Anahi Sosa, Perfekto | Finding a Cofounder and Building an Online Supermarket [Ep. 87]

The audio and video are in Spanish. These notes are a translation.

As a result of the pandemic, several online supermarket startups raised hundreds of millions of dollars to offer a convenient shopping experience and affordable prices.

In this context, Perfekto emerges, a startup with a different proposition: reducing food waste.

And today we spoke with its COO and cofounder, Anahí Sosa. Perfekto is a platform that, through a subscription of “imperfect” fruits and vegetables, lets you reduce the food waste that would otherwise be discarded by other supermarkets or by the producers themselves.

To date, Perfekto has rescued more than 100 thousand kilos of food, and has raised capital from investors such as Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital, and Lotux VC.

Youtube Timestamps*

[1:40] - How to Solve Food Waste

How did Anahí get into the fascinating world of startups?
What lessons does Anahí take away after working 5 years at Uber?
About the problem Perfekto solves in the food supply chain: what are its parts, how does it currently work, and where do the largest amounts of food waste originate?
To what extent is Perfekto addressing a latent concern, versus creating and educating the market around food waste?
How does Perfekto face a problem like overproduction, taking into account that it is not something within its control?

[15:37] - Unit Economics of Supermarkets

What are the Unit Economics of their business model, and how do they compare with the rest of the online supermarket industry?
What role does price play versus impact in their customers’ purchase decision?
What led Anahí to choose a subscription model, and what advantages and challenges have they found in implementing it?
In recent years, several online supermarkets have emerged, especially in Mexico, that have raised hundreds of millions of dollars. How do you compete to acquire and retain users against players that have invested so much money in “subsidizing” demand?
What are the key aspects of Perfekto’s value proposition?
Anahí worked at two companies, Uber and Cornershop, one very aggressive and the other more conservative in its business model. How have these experiences influenced the way Anahí thinks about Unit Economics, and how willing is she to prioritize growth versus profitability?

[34:48] - How to Find Cofounders

Jan, Anahí’s cofounder, told us that they did their cofounder “dating” before starting Perfekto. How did they meet, and how many meetings or points of contact were there until they decided to start a company together?
What were the conversations between Anahí and Jan like, and what have been the benefits of going through that process?
What gave Anahí the conviction that Jan was the right person to partner with?
What other recommendations do you have for founders in the process of looking for their partners?

[45:07] - Tweet Round

Recommended book by Anahí
Changes Anahí would like to see in the Latin American startup ecosystem
Founder Anahí recommends interviewing

Episode Mentions

You can find Anahí on LinkedIn

Recommended book: Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong by Paul A. Offit

Founders to interview: Martin Bordchart of Henry (Listen to the episode with Martin here)

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Follow Enzo Cavalie on X: @enzocavalie.