Sunnyside App, an innovative platform that aims to revolutionize healthy drinking habits, has secured $11.5 million in Series A funding. The app, which promotes mindful drinking, plans to use the funding to roll out its new AI mindful drinking coach, named Sunny. This virtual coach generates recommended responses for Sunnyside’s team of human coaches, offering personalized support to users.
The funding round was led by Motley Fool Ventures, with significant participation from Will Ventures. Other notable participants included Uncork Capital, Offline Ventures, Joyance Partners, Wisdom Ventures, and MyFitnessPal founder Michael Lee. With this latest funding, Sunnyside has raised a total of $14.6 million.
Sunnyside’s mission comes at a time when concepts like sober curious and mindful drinking are gaining popularity. Recent studies have shown that 47% of the U.S. adult population wants to cut back on alcohol consumption. Sunnyside’s app offers a range of features for a yearly subscription fee of $99, including daily drink tracking, SMS reminders to help users stay on track, a personalized coaching program, and a chat section to engage with fellow members.
The app also provides an analytics dashboard that calculates the amount of money and calories saved by reducing alcohol intake. Challenges such as a 30-day alcohol reset or friendly competitions with friends to drink 50% less than usual aim to keep users accountable and motivated.
The AI mindful drinking coach, Sunny, will support Sunnyside’s team of human coaches. By answering simple questions from members, Sunny will provide tips and recommendations to help users stick to their drinking goals. However, it is important to note that the AI coach’s recommendations are carefully reviewed by a human coach before being sent to members.
Sunnyside’s approach combines the benefits of technology with the expertise and empathy of human coaches. The company views its coaches as peers who have successfully gone through their own mindful drinking journey and received coaching certification.
While Sunnyside emphasizes the importance of its coaches, the introduction of the AI coach is aimed at enhancing their effectiveness rather than replacing them. The AI coach, built on ChatGPT technology and trained on Sunnyside’s dataset, will help facilitate deeper and more personalized coaching experiences.
With the additional funding and the introduction of the AI mindful drinking coach, Sunnyside aims to become a leading brand in supporting individuals looking to change their relationship with alcohol. The founders, Nick Allen and Ian Andersen, have personal connections to the mission, as they have witnessed the adverse effects of unmanaged drinking within their families.
Since its launch in 2020, Sunnyside claims to have helped over 200,000 people cut out 13.5 million drinks. These impressive numbers demonstrate the app’s effectiveness, especially considering the surge in alcohol consumption during the pandemic. On average, Sunnyside members have reduced their drinking by 32%, saved over $50, and eliminated 1,500 calories in their first month of signing up.
Sunnyside’s funding success and dedication to promoting mindful drinking illustrate the growing demand for solutions that support individuals in adopting healthier drinking habits. By combining technology, human coaching, and community support, Sunnyside is spearheading a movement towards a more balanced and mindful approach to alcohol consumption.
