Aina raises $5.5M to build devices that control AI agents, not just record you
What's the deal? AinaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a Bengaluru- and San Francisco-based hardware startup, has raised $5.5 million in an early-stage round to build devices that control and trigger AI agents. The round was co-led by Redstart LabsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (backed by Info EdgeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →) and 360 ONE, with participation from MIXI Global InvestmentsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, AntlerDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Blume Founders FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
The round also drew individual investors, including CRED founder Kunal ShahDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Razorpay co-founders Harshil MathurDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and Shashank KumarDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Scribd founder Tikhon BernstamDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
Who's behind it? Aina — "mirror" in Hindi — was founded by Apoorv Shankar, a former VP of hardware at smart ring maker Ultrahuman. Shankar previously ran LazyCo, a hardware interface startup that Ultrahuman acquired, bringing him in-house before he left to build his own company. Incorporated in May 2025, Aina previously operated in stealth as a Human-Computer Interaction lab under the name Project Mirage.
Why now? "I left Ultrahuman last year because I was just super curious about the space of AI interfaces," Shankar told TechCrunch. He cited his own disappointments with early devices like the Rabbit R1 and Humane Pin as motivation.
The product: Aina's first device is Dune, a three-key, context-aware "macro" keyboard that runs shortcuts based on the app in use and can control the mic and camera in meetings. It emerged as the most popular of three prototypes the company tested, alongside a video-call remote (Radiance) and a single-tap "agentic" button (Shift).
What's the endgame? Aina plans to feed lessons from all three devices into a next product, which it will begin testing with a small group of users in the coming weeks. Shankar said it won't be a passive recorder but an "action-oriented device that will use the context to help you control and trigger workflows."
The signal: As developers and knowledge workers adopt AI coding tools like Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex, hardware is shifting from passive context capture toward active control. Aina is betting the winning device won't be the one that listens best, but the one that acts.
Read more: TechCrunch
