Zimplistic raises US$30mil in Series C funding round

Zimplistic raises US$30mil in Series C funding

By Digital News Asia April 18, 2018

Aims to be a category creator in the global kitchen appliances market
Rotimatic AI-driven technology with internet connectivity

Zimplistic raises US$30mil in Series C funding

SINGAPORE-based Zimplistic, the company behind the hi-tech, fully-automated flatbread making robot, Rotimatic, signed a US$30 million (RM116.54 million) Series C funding round led by Credence Partners, a Southeast Asian private equity fund and EDBI, an Asian investor firm helping shape the future industries of Singapore in the knowledge and innovation-intensive sectors of Information & Communication Technology, Emerging Technology, Healthcare and select industry clusters.

The investment comes right after Zimplistic announced US$20 million (RM77.69 million) in revenue in its first year of sales, and its expansion into five new markets (UK, Australia, New Zealand, the Middle East and Canada).

After receiving a special mention by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in his 2016 National Day speech, the investment from Credence and EDBI is another strong endorsement of Zimplistic and its flagship product, Rotimatic.

Credence, led by Koh Boon Hwee, specialises in investments in manufacturing, logistics, information-communication technology, mobile devices, services companies, and consumer sectors. The support from Credence and EDBI, is testament to Rotimatic’s potential of being a disruptor in the kitchen segment, redefining how people cook using smart technology. It is a strong endorsement from Singapore’s financial ecosystem and is a great boost to Rotimatic’s journey.

Rotimatic aims to be a category creator in a large and fast-growing market. With the global kitchen appliances market expected to surpass US$250 billion (RM971.17 billion) by 2020, the new investment will be directed towards converting the 25% of the world’s population that eats flatbreads into Rotimatic users.

Flatbreads have to be eaten fresh and making them at home is tedious and requires skill. With people leading busy lifestyles, they have been forced to resort to frozen alternatives, or by replacing flatbreads with other forms of carbs. Rotimatic is the disruptive solution to this unaddressed problem. It combines cutting-edge, AI-driven technology with internet connectivity to create the ultimate smart cooking device that automates the flatbread-making process.

Marking this achievement, Rishi Israni, CEO and co-founder of Zimplistic said, “Raising series C, for such a futuristic kitchen robotic product signals the coming of age of this invention. With support from our existing investors such as Robert Bosch Venture Capital and NSI Ventures and with new partners such as Credence and EDBI, we are poised to take the kitchen industry by storm. To date, we have more than 30,000 customers who have made more than 15 million flatbreads and are using Rotimatic on a daily basis. It has changed their lives and we believe that kitchen robotics will continue to transform our health in more ways than we can imagine in the future”.

"Credence is excited by the opportunity to work with a committed and talented team in this new segment of kitchen automation,” said Tan Chow Boon, managing partner at Credence. “We see a growing segment that Zimplistic is addressing with its first-mover and innovative Rotimatic product and look forward to helping the company realise its full potential.”

Reaffirming Rotimatic’s potential, Chu Swee Yeok, CEO and President of EDBI said, “In line with our support of high-growth enterprises, EDBI is delighted to assist Zimplistic in its global expansion plans. We will work closely with all stakeholders to nurture this innovative home-grown company in its development of kitchen automation robots with machine intelligence and IoT-capabilities”.

Ted Tan, deputy chief executive officer, Industry Clusters, Enterprise Singapore said, “We are pleased to partner with innovative startups like Zimplistic and are confident that this new investment will further enable the company to capture new opportunities globally.”

With an eight-year long invention journey and 37 patents, Rotimatic has been purpose-built to be future-proof.