish Anand, cofounder of CaratLane, and Shivam Puri, CEO of Cipla Health.
Headquartered in Delhi NCR, the startup is developing proprietary wearable technology aimed at regulating sleep rather than merely tracking it. The fresh capital will be deployed to expand its neuroscience and hardware teams, build intellectual property, strengthen its fully equipped in-house sleep laboratory, and prepare for its planned entry into the US market. The company stated that the funding will accelerate the scaling of its sleep regulation platform as it moves toward international expansion.
DUSQ was initially launched as InnerGize, with a primary focus on tackling mental health challenges by addressing stress. In April last year, InnerGize raised ₹6.5 crore in a pre-seed round. The company introduced stick-on wearable devices designed to deliver instant stress relief through vagus nerve stimulation, a key communication pathway between the brain and various organs that regulates functions such as digestion, heart rate, and mood.
Following that fundraise, the founders paused commercial expansion to concentrate on research and development. During this period, they identified sleep as the underlying factor contributing to much of the stress they sought to address. This realization led to a strategic pivot and rebranding as DUSQ, shifting the focus toward sleep regulation. Cofounder Shalmali Kadu told Inc42 that the move was aimed at addressing a significant gap in sleep optimisation, noting that most existing products concentrate on monitoring sleep patterns without offering mechanisms to improve them.
The startup said it collected millions of psychological data points during its time as InnerGize, which helped shape its regulation model. Over two years of research, DUSQ analyzed more than 50 million physiological data points to develop a framework linking autonomic nervous system signaling and neural downshifting to fragmented sleep recovery. According to the company, this research underpins its approach to facilitating sustained recovery cycles and stabilizing uninterrupted sleep patterns.
“We believe the next frontier of healthtech is not more data – it’s restored biological function. We’re not building another tracker; we’re building infrastructure for human recovery. This funding allows us to take an India-built deep-science product into global markets with confidence,” DUSQ cofounder Siddhant Bhargava said.
Founded in 2023 by Siddhant Bhargava, Shalmali Kadu, and Mitansh Khurana, DUSQ positions itself as a sleep science and recovery company integrating neuroscience with hardware design. Similar to its earlier iteration, the company’s adhesive wearable devices are applied behind the ear to stimulate the vagus nerve and help reduce stress before sleep. In addition, the product incorporates smart sensors that collect data points to optimise sleep and monitor recovery.
By positioning itself as a regulation-first platform in a market dominated by sleep scoring dashboards, DUSQ aims to define a new category in sleep technology—one centered on actively restoring biological function rather than passively observing rest.
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