Indian Sleep-Science Startup DUSQ (formerly InnerGize) Raises 24 Cr to Challenge Global Sleep-Tech Leaders

Led by Fireside Ventures, the seed funding will support DUSQ’s mission to move sleep technology from tracking data to regulating recovery, starting with a global launch.

NEW DELHI, Feb. 16, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — DUSQ, a sleep science and recovery company, has raised ₹24 crore in seed funding led by Fireside Ventures, with participation from Antler India, Climber Capital, Startup Sherpas, Vaishav Investments, Avnish Anand (Founder, CaratLane) and Shivam Puri (CEO, Cipla Health).

The capital will be used to scale what the company calls the world’s first sleep regulation platform – expanding its neuroscience and hardware teams, deepening IP development, strengthening its fully equipped in-house sleep laboratory, and preparing for a U.S. launch into the rapidly growing global sleep economy.

In a market dominated by wearables that generate sleep scores and dashboards, DUSQ is positioning itself as a regulation-first company. Its core hypothesis: modern sleep failure is driven by brain–body desynchrony, and true recovery requires biological regulation, not just tracking.

DUSQ’s journey began with InnerGize, a stress-focused wearable that gained national visibility through Shark Tank India. While the early traction confirmed strong consumer demand, it also revealed that stress was often a symptom – and sleep was the root. Over two years of research, the team analyzed more than 50 million physiological data points to formulate a regulation model that connects autonomic signaling and neural downshifting to fragmented recovery.

Rather than scaling prematurely, the company made the uncommon decision to step back and invest in long-horizon research. This phase resulted in a fundamental rebrand to DUSQ: a company built on the principle that sleep is a biological process that needs regulation, not just measurement.

Over the past year, DUSQ has conducted structured trials inside its proprietary sleep laboratory, testing autonomic recovery pathways under controlled conditions. Early results demonstrate the system’s ability to support sustained recovery cycles and stabilize uninterrupted sleep patterns—a shift from merely observing rest to actively facilitating it.

“InnerGize gave us proof of consumer trust, but DUSQ is what happens when you build for the long term,” said Dr. Siddhant Bhargava, co-founder of DUSQ. “We believe the next frontier of health-tech 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.”

Ankur Khaitan, Principal at Fireside Ventures, commented: “Sleep is emerging as one of the most important health frontiers globally. What stood out for us about DUSQ was the team’s willingness to rethink the problem and build with genuine scientific depth and clear differentiation from day one. With a launch-ready product and strong IP foundation, we believe it can define the global sleep solutions category.”

The ₹24 crore seed round also marks a significant moment for Indian med-tech. The global sleep technology market has historically been dominated by U.S. and European players. Institutional backing for a deep-science platform at this stage signals a growing conviction that globally competitive health technology can be built from India. As it prepares for its U.S. launch, DUSQ is shifting the global conversation from sleep optimization to sleep restoration.

About DUSQ

Founded in 2023 by Dr. Siddhant Bhargava, Shalmali Kadu, and Mitansh Khurana, DUSQ is a sleep science and recovery company. Grounded in a regulation-first hypothesis and backed by over 50 million physiological data points, the company combines neuroscience and hardware design to define a new category in sleep technology. DUSQ is headquartered in India and is preparing for its global launch, starting with the United States.

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2903764/DUSQ_Founders.jpg

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