Optimist, a technology-led cooling startup, has raised $12 million in a seed and pre-Series A round led by Accel and Arkam Ventures, with participation from angel investors.
Founded in 2024 by Ashish Goel, former chief executive and co-founder of
Urban Ladder, and Pranav Chopra, the company is developing air-conditioning systems designed for India’s climate, engineered to operate reliably in extreme heat and amid power constraints.
“India has a population of over 1.4 billion people, but less than 130 million have access to real cooling today. That gap is the real problem we are trying to solve,” said Ashish Goel, co-founder and chief executive, Optimist. “Cooling in India cannot be addressed with products designed for other markets and adapted here. It needs solutions that are designed in India, for India, built for our heat, our homes, our power conditions and our realities.”
Over the past year, Optimist has focused on R&D, testing new cooling technologies in real-world conditions at Nalanda, its in-house innovation lab in Gurugram.
With in-house R&D and manufacturing, the company has shortened development cycles and built products that reduce electricity use and ease pressure on power grids, in line with the government’s Make in India push.
Prashanth Prakash, partner at Accel, said as cooling demand rises alongside climate pressures, efficient and reliable air conditioning will become critical infrastructure. “Optimist is an example of a deep tech consumer startup which is a combination of in-house engineering and manufacturing, along with its focus on real operating conditions, positions it well to build a scalable and differentiated cooling platform for India,” said Prakash.
The company plans to sell its products through a mix of direct-to-consumer channels and exclusive Optimist brand stores, initially targeting residential and small commercial customers. Optimist air conditioners will be available next month in Delhi NCR, Rajasthan, Telangana and Bengaluru, followed by expansion in other cities.
Bala Srinivasa, managing director at Arkam Ventures, said air conditioner penetration in India is less than 10 per cent. “The Optimist team is reimagining how cost-effective and efficient cooling can address heat stress impacting hundreds of millions of Indians,” said Srinivasa. “Our conviction is based on this team’s ability to solve hard engineering problems, while obsessing over customer delight, product design and on-the-ground execution needed to build a category-defining consumer durables company for India.”
 "Optimist raises $12 million to build air conditioners for India's climate")
