The seed was planted for Neil Jirele's first company when he worked abroad in Spain for a summer as an undergraduate. He offered to take his co-workers out for some happy hour drinks and hit sticker shock when he realized the beers were roughly eight euros — or $12 — each.
"I thought I had to find a way to find food and drink specials so I can enjoy the city of Madrid," he said.
Shortly after, he was convinced by a bar promoter to sit down at a bar, only to find the same $12 beers at a quarter of the price.
"The guy literally grabbed me and put me at a table; I thought there has to be a better way for bars and restaurants to reach people like me at the decision-making time," Jirele said. "I thought it would work in Iowa City where I was going to school, in Minneapolis where I'm from — just anywhere with the robust hospitality scene."
He and his co-founder Jacob Dye officially created AppyHour in 2019, which showcases where live music, food and drink deals are happening locally. And as Jirele took a job working in the distribution industry, he found yet another piece of the soon-to-be AppyHour puzzle.
"That was the 'a-ha' moment because we had a good business to consumer model, but how do we help the brands who already have hundreds if not thousands of restaurants they serve?" he said. "Once I found that value proposition, I quit my job and went full time with AppyHour."
The company allows users to search for live music, food and drink deals that can be as specific as finding a margarita within your neighborhood. It offers a "freemium" model to businesses, where they can set up a profile for free and have access to premium offerings like push notifications or have a higher spot in the deals feed.
He first alpha tested the app in Louisville after a stranger reached out saying he loved the idea and would be willing to work for free on the product for 90 days.
"I get calls like that pretty often — the last one was from Miami, but I've heard it from Austin, Los Angeles, someone in Turkey reached out to me," he said. "It's definitely interesting and validating for the business idea."
While AppyHour's alpha test did well in Louisville, Jirele wanted to move to a market with more business opportunities and made his way to Tampa in May.
"We thought we need somewhere where it's warmer, there's foot traffic year-round and it has to have the resources that are beneficial for startups to succeed," Jirele said. "And Tampa Bay has a great community of founders, a strong investor base and a resource hub with programs like Embarc Collective and the Tampa Bay Wave."
Jirele is now part of the Embarc Collective community and is raising a seed round for an undisclosed amount. He is working toward having full coverage in Tampa and St. Petersburg, actively onboarding bars, restaurants and supplier and distribution partnerships. By this time next year, he hopes to be in a "handful" of markets.
"In theory, we could be across the U.S. in a short period of time but if we’re onboarding bars and restaurants and they're not seeing engagement on the app, it's a longer value prop for them," he said. "We've proven we can launch or be in markets really quickly, but from a business standpoint we want to focus on taking momentum in Louisville and building it in Tampa."
