'Cheers' to Bebidas - the app that Personalises your Beverage Browsing

'EPisodes' dives into students' Entrepreneurship Project (EP) businesses and the inspiration behind them.

This week we speak to Iresh Bhaskar, an MBA at Sa?d Business School, who tells the Entrepreneurship Centre about his EP(ic) idea - Bebidas.

Tell us about Bebidas

Bebidas is an app-based platform that brings together a community of discerning and curious drinkers. It'll allow users to scan bottles for more information, see recommended bottles based on their preferences, to price compare and buy on a supported browser, and to build their own bar/library of their favourite drinks as well as share their bar with friends. It'll also allow beverage producers to notify app users about new or seasonal drink releases, benefiting both customers and distributors.

What was the thought behind Bebidas?

I had an inkling that there could be an opportunity in the drinks space for an aggregator platform or holistic app that did what Vivino does, but with added features and dedicated to liquors rather than wine.?I mentioned it to Zara [Rustomji], one of my closest friends from the course, and she found it compelling enough to want to work together (and undoubtedly because she knew the ‘market research’ would be fun)! When assembling the team, we knew we wanted people who had a similar positive attitude and a dynamic mindset rather than a tendency to take things too seriously.?

Was setting up a business always your intention when joining the MBA?

The Bebidas team comprises of five people - none of us who arrived thought we could be starting a viable business by the end of the MBA! If anything, I think we were putting more thought into what sports we’d be competing in for MBAT.

Life comes at you fast though, and we now find ourselves in a position where we have an idea that we’re really passionate about and even better, an idea that external folks are keen on.

The five of us are pretty diverse in our backgrounds, hailing from Singapore, South Africa, India and the US. None of us came from a beverage or FMCG background. That being said, we share an enthusiasm for cocktails and mixology, leading us to pursue a project that helps to build a community for discerning and curious drinkers.

Where do you want Bebidas to be in five years' time?

We want to have user growth comparable to Vivino, with the intention of going to market in the South East of England before expanding to the UK as a whole and eventually Europe and the US. With the rapid improvement of accessibility to unique, boutique or limited beverages, Bebidas has the opportunity to be the app of choice when it comes to new or experienced drinkers refining or expanding their palates.

How can I help?

We're currently working on a clickable prototype and financial projections, after which we’ll be hoping to pitch our start-up to investors. We would love to get in touch with app developers/programmers who are enthusiastic about the Bebidas platform and all it could offer!

For further information, please get in touch with Iresh on LinkedIn.?