Hangry on road to quell hunger demons

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Hello reader,

How many times have you thrown a fit or reacted irritably to stuff that you would normally let slide because you’re hungry? It’s likely more than we all would like to admit.

In 2018, the Oxford English dictionary officially coined the word for the build-up in frustration in these situations: hangry. Frankly, there are not enough fingers on my hands for the number of times I’ve been “hangry.”

In today’s featured piece, we spotlight an Indonesia-based startup that is looking to quell your hunger demons and is ironically called Hangry. The cloud kitchen operator just produced an impressive 2021 financial statement, which includes an over 3x rise in revenue. Read on to dig into the numbers!

Today we look at:

• Hangry’s 2021 financial results
• Grab and StraitsX testing “purpose-bound money”
• Other newsy highlights such as Tony Fernandes stepping down as AirAsia X group CEO and Indonesia Stock Exchange establishing a carbon-exchange systems.

— Shravanth

P.S.: If you’re an entrepreneur looking for funding, fill out this form to get your company featured on our list of fundraising startups.

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Hungry for more

Image credit: Timmy Loen

In last year’s Tech in Asia conference, Hangry’s Abraham Viktor suggested cloud kitchen operators in Southeast Asia will likely see strong growth. The CEO seems to be right on the money as his startup more than tripled its revenue in 2021 to US$12.2 million.

It is worth noting that the firm remains in the red, however, it has only finished its second year of operations. Hangry also saw significant improvement in operating margins last year – a sign of a cost-efficient business taking shape.

• Rising costs: Almost all of Hangry’s expenses more than doubled in 2021 from the previous year, including its lead generator fee, which is the cost incurred for digital advertising. The revenue-sharing fee that the firm gave to outlet partners widened by 11x last year.
• Funding boost: The company’s cash and cash equivalents surged by nearly 4x to US$9.1 million at the end of 2021 despite a 57% uptick in spending for operating activities. This was because the firm secured US$13 million in the first tranche of its series A round in May last year. Earlier this year, the second tranche was closed with a further US$22 million in the bag.
• All eggs in one basket?: Similar to other culinary startups, almost all of Hangry’s revenue comes from the sale of food that it produces. The company currently operates several brands such as Moon Chicken, San Gyu, and Ayam Koplo, which can be ordered through Hangry’s own app or other food delivery services.

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