Posha Revolutionizes Home Cooking with AI-Powered Countertop Robots

In 2017, Raghav Gupta embarked on a mission to solve a personal challenge: accessing the comfort of home-cooked meals without the time-consuming effort of cooking or the expense of takeout and private chefs. This quest led to the founding of Posha, a startup that leverages robotics and computer vision to automate meal preparation through innovative countertop devices.

Posha’s devices function much like a coffee machine but for food. Users browse a curated list of recipes, select their desired meal, and add the specified ingredients into the machine. The robot then takes over, cooking the meal while allowing flexibility such as ingredient substitutions and imperfect measurements. This design makes the cooking process accessible and forgiving, catering to everyday home cooks.

While Posha automates much of the cooking, users still engage in ingredient shopping and preparation, particularly chopping. This hybrid approach appeals primarily to individuals who already cook multiple times a week and seek to reduce their kitchen workload rather than eliminate it entirely. Gupta highlights that Posha users can cut their kitchen time by up to 70%, spending just 10 to 20 minutes daily on meal prep and cleanup.

Originally starting as a robotic arm, Posha evolved through feedback from Bosch’s accelerator program and early customers, shifting to a more compact, easy-to-clean countertop design. The company maintains close, personal communication with its users, fostering a customer-centric development approach that has driven product improvements and user satisfaction.

Posha’s $1,750 direct-to-consumer device has gained traction primarily through word-of-mouth, selling out its initial production batch. The startup recently secured an $8 million Series A funding round led by Accel, with participation from prominent investors including Flipkart co-founder Binny Bansal. This capital infusion will fuel the expansion of recipe options and the integration of generative AI to enable users to suggest new recipes that the device can quickly incorporate.

Looking ahead, Gupta envisions Posha becoming as indispensable as other kitchen staples like microwaves and dishwashers, eventually becoming a built-in feature in modern homes. By combining AI, robotics, and user-focused design, Posha is poised to redefine home cooking convenience and efficiency.