Startup Spotlight #160: YHANGRY

YHANGRY is the first affordable chef platform, bringing casual, restaurant-like dining to its customers and their friends.

Sep 28, 2021

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I got the chance to speak with Siddhi Mittal and Heinin Zhang, co-founders of YHANGRY, about what they are working on at their startup and any advice they have for emerging entrepreneurs.

With Yhangry, Mittal and her co-founder Heinin Zhang graduated from the Google for Startups Residency program in February 2020, and have had to revolutionize and adapt Yhangry’s whole revenue model to a world struck by COVID.

She spent almost six years on a trading floor at Barclays, before deciding to pursue her own entrepreneurial venture. During her career as a trader, she specialized in Asset-Backed Securities and Financial Credit bonds and was responsible for managing a portfolio of over 500m in assets. Mittal negotiated large trades, created data analytical tools, and made key risk management decisions. She worked in a high-pressure environment while maintaining a key focus on delivering results. Siddhi was promoted to Vice President two years early and was one of two individuals ranked as outstanding in the entire trading division.

Mittal has a Bachelors's degree in Computer Science from Columbia University in NYC and is also CFA charterholder. Born and raised in India, studied in New York, and currently working in London, she has been exposed to a variety of different cultures. She is a professional Bollywood dancer, an avid book reader, a coffee addict and is constantly buzzing with energy.

Prior to co-founding YHANGRY, Zhang started her career on the Goldman Sachs trading floor, covering Hedge Funds for Fixed Income products. She then moved to pursue an opportunity at Barclays to become the youngest person to cover some of the biggest institutional asset managers with more than a trillion in global AUM.

Zhang has a Bachelors's Degree in Philosophy and Economics from the London School of Economics. She is German Chinese, was born in Germany, and lived there for 10 years before moving to Beijing with her family. In her free time, she loves horse riding, playing tennis, and board games.

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Startup Spotlight: YHANGRY

YHANGRY cofounders Heinin Zhang (left) and Siddhi Mittal (right).

Problem: Millennials don't have the time and/or skill to cook, and the rise of takeaway and death of dinner parties proves this. When was the last time you had friends over in your home for an amazing meal?

Market: Currently, over 70% of our customers had never tried a private chef before — we are creating a new category. The global restaurant industry is over £1 trillion; even if 5% of the people choose to dine-in a few times instead of going out, that gives us a £50bn market.

Solution: You can now book a dinner party in a few clicks, from just £17pp for tomorrow! We use technology to take on the logistics from groceries to menu curation. This reduces admin for chefs by over 4 hours and allows more chefs to become private chefs.

Team: Mittal & Zhang met on the trading floor and launched YHANGRY. Siddhi comes from the world of tech and Heinin from food - together as outsiders with a fresh pair of eyes to disrupt the space, and within 1 year, the team has grown to 15 people.

Recent Success:

Mittal & Zhang: We have been really successful at growing YHANGRY quickly, especially through organic channels. We also aired on Dragons Den this year which helped. Over 40% of our customers come through word of mouth. In over just 1 year, we have served over 12k people!

Recent Struggle:

Mittal & Zhang: We, as first-time founders, have struggled with the so-called 'work-life' balance. A startup is so rewarding, demanding, and all-consuming. Ourentire lives revolve around this. Allowing time to actively switch off, carve out times for partners, not zoning out into a world of our own thoughts feels like a huge challenge.

Founder Advice:

Mittal & Zhang: Find a partner in crime that complements your skills, understands you, and is there through the thick and thin. This is going to be an insane rollercoaster and having a co-founder that you can completely trust will make the journey extremely rewarding and bearable. There are too many long days/nights and tough challenges to overcome, so go find your partner in crime (look at people around you to start).

Two Cool Founders You Should Know About:

Mittal & Zhang: Here are two founders you should check out next!

Anthony Beilin, Founder of Collective Benefits: Collective Benefits exist to expand the safety net for independent workers, so they feel secure and valued.
Adnan Ebrahim, Founder of MindLabs: The world's first live mental health platform.

Who should I profile next? Leave your suggestion in the comments:

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