Brazil’s culinary scene, like the multi-ethnic backgrounds that inhabit the country, is extremely diverse. Street vendors, hole-in-the-wall favorites, and Michelin star winners alike literally bring the country’s many flavors and ingredients to the table. But, Brazil’s restaurants have a problem: eighty percent of them end up failing in the first twenty-four months of operation. The inability of these restaurants to stay afloat has created inefficiencies for suppliers and other stakeholders in the industry and has also resulted in a high turnover of restaurant personnel. Suflex, a São Paulo based startup, is looking to tackle these problems head-on. “It’s a huge turnover market,” says Co-Founder & CEO João Mendes de Oliveira, “it seems like the restaurants on any given street change quicker than the seasons.” Tackling such a widespread obstacle is no easy feat, but this founding team feels like they have the know-how to get it done. Started in 2019, Suflex came into existence when João, who has experience with GVAngels and well-known Brazilian startup IDwall, was introduced to Co-Founder Rapha Despirite through his former boss. Rapha had been working in the restaurant industry his entire life, starting with his family-owned Marcel Restaurante. João had already been brainstorming on company ideas but wanted a partner to help him execute. “I knew I needed someone to challenge my vision or else I was going to build a company that is only me, and I am not always right,” he says. After the two met, they began to explore how they could solve the problems Rapha had come to know were common in restaurants. After two months of market research, Suflex began brainstorming solutions. “After we determined the market size based on the restaurant turnover we saw, we turned our attention to the kitchen,” says João. The team began looking into all of the processes and systems that restaurants were using regularly. “The kitchen can use anywhere from five to eight different systems that don’t even talk to each other.” he continues, “This could be a spreadsheet, a notebook, a business management platform, and even delivery systems such as iFood and Rappi.” These insights helped Suflex create their first business model: a network that integrates these systems to help restaurant personnel accurately complete their day-to-day operations. Equipped with nothing more than a pitch deck and an idea, the founding team went about raising funds to begin their startup, eventually raising a $400K Friends & Family round on a $2.5M pre-money valuation. Immediately after raising, they realized they had to make a change. “What we didn’t understand at first was that building this platform was the long-term vision, but it wasn’t a good go-to-market strategy.” João explains, “We didn’t understand how heavy that strategy would be, it was too high of a switching cost for customers.”