This Mumbai-based Food Tech Company is Making It Easy to Be Fit

Ripsey is a full-stack solution for those who are looking to eat healthy. Ripsey helps to achieve health goals.The team of nutritionists at Ripsey plan the meals and tailor them to individual consumers depending on their work-out intensity, the team of chefs cook the planned meals and the delivery team brings the food to the consumer’s doorstep. Ripsey also engages with the client to understand their progress and keeps track of their health goal. Ripsey was formed in 2018 by Silky Singh.

Silky Singh is the founder, CEO, and Chief Technology Officer of Ripsey. She has an undergraduate degree in computer science from Manipal University. After graduating from Manipal she worked in technology and consulting with Schneider and Accenture respectively. Before starting Ripsey, she had a venture in the food services space. Her earlier venture taught her much about the food services and food-tech industries and paved the way for her to form Ripsey.

We are publishing an interview with Ms. Silky Singh:

Q.: What is the problem you are trying to solve?
Ans: Urban Indians are facing a health crisis. They do sedentary jobs and regularly order outside food that has poor nutritional content. This presents health risks. Concerned people meet nutritionists who develop a diet plan for them. Such plans are well made but impractical. Searching for the ingredients listed and preparing meals as stipulated is an onerous task. The overwhelming majority who adopt such diets abandon them in a few short weeks. Ripsey helps people eat balanced and nutritious meals every day as long as they want. By preparing nutritious meals aligned with their health goals, Ripsey helps people adopt nutritious diets. This improves their health and well- being.

Q.: Can you share with us any insights that led you to believe that this is a big enough problem?
Ans: We spoke to many people in urban Mumbai who told us despite having a meticulous diet plan they could not adhere to it. This was because finding the right ingredients and preparing meals was very difficult and time-consuming. Those with maids told us they lacked the skill to prepare nutritious meals. There are millions of people overweight in India. They regularly adopt diets but very few remain on them. The most important reason cited was the difficulty of preparing nutritious meals daily.

Q.: Tell us about the Product / Solution. Explain how you went about the Product-Market Fit Process.
Ans: Ripsey prepares delicious and nutritious meals that help people meet their health goals. The nutritional content of each Ripsey meal is visible on its packaging. Nutritional requirements vary from person to person. We craft meal plans that account for such variation. This is why we can create meal plans suited for anyone. Whether one’s goal is to lose weight, gain muscle, or stay lean, we have meal plans that can help. We use data and technology to provide a seamless experience. Data also helps track people’s nutritional intake and make adjustments when needed.

Q.: What is your USP?
Ans: Our USP is we are data driven. Nutritious and tasty meals prepared by us help people meet their fitness goals while data helps track individual progress. Data helps monitor an individual’s health and creates customised meal plans. When an individual’s goals change, we use data to create a new meal plan. We prepare meals away from homes but are identical to a home kitchen. Our customers have no difficulty adhering to meal plans. They eat well and reach their health goals. We guarantee not to repeat a meal for 30 days. So Ripsey’s customers enjoy a wide variety of meals.

Q.: What were your assumptions when you entered the market, learning that you have? Who in your mind is your ideal customer? Do you have at least one of them signed up?
Ans: We had no assumptions before entering the market. We understood people had difficulty eating nutritious food. Home-cooked food is hygienic but lacks nutritional content. We knew this before we entered the market and our products address this. Our ideal customer is not necessarily a fitness buff, though many are. Our meals are nutritious and tasty. Our customers enjoy eating them daily. So, our ideal customer is concerned about his/her health and wants to enjoy a balanced and delicious diet. He/she likely enjoys cuisine from across the globe.

Q.: What has been your biggest failure as an entrepreneur and what did you learn from it?
Ans: Fortunately, I haven’t failed as an entrepreneur. Though I closed an earlier venture it was a success. Five years since its close, its technology backbone remains 5 years ahead. My learning was that the technology sector is unique as it doesn’t suffer from graft.

Q.: How are you pricing the Product? What is the logic behind it? What is the model you are following – Free / Freemium / Premium etc.? Explain your thought process.
Ans: We have a subscription-based model. Customers subscribe to pre-existing meal plans. We deliver meals ourselves and using leading food delivery platforms. We deliver lunch to offices. This is part of our revenue model and an attempt to generate brand awareness. Customers pay for Ripsey’s meals and benefit from its data-driven insights. The price of our meal plans varies. Monthly plans cost more than weekly ones. The price of breakfast, lunch, and dinner also varies. There are price differences between vegetarian, non-vegetarian, and egg-vegetarian meals. The cost of snacks also varies. The pricing reflects the input costs of meals.

Q.: Please tell us about the investors (if any)
Ans: We have an angel investor. He has invested INR 1 crore in Ripsey. That’s all I’m at liberty to say.

Q.: What is the big picture of your startup? Is this Product/service leading to something bigger? If so, how?
Ans: Yes, it is. We aspire to be a $1 billion unicorn. Our hands are on the fitness and culinary pulse of Indian consumers. At our growth trajectory, we expect to be valued at $1 billion in 3 years.

Q.: What is the insight that you have about this market, which no one else has? Uniqueness about your Startup.
Ans: Not telling people what to eat was a crucial insight. People never adhere to nutrition plans because it’s difficult. We provide people well prepared, nutritious, and tasty meals. Thus, we eliminate the biggest hurdle of health-conscious consumers i.e. the difficulty of preparing nutritious meals daily. This makes Ripsey unique in the food tech and fitness verticals.

Q.: List all the names of the core Team Members, along with their Designated Roles
Ans: Sure. We are:

• Silky Singh, CEO & CTO, Ripsey
• Alekhya Boora, CFO & Head, Corporate Strategy at Ripsey

Q.: Who do You Perceive as Your Competition? How do you differentiate yourself with them?
Ans: We are in a vertical with no competitors. The closest competitor we have is Fitbit, but it lacks our culinary expertise and data-driven strengths. We differentiate ourselves using big data. It’s our secret sauce generating insights that help us serve customers better than anyone else.

Q.: What would be your goal to accomplish in the next six months?
Ans: We will expand across Mumbai and multiple Indian cities. We also expect to add cuisine from different parts of the world.

Q.: What message do you want to convey to fellow entrepreneurs?
Ans: The only way to be successful is through hard work. No entrepreneur became successful without working hard. When challenges arise, one shouldn’t lose hope. They are a part of an entrepreneur’s journey. Resolve in the face of challenges produces success.

———————–
Thanks Silky. Best wishes!