Nothing Zimplistic about turning losses into profits – The Executive Brief

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Hello reader,

I’m writing this as a newly married man, with a neat little ring around my finger. My partner and I had been together for over five years before we tied the knot, so the emotional magnitude of this development didn’t really register until the day before the solemnization. Suffice it to say, it’s one of the biggest milestones in my life.

You know what else is a milestone? Going from a loss-making business – especially coming from a sort of high-profile failure – to one that’s making a profit. Today’s premium article examines the journey of Rotimatic creator Zimplistic.

Today we look at:

• How Zimplistic went from being in the red to the black
• The series A fundraise of Binny Bansal’s startup scaling platform
• Other newsy highlights such as a couple of big funding rounds for firms based in India and the Philippines

Premium summary

Making bread from bread

Image credit: Timmy Loen

The best sports narratives involve coming back from adversity. Manchester United’s 1999 Champions League victory, where they scored twice in the final minutes to win it all, or Dirk Nowitzki bouncing back from losing the 2006 NBA Finals to become a champion in 2011 will live long in the memory of fans all over the world.

A comeback story is no less appealing in the tech and startup world. After suffering large losses and burning its cash reserves in 2019, Singapore-based startup Zimplistic – creators of fully automated flatbread maker Rotimatic – is back in the black, becoming profitable for the first time in 2021.

• Too fast, too furious: The rush to do a full rollout of the Rotimatic product, which drove up supply chain costs, may have been the main cause of the company’s initial troubles, said co-founder Pranoti Nagarkar Israni.

• From the ashes: In October 2020, investment vehicle Light Ray Holdings acquired Zimplistic after the firm’s previous investors rushed for the exit door. The turmoil drove the company’s co-founders to create a plan for financial sustainability in 2021.

• Cutting costs: Zimplistic drove down its spending by reducing its staff count by over half as well as leveraging Light Ray Holdings’ contracts and relationships to optimize raw material costs.

Read more: Zimplistic flips to a profit in 2021 after troubles

X gon give it to ya