Oatey Vendor Analysis: Prioritizing Cash Flow for a Startup Fundraise

Siddharth joined Oatey as a Finance Operations Analyst and quickly moved beyond the standard accounts receivable and payable brief. The company was a growing FMCG startup preparing for a Series A raise, and the founder needed someone who could make the financial picture legible and actionable.

His first task was to get the vendor payment picture under control. He mapped the top ten vendors by order volume, identified which had the largest outstanding balances, and built a prioritization framework that directed collection efforts toward the highest-ticket accounts first. The logic was straightforward: improving cash collection on large accounts had an outsized effect on working capital.

He also automated the collections reminder process, reducing the manual follow-up burden and making payment timelines more predictable. This freed up bandwidth for the team to focus on vendor relationships rather than chasing payments.

As the role evolved, Siddharth moved into closer collaboration with the founder. He ran scenario analysis and sensitivity analysis on cash flows and burn rate, and helped prepare the financial data pack used in VC conversations. He learned the metrics the investment community cares about: P&L structure, balance sheet health, operating margins, and profitability ratios.

By the time the Series A process was underway, he had a working understanding of how to present a company's financials to make it an attractive investment target, and had contributed directly to the data that went in front of investors.