An evening out ingesting along with his girlfriend Sumin’s household modified Tim O’Sullivan’s life and profession, turning him into an evangelist for “bae” – the Korean phrase for the fruit Australians know because the Nashi pear.
O’Sullivan was already a bit worse for put on from the earlier night in South Korea when he was handed a “bae juice” as a hangover prevention. He grew to become a real believer, and determined to introduce the comfort retailer drink to the Australian market as Bae Juice.
Pears have already got a fame for lowering the impression of hangovers. A 2015 scoping examine by the CSIRO, funded by Horticulture Innovation Australia, discovered that ingesting pear juice earlier than you get on the turps can scale back the ache and decrease blood alcohol ranges.
However O’Sullivan and cofounder Liam Gostencnik have discovered their area of interest with “bae” (nashi) pears as a “superfood” drink.
After 4 years of bootstrapping their Melbourne startup, the pair have raised $500,000 from Honan Capital to crack the US market alongside a distribution cope with will even see the squeez4wy pack bottles in 3000-plus retails shops together with Woolworths, Dan Murphys and BWS.
Bae Juice additionally has the backing of TakeFlight Ventures by means of its worldwide model accelerator, which helps confirmed Australian client startups launch within the US market. US-based Gold Coast Distributors will get the product on the cabinets there, beginning with New York this month, alongside an Amazon presence.
O’Sullivan says he’s happy with their success thus far, with income anticipated to double this monetary 12 months.
“We’re thrilled to be launching within the US and couldn’t consider higher launch companions,” he mentioned.
“The funding from Honan Capital helps us to speed up the following chapter in our journey, we couldn’t be extra enthusiastic about what the following 12 months appears to be like like.”
Will Honan from Honan Capital has joined the board.
“We’re excited to be becoming a member of the Bae Juice staff at this stage of their lifecycle. For us, the Bae Juice story represents the quintessential Australian startup – mates with a imaginative and prescient and the work ethic to make it a actuality,” he mentioned.
“We look ahead to leveraging our networks and expertise to construct upon the already vital progress that Tim, Liam and Sumin have pushed.”