EBar®

Idea

Introduction

We love going to music and sporting events but hate bar queues.

Each year millions of people at events around the world find themselves waiting in the queue at the bar and this can cause them to miss some of the event they came to see. We studied the operational effectiveness of bars at events and have developed an innovative solution that we think will revolutionise the event experience – the EBar®.

Our patent pending dispense technology enables the EBar® to pour perfect pints in seconds, allowing customers to be served two drinks in under 30 seconds, significantly quicker than a typical event bar.

A customer simply places their cup into the dispenser, selects and pays for their drinks and then watches perfect pint being poured in seconds! The EBar units need to be supervised like a self-checkout to comply with UK alcohol licensing requirements.

Our mission is to change the way the world is served, not just at events but one day in bars all over the world. We need your help us deploy the first EBar® units at an event near you.

Intended impact

It was the pain of missing a try at a 6 Nations rugby game whilst waiting in the bar queue that triggered Sam's 'lightbulb moment'. He had a vision of banks of modular bars deployed around venues, cutting queues down to size and getting customers quickly back to the event they had paid so much to see.

The EBar® is the realisation of this vision- a modular, self-service beer dispenser that can be flexibly deployed when and where demand is highest.

We believe the EBar® is not just a win for event goers:
♦ We believe that venue operators will benefit by deploying EBar units. The EBar has been designed to be a self-service kiosk, serving customers more quickly and reducing staffing costs. Through faster service times we aim to serve more customers, increase sales and cut wastage.

♦One of the world's largest brewers who have seen the EBar® in action are excited by the way their pints are poured, using automation to consistently pour high quality products.

♦The EBar® will enable customers to grab two pints in under 30 seconds – how does this compare to the time it took to get served at your last event?

Substantial accomplishments to date

♦ Developed an innovative (and patent pending) dispense technique that pours a perfect pint in seconds - without excessive foam. We believe our dispense technique results in a beautiful product head.

♦ Built the first EBar® prototype unit and ran small commercial trials at some of the top UK venues - including a music venue operated by a US-based global event operator; a top Premier League club and major Rugby venue Twickenham Stadium.

♦We've demonstrated the EBar® to customers at venues across the UK who have shown substantial interest in deploying the production EBar® - with some very exciting venues (including a top flight cricket venue) committing to trials over the summer.

♦ Demonstrated the EBar® to one of the world's largest brewers who are interested in the EBar solution

♦ Won £75,000 at the Scottish EDGE pitching competition in December 2017.

♦ Secured 'Seed Round' Angel investment of ~£225k in Spring 2018.

♦ Designed and built a pre-production EBar®. The latest generation of which has substantial improvements to make the unit easier to use.

♦ Partnered with Worldpay, a global leader in card payments to incorporate their innovative contactless payments platform.

♦ Named by New York Broker CB Insights as one of 55+ of global start-ups 'Using Tech To Design Your Best Happy Hour'. Highlighted as one of 7 companies in 'Bar Tech'.

We've built a team who have already built the latest version of the EBar® - but there is much more to do.

Monetisation strategy

The live trials to date have been small scale and EBar is effectively a pre-revenue company. These trials have shown, that if we are contracted to provide our EBars® at their event, operators will pay a commission on beverage sales through the unit. Our vision is that the EBar® units are moved from venue to venue, maximising revenues and asset utilisation. Our 'Beer as a Service' (BaaS)® model will provide flexible beer dispense capacity to venue operators and brewers when and where it is needed.

We are looking into sales/support business models to enable our customers to boost their brand and deliver exceptional event experiences.

Use of proceeds

Develop and build EBar® units.
We have designed and built a pre-production EBar® unit but need to undertake more development and build several of these with a contract manufacturer before achieving commercial scale and deploying at major venues across the country .

Grow our team.
There is so much more that we want to do to improve the EBar® so that we can help deliver an exceptional event experience. With your support we will expand our team by hiring a second Product Engineer.

Marketing.
So far you will probably not have heard of us, that's deliberate as we've been working on our technology in 'semi-stealth mode'. We are now ready to launch our product to market at scale and looking to secure amazing win-win deals with big event operators and brewers.

With your investment we will look to change the event experience. Join us in our mission change the way the world is served.

EBar initiatives has a soft loan worth £45,000 from Scottish EDGE that was secured as part of winning a competition. For the first 24 months from the award of this loan there is a 0% representative interest rate with a £50.00 repayment due per month. Once 24 months has passed the interest rate increases to a flat rate of 4% per annum. The proceeds of this round will not be used to re-pay this loan.