HYDERABAD: Booozie, a Hyderabad based start-up of Innovent Technologies, claims to be the world’s first social drinking platform.
This web and app-based social networking platform not only boasts of a library of all liquor brands available across in India, but also lets users filter the list of brands available in a particular state.
Be responsible
The features of the app include a platform for social engagement promoting responsible drinking, a database of bars/clubs in every city, offers and events at various bars/clubs, an exhaustive catalogue which lists the brands and current maximum retail price of brands available in every state of India, free tamper-proof online delivery of liquor at doorstep.
Founders Vivekanand Balijepalli and Susovan Mazumder say they have applied for the necessary permissions in Hyderabad and will be operation once they get it, but they are commencing it in in three states namely West Bengal, Jharkhand and Odisha shortly.
The app, the duo say, will be a delivery aggregator by picking up liquor from the nearest shop, with upfront payment to stores and no commission from stores and providing free delivery. A part of proceedings from Booozie will be going to the National Defence Fund and respective state CM Covid-19 Relief Fund. With the rising unemployment, Booozie intends to create 1000+ jobs over the next 12 months.
“Booozie was conceptualised to bring connoisseurs of alcohol on a common platform in order to share their experiences, reviews, cocktail recipes etc. Upon studying the subject, we realised there is a huge deficit in the consumer demand and the current supply in the market. Part of the problem being the social stigma associated with alcohol. Through our user interaction platform, we intend to solve various social issues related to consumption of alcohol such as depression, excessiveness, convenience etc. In the post-Covid era, there is a huge demand for online delivery of liquor. We welcome the change in policy adopted by various states to permit this. “
Plan of action
Over the next six months tehy intend to start operations in 10 states in India and hope to cover atleast 20 states over the next 12 months subject to approval from state governments, says Vivekanand Co-Founder and CFO of Booozie. Booozie has collaborated with HyperVerge Technologies to provide for age-gating, ID verification, face recognition of users, thereby restricting under-age users to view content or place orders on the app. In addition, at time of delivery a check is done to ensure that no one misuses the platform.
Susovan Mazumder, Co-Founder and CPO of Booozie said “Our surveys indicated that people refrain from sharing their experiences pertaining to alcohol due to the social stigma associated with it. Hence an exclusive platform like this will give the user the freedom to express their good and bad experiences. We noticed that there is a lack in information for users to choose the brands within their budget.
Booozie will give the users the access to a curated database of brands along with their pricing specific to their state. In the future, we intend to bring various features such as online drinking games which users and their friends can play on our platform, prepaid bottles at bars/clubs, spending tracker etc. which we believe will be a hit with the millennial audience.”Due to the guidelines issued by Ministry of Home Affairs, government Of India, all bars/ clubs are currently shut, leading to more people having to enjoy their drinks at home.
Vivekanand adds, “We support the central and state governments in their efforts to promote social distancing, thereby not permitting drinking at bars/clubs. Our home-grown Aatmanirbhar platform, Booozie, intends to connect users to bars/clubs upon lifting the restrictions. We have a comprehensive database of bars/clubs in every city, we anticipate low footfall for these outlets in the future due to the changed mindset of people.
We propose to provide a platform for these outlets to draw users through coupons, events, offers, etc. Through our catalogue rating system, we also intend to help liquor manufacturers and state governments gauge the demand of particular brands that are unavailable in their state.” Perhaps the right time for an end to end platform for responsible consumption of liquor, considering the estimated market size of $30 bn every year.