In an effort to bring something that is so obviously needed in D.C.'s culture, a group of entrepreneurs are working to bring a new happy hour database and lifestyle brand to the District.
With a launch scheduled for Tuesday, the team behind the startup Happied is debuting its first product: a database of all of the happy hours in D.C. proper, including reviews for 150 of them.
"What our database gives you, for those happy hours that have reviews, we have our metric on it. For places that we haven’t reviewed yet, you’ll just get the basics: The day, the time, the happy hour specials," said CEO and founder April Johnson in an interview. "The idea is to get to as many as possible in D.C. so people know what they’re getting into. It’s really about getting a feel for what their happy hour is like."
I don't really need to explain why the market fit is pretty key in this story, but for the D.C. newbs, I will. Washington, D.C.'s social life lives and breathes happy hour. Groups like DC Tech Meetup, General Assembly and MPOWER host networking happy hour events on a weekly or monthly basis. No Inno Approved roundup is complete on this site without a sprinkle of happy hour events to attend. The question you'll probably hear most from local friends is "Where are we going for happy hour?" And as spokesperson Adra Williams notes: "It’s just a very powerful city, and a lot of things happen during those very important hours of the day and during happy hour."
But as Johnson says the plethora of D.C. happy hours is as overwhelming as ever. That's why you can't rely on just a simple Google search of "D.C. happy hours" to get a feel for everything the District has offer. That's why the Happied team opted to call all — or almost all — of the restaurants and bars in D.C. to see what their happy hour offerings look like for their database. And after making those calls, a group of about six reviewers took to the streets to review 150 and counting happy hours.
"It’s definitely not easy," Johnson said. "What our advantage is is that we’re young, and we’re a startup, so we have the energy to just go. We pick up the phone and we ask."
Happied launched in August 2016 as a blog for happy hour content, and on Tuesday, they're launching their first product, the database. Up next, Happied hopes to flesh out their website. They already have posts on the top places to go for date night or the best happy hours on U Street or in Chinatown. And Happied is striving to go beyond the new database to become the go-to destination for happy hour in Washington. They want to launch a product line for happy hour and expand beyond Washington—with their eyes on Chicago and Houston as possible next markets.
"We have some ideas for larger scale events. We’re still in the planning phases for them," Johnson said. "Just think national holiday happy hours kinds of things and events."
But D.C. will always be home for Happied.
"It’s just such a part of the fabric here, and I think it’s a perfect place to launch," Johnson said. "You have such quality happy hours in D.C. and particularly it’s a smaller metropolitan area where you can really capture it."
Image used via CC0 License — credit Stokpic
