AI-powered product development startup Demoverse has raised $600,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by venture capital firm Lumikai, as it looks to expand its platform that allows consumers to participate in designing products before they enter production.
Lumikai invested $500,000 through Pixels, its pre-seed investment programme. The round also saw participation from UAE-based investor Marlan and a group of angel investors.
Demoverse plans to use the funding to convert its early brand partnerships into paid campaigns, expand its presence in the US market and grow its community of consumer creators.
Founded by Akshay Mehta, the platform allows consumer brands to involve customers directly in product development. Brands upload product concepts and specify which design elements can be modified. Consumers then use AI tools to refine or redesign the products, with the wider community voting on the preferred designs.
The company said consumers whose contributions are incorporated into the selected designs can earn royalties when the products are commercialised.
Demoverse describes this approach as a shift from user-generated content to user-generated products, where consumers participate in creating products rather than simply producing content about them.
The startup is initially focusing on fashion and plans to expand into beauty, consumer packaged goods and other categories. It has conducted early trials with Indian consumer brands and intends to turn these partnerships into commercial campaigns.
“Two decades of social media have trained people to form and express opinions on everything they see. Two years of AI have given the masses the ability to express what they want in a visual format,” Mehta said.
Before founding Demoverse, Mehta worked across investment, consulting and operating roles at Bain, Z47, Asia Alternatives and the UAE’s Royal Group. He was also involved in developing a commercial-scale satellite manufacturing facility in the UAE.
Salone Sehgal, Founder and Managing Partner, Lumikai, said the investment shows the firm’s interest in platforms that allow consumers to participate directly in product development.
“Instead of asking consumers what they might buy through a survey or trend report, it gives them the tools to actually shape the product before it gets made,” Sehgal said.
Demoverse is also part of NVIDIA’s Inception programme for technology startups.
