This startup turns social media food trends into meals

This article is a part of Startup Spotlight, a series that features young, up-and-coming startups.

Image credit: Flavorist

Discovering food is exciting but often disjointed. People find appealing dishes on social media, recipes on cooking sites, and restaurants on review platforms. To connect this fragmented journey, the founders built Flavorist, a unified food platform.

😟 Problem

The modern food journey requires constant app switching. A 2025 Morning Consult survey revealed that 45% of Gen Z respondents rely on social media for new recipes.

Simultaneously, 42% of surveyed US social media users prefer these platforms over search engines for discovering restaurants, according to Toast. In Southeast Asia, 59% of TikTok users utilize the app to find places to eat. 

Image credit: Flavorist

💡 Solution

Flavorist unites food inspiration, cooking, and dining into a single connected platform, including:

• Users can import and organize recipes from external websites and Instagram Reels.
• Ask Flavorist AI provides personalized food recommendations and dining assistance.
• Users can discover restaurants through community reviews and recommendations.

📊 Market size

Flavorist targets the global food discovery market, starting with Singapore.  Sensor Tower reported nearly 2 billion downloads for food and drink apps globally in 2024.

Asian markets show particularly strong engagement with digital food content. In India, a 2021 Mondelēz International study found that 92% of consumers enjoy food content on social media, compared with 62% globally.

🤝 Team

• Shivapakiam Pooniamoorthi. Co-founder and CEO. She drives business strategy and product direction for the bootstrapped startup.
• Rajesh Stanley. Co-founder and COO. He leads operations, growth, creator partnerships, and fundraising efforts.

🚀 Traction

• The platform has launched and acquired over 1,000 active users.
• The company is exploring a partnership with restaurant reservation platform Eatigo to enhance discovery.

🏆 Competition

Primary competitors include Cookpad for recipes, Beli for restaurant tracking, and platforms like Instagram for visual content.

💰 Financials

🚩 Risks