Deepinder Goyal has pushed back against criticism of Temple, his ₹85,000 brain-monitoring wearable, after questions were raised over its claims of measuring blood flow to the brain. Responding to questions raised by doctors, the Zomato founder said the company was confident in its research and denied that the product was a scam.
The controversy gained attention after hepatologist Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, widely known online as The Liver Doc, criticised the device and described it as "the biggest health scam and wellness fraud in India". He questioned whether Temple could accurately measure blood flow to the brain.
In a post on X addressed to Indian doctors, Goyal said the company had invested $30 million in developing Temple, including $20 million from his personal funds. He argued that the company's 14-day, no-questions-asked return policy allowed customers to return the product if it failed to meet their expectations.
"Selling a few thousand devices recovers a small fraction of this investment. A scam that pays nothing is not a scam anyone would run," he wrote.
Goyal also said his decision to step down as CEO of Eternal, the parent company of Zomato and Blinkit, was driven by his interest in developing Temple rather than financial gains. He added that he was not willing to risk a reputation built over two decades for a quick profit.
He further claimed that employees had invested in an earlier funding round, while the latest round was largely backed by customers. According to Goyal, "Scams don't build that cap table."
What did Deepinder Goyal say about Temple's scientific claims?
Addressing questions about the research behind Temple, Goyal said wearable technology companies have often introduced products before publishing validation studies. He cited Whoop as an example, saying the company launched its fitness band in 2015 and published its first validation study a few years later. Goyal said Temple was following a process that included preprints, which are research papers shared before peer review.
"At some point you have to stick your neck out and say: we believe in our science, and the product is now valuable enough for people to pay for and use. We believe we are there. More validation continues in public. We are confident that we are building something that the world is going to be positively astonished with. We stand by our science and our methods," he added.
Goyal also hinted that some of Temple's features had not yet been made public, adding that some of them were not related to doctors.
Why is Temple facing criticism?
Temple is a wearable device developed to track changes in blood flow to the brain and help users understand how their bodies respond to stress.
The pill-shaped device is designed to be worn near the temple, on the side of the head. According to the product's description, it measures two key metrics: brain blood flow and entropy. Its website describes entropy as an indicator of how hard the body is working to release heat.
However, critics have raised doubts about the technology behind the device and whether it can provide reliable insights into brain health. Concerns have also been raised about the lack of published clinical outcome studies demonstrating its benefits.
What did The Liver Doc say about Temple?
Dr Cyriac Abby Philips has been among the prominent critics of the wearable. In a post on X, he questioned its ability to measure blood flow to the brain. He also said there was no clinical evidence showing that using Temple could improve health outcomes or help doctors make medical decisions.
Responding to Goyal's defence on X, Philips reiterated that the central issue was whether the device could perform the function it claimed to offer. He questioned the scientific evidence supporting its brain-monitoring claims and argued that future research would not address concerns about what the product could currently measure.
“This man has provided no real evidence or proof that his device can measure and interpret brain flow from a superficial artery (superficial temporal artery - which is an extracranial artery - meaning a blood vessel placed entirely outside the skull, supplying blood to the side of the face, temple, and scalp regions),” he wrote.
The doctor further questioned Goyal's comparison of Temple to a fitness tracker, arguing that the device was being marketed with claims related to brain monitoring.
Apart from Dr Cyriac Abby Philips, other medical professionals have also raised questions about Temple's scientific claims. Speaking to India Today, Hyderabad-based senior neurologist Dr Sudhir Kumar described the concept behind the wearable as interesting but said the information made public so far was not enough to establish its claims.
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